As generative AI reshapes how people discover and consume content, websites are no longer designed solely for human visitors. Increasingly, AI agents, from chatbots to virtual assistants - crawl, analyse and repurpose website content to fuel AI-powered answers and recommendations. According to Forbes, companies are now shifting their focus from traditional SEO to GEO to stay visible in this new era.
Recognising this shift, leading platforms like Storyblok, Contentful and Optimizely are innovating rapidly to help brands optimise their content for both human users and AI agents, enabling greater visibility and engagement in this new era of generative search.
This fundamental strategic adaption: generative engine optimisation (GEO). GEO goes beyond traditional SEO by structuring and optimising content for both human users and AI agents to ensure maximum visibility in AI-driven search environments.
James Crook, Candyspace Enterprise Architect and AI Specialist, adds:
"Optimising for AI-driven engines is essential, but brands must guard against a hidden risk: if your content only fuels AI summaries, users may never click through. A winning GEO strategy ensures people still want to engage with you, not just the AI."
In this article, we’ll explore how three leading platforms - Contentful, Storyblok and Optimizely are pioneering the GEO approach. Drawing on their research, product innovations and insights, we’ll unpack what brands risk missing by ignoring GEO, the key steps for adapting content strategy, and why 2025 is the year to act.
The AI agent takeover: a new audience to serve
Traditional SEO focused exclusively on human users and search engines like Google. Today, AI agents, including large language models, virtual assistants and chatbots, autonomously consume and interpret your content. According to insights shared in a recent Optimizely webinar, crawl rates by AI agents have surged significantly, while direct human traffic is flattening or even decreasing on some sites. These AI agents don’t just index content, they actively analyse and repurpose it to power AI-generated answers.
Many brands still optimise content solely for human readers and traditional search bots. This blind spot means their valuable digital assets remain invisible to the AI systems increasingly driving discovery and customer decisions.
Content as a technical asset: the Contentful perspective
Contentful has recently discussed the concept of generative engine optimisation (GEO), emphasising that content must be engineered as a technical asset — structured, accessible and designed for AI consumption. It’s worth checking out their insightful blog series on GEO, which outlines three strategic playbooks:
- the content playbook, focusing on creating content aligned with AI search algorithms,
- the technical playbook, guiding content structuring for machine readability,
- and the authority playbook, which builds trust and credibility to boost AI visibility.
Without strategic structuring, even the best creative content risks being overlooked by AI-powered search tools, something we’re seeing in conversations with some of our prospects at Candyspace.
Storyblok’s vision: empowering AI-driven content transformation
Storyblok’s approach highlights the types of AI-driven content workflows our clients are beginning to explore, particularly around creative automation and structured content. Through its initiative, Storyblok Labs, the company offers early access to AI tools designed to enhance content creation and management workflows.
Their recent survey revealed a growing reliance on AI for content ideation and decision-making by both brands and consumers, signalling a broader industry shift (Enterprise Times report). Brands not leveraging AI-assisted CMS tools risk falling behind competitors who can adapt and personalise content rapidly, meeting user needs more effectively.
Optimizely’s GEO-ready CMS: bridging SEO and AI-first discovery
Optimizely’s CMS capabilities reflect the technical tools we’re seeing clients request more frequently, from page-level metadata to AI-friendly content summaries. As detailed in their CMSWire feature, their platform offers:
- page-level optimisation including new metadata fields such as Q&A sections, GEO-specific tags and markdown summaries designed for AI consumption,
- site-level optimisation tools for generating machine-readable LLM files and creating geo-targeted content using SEMrush and Google data,
- bulk metadata management to simplify large-scale GEO implementation.
Additionally, their partnership with Cloudflare brings real-time crawl data insights directly into the CMS, enabling brands to track AI bot engagement, a crucial metric in today’s AI-first landscape.
Why SEO alone isn’t enough anymore
SEO remains critical but must evolve. GEO demands hybrid optimisation where content satisfies both human readers and AI agents. This means:
- developing clear, concise, Q&A-style content,
- structuring metadata in AI-friendly formats,
- creating machine-readable summaries to feed generative AI models effectively.
Ignoring these shifts risks losing organic discoverability to brands that embrace GEO strategies, as Contentful’s GEO blog and Optimizely’s roadmap both emphasise. We’re already seeing clients adjust their content strategies to avoid these risks and remain visible in AI-powered search
What you’re missing if you don’t act now
- reduced AI-powered search visibility, since AI engines favour content optimised specifically for their algorithms. Non-optimised content can be effectively invisible,
- lost engagement opportunities, as AI-driven personalisation and amplification depend on accessible, structured data,
- inefficient content operations, because without AI-powered CMS tools like those from Storyblok, marketers spend excess time on manual optimisation, losing agility.
Preparing for the future: how to get started
All three platforms are providing resources to help brands transition to GEO:
- Contentful: GEO-ready CMS with detailed playbooks on strategy and technical setup.
- Storyblok: AI-enhanced content management and creative tools.
- Optimizely: GEO-ready CMS features with advanced analytics integrations.
Brands that engage with these innovations will transform their websites from simple content warehouses into dynamic, AI-visible assets, driving discovery, engagement and growth in the generative AI era.
Wrapping up ...
Generative engine optimisation is no longer optional, it’s essential for brands who want to remain visible and competitive in 2025 and beyond. By treating content as a structured technical asset optimised for both humans and AI agents, you can unlock new discovery channels and growth opportunities.
The question is not whether to invest in GEO, but how soon you will start.
