How generative engine optimisation (GEO) will reshape CRO in 2026

The next frontier of optimisation

Search is changing fast. Generative engines like Google’s AI Overviews and OpenAI’s GPT-powered results are no longer just answering questions — they’re shaping what customers see, trust, and act on.

For enterprise brands in banking, travel, and telco, this shift cuts deep. It means your customers might never reach your site unless your brand is optimised not just for search, but for generation. This is where Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) meets Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) — a new blend of visibility and persuasion.

What is GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation)?

GEO is the practice of optimising your content and digital experience so generative AI engines can understand, summarise, and recommend your brand accurately. It goes beyond traditional SEO, focusing on structured data, clarity of claims, and conversion-driven messaging that AI models can interpret.

Where SEO once focused on ranking, GEO focuses on representation — ensuring your brand’s message and proof points surface in generative answers.

Why GEO matters for CRO

Generative engines don’t just list websites; they summarise them. That means your CRO work — the clarity of your copy, the simplicity of your funnel, and the strength of your value proposition — directly influences whether your brand becomes the AI’s “go-to” example or disappears from view.

When your content and website experience are built with both users and models in mind, you win twice:

• Users find your content through generative results.

• They convert faster once they land on a page that’s consistent, credible, and conversion-optimised.

This alignment between GEO and CRO is what separates high-performing brands from invisible ones.

The GEO + CRO framework

1. Structured, scannable content

Use schema markup, FAQs, and clear headings. Generative engines prefer structured clarity over marketing wording. Example: A telco brand that defines every plan type clearly helps both users and AI summarise its offering correctly, reducing drop-offs in comparison searches.

2. Credible data and transparent claims

Generative systems surface brands with trustworthy data. CRO tests that validate messaging (e.g. “93% of travellers rated our booking flow 5 stars”) give AI confidence to cite your site. Example: A travel brand testing testimonial layouts found that verified reviews not only increased conversions by 12% but also boosted visibility in AI snippets.

3. User-first performance

Page speed, accessibility, and clarity all matter to GEO. AI engines prioritise pages with frictionless UX.Example: A banking brand’s CRO-led redesign cut application completion time by 20%, which not only improved conversions but also improved its inclusion in AI-generated loan comparison summaries.

4. Experimentation-driven insights

Continuous A/B testing fuels GEO with validated insights. You’re not guessing what works; you’re generating data that proves your experience is worth surfacing.

How to implement GEO in your CRO roadmap

• Audit your site for AI readiness: Test how your brand appears in AI-generated results like Google’s Overviews or ChatGPT search.

• Update your information architecture: Use clean, descriptive headings and schema data.

• Connect CRO learnings to content updates: Feed insights from A/B tests directly into your content strategy.

• Measure visibility and conversion together: Track both generative impressions (how often your brand is surfaced) and user conversions from those queries.

• Train your team: GEO isn’t a one-off project. It’s an evolution of your experimentation culture.

The business case for GEO now

Generative search is becoming a default interface. The earlier your brand adapts, the greater your share of organic traffic and conversions.

For enterprise NZ brands, this is an opportunity to combine your CRO maturity with GEO innovation, to make your website not just findable, but favoured by both humans and machines.

Next step

Tui Experiments helps enterprise teams in banking, travel, and telco build CRO programs that are ready for the GEO era.

Curious how your site performs in generative search? Request a GEO + CRO audit and see how your visibility and conversion rate align.