Key stat: 54% of US marketers plan to fully implement their generative engine optimization (GEO) strategy within three to six months, according to September 2025 data from Scribewise.

Beyond the chart:

• Traditional SEO success doesn't translate to AI visibility. Fewer than 9% of ChatGPT and Gemini citations come from URLs ranked in Google's top 10 organic results, according to Ahrefs, meaning more than 90% of high-ranking pages never appear in AI responses.
• Meanwhile, genAI traffic is growing fast. More than one-third (37%) of top US websites already receive more traffic from genAI sources than from paid sources, and genAI-driven traffic grew over 130% year-over-year in October, according to Sensor Tower.

Use this chart: Drop this into your next digital strategy review to show stakeholders the GEO timeline pressure. Use it to benchmark your team's implementation plans against the majority. If you're not targeting full GEO implementation within six months, you're falling behind most of your competitors.

Related EMARKETER reports:

• Generative Engine Optimization in 2026 (EMARKETER subscription required)
• AI Will Dominate Search—Just Not in 2026 (EMARKETER subscription required)

Methodology: Data is from the November 2025 Scribewise "GEO Readiness Report: How Marketers Are Embracing AI Search Disruption." 205 US executive leaders and marketing managers working at professional services firms were surveyed online during September 18-29, 2025. To qualify, respondents were required to be familiar with their organization’s content creation and digital marketing strategy and the final sample included only qualified professionals after screening for data integrity and disqualifying ineligible respondents.