AI search has arrived at massive scale. According to McKinsey, 50% of consumers now use AI-powered search, with 70% of those users starting their purchase journey within an AI environment.
Marketing leaders are shifting focus from acknowledging the impact of AI to tackling the challenge of defining a functional AI search optimization plan. That means knowing where your brand has influence, where competitors are gaining ground, which opportunities matter most, and how GEO can strengthen the broader brand and marketing strategy.
So, we built something to help.
Introducing BOCO Surface℠, Bold Orange’s proprietary AI-search insights engine for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).
Surface brings AI-search visibility, brand sentiment, competitive presence, and other key GEO measures into one view, helping teams understand where they stand, where they can gain ground, and where to focus next.
Bold Orange makes this available to our clients backed by our AI Search & Digital Experience teams in an ongoing measurement and optimization cadence, giving brands the context and strategy to understand what the data means and where the biggest opportunities lie.
BOCO Surface GEO Summary Report with at-a-glance core metrics, segment filters, and competitive overviews. Demonstrated using US Ice Cream brands, with Ben & Jerry’s as the example focus brand.
Why GEO needs a new approach to measurement
We’ve been at the forefront of the shift to AI search, helping enterprise brands build GEO strategies that connect search, content, and analytics to the broader customer experience. That work has shaped our perspective on what it takes to turn GEO into a meaningful part of your broader marketing strategy.
The market is reaching the same inflection point. HubSpot surveyed more than 1,000 global marketers and found that 58% say their businesses are already optimizing content for answer engines, yet measuring success remains one of the top challenges for both B2B and B2C marketers. The challenge is increasingly about how to measure GEO well, understand what the signals mean, and determine where to act.
At the same time, a growing category of GEO tools has emerged to help brands understand and measure this new landscape. Much like the SEO technology market, options range from entry-level monitoring tools to sophisticated enterprise platforms.
Leading platforms offer strong data and measurement capabilities, particularly for practitioners who need to monitor performance and investigate specific questions. As GEO becomes a broader marketing priority, expectations for that data are expanding.
Marketing leaders and executives need to know what matters, what it means for the business, and where to focus next. Practitioners get the depth to investigate performance, while leaders get the clarity to understand where the brand stands and where to act.
What to look for in a GEO tool
As GEO becomes part of the broader marketing strategy, the bar for measurement gets higher. Brands need a reliable way to understand performance across the customer journey, identify the opportunities that matter, and give teams at every level a clear view of progress.
To drive AI search growth, a GEO tool should include:
- A reliable data model that delivers consistent, high-quality measurement of AI model behavior
- Enough prompt capacity to measure performance across the customer journey
- A core set of metrics teams can rely on month after month
- Reporting that clarifies opportunity and helps teams determine where to act
- Ease of use so insights are accessible from practitioners to executives
BOCO Surface was built to put that standard into practice.
How Surface measures where your brand can win
The AI Visibility report in BOCO Surface shows market share metrics based on a comprehensive, collectively defined set of prompts where the brand wants to win.
A Surface instance begins with business objectives. Our AI Search team works with brand stakeholders to define the relevant audiences, products, markets, competitors, and journey moments. From there, we develop a
prompt matrix
that reflects the branded, non-branded, competitive, and initiative-specific questions customers are asking AI engines throughout their journey. Together, those prompts create a view of the brand’s
addressable AI-search market
: the topics and questions where the brand wants to be present, relevant, and competitive.
This gives teams a more meaningful way to measure visibility and presence against the areas most connected to their business priorities. That broader view also helps connect GEO insights to the rest of the marketing ecosystem. Brands can identify opportunities across content, social, PR, paid media, and other channels that influence how they appear in AI search, then focus effort where it can have the greatest impact.
Surface what matters for your brand
Every brand’s AI-search landscape is different, and it will continue to change. Building a disciplined approach to GEO gives brands a way to keep learning, strengthen their authority, and make smarter decisions about where to focus.
Whether you have questions about your GEO strategy, are curious about what Surface could reveal for your brand, or want to explore where AI search fits into your broader marketing strategy:
We can dig into where your brand stands today, where the opportunities may be, and how Surface can help you focus on what matters most.
