If 2023 was the year marketers started experimenting with AI, 2025 is the year it starts rewriting the rules of how buyers discover, trust, and choose brands. In this new episode of GTM Innovators, I sat down with Michael Cole, SVP of Marketing at Everflow, to unpack one of the most quietly disruptive shifts happening in go-to-market today: what Michael calls Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).
It’s not hyperbole to say we’re watching the end of long-tail SEO as we knew it. What comes next will fundamentally change how companies think about visibility, partnerships, and human-created content.
Below are three themes from our conversation that stood out, offering just a glimpse of what we covered in the full episode.
1. The Rise of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
For decades, search visibility was about ranking. We optimized for keywords, backlinks, and snippets to win the attention of Google’s algorithm. But according to Michael, that model is rapidly fading.
“It used to be all about who ranked at the top of Google. Now ChatGPT pulls a consensus from eight to ten sources — and one of those could be a page that’s barely gotten two clicks in a year.”
In other words, LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity no longer look at who is on page one. They look for credibility and consensus across multiple sources. These references, or citations, have quietly become the new backlinks.
For marketers, this means discoverability isn’t just about your own content anymore. It now depends on where and how your brand is mentioned by others. That realization brings partnerships back into the center of the conversation.
2. Partnership Marketing as the Engine of Discoverability
When we think of partner or affiliate marketing, most of us picture performance channels or referral programs. Michael sees something much bigger emerging. Partnerships are becoming the connection between human relationships and AI discoverability.
“The only way to influence how AI describes you is by developing direct relationships with the publishers it learns from.”
Every time an AI model cites a publication, a Reddit thread, or a YouTube review, it relies on content created by real people. Brands that cultivate those relationships and build trust with niche publishers, reviewers, and creators can shape how they are represented in the AI ecosystem.
“Once I saw how these citations work, it became obvious: partner and affiliate relationships are the key to discoverability.”
This shift moves partnership strategy back to the center of go-to-market execution. It is no longer just about referral traffic or commission structures. It is about narrative control in a world where AI defines how people find and understand your brand.
3. Human-Led Content as the Antidote to AI Slop
The irony of the AI era is that the more machines generate content, the more human voices matter. The internet is already flooded with repetitive, low-value material, which Michael calls AI slop. He predicts large language models will soon filter this kind of content out.
“If your content is too easy to produce, everyone else will do it too — and it’ll get filtered out as noise.”
The companies that will win are the ones that combine authenticity, expertise, and a unique point of view. They will create material that people and algorithms alike can trust.
“AI will have to start ignoring secondhand AI-generated slop. The future belongs to voices with real expertise.”
This is where GTM leaders can find a competitive edge. The opportunity lies in blending the best of both worlds: using AI for scale and analysis while grounding strategy in human experience, insight, and storytelling. That combination, not automation alone, will define the next generation of brand credibility.
The Future of Discoverability
What is unfolding here is more than a marketing trend. It represents the beginning of a Search & Discovery Revolution. The early days of SEO were filled with experimentation and rapid change, and GEO is now following a similar trajectory. The difference is that this new era moves faster and relies more heavily on human credibility.
If AI models are the new search engines, then partner ecosystems, authentic voices, and credible content are the new ranking factors. The brands that adapt to this reality early will not only be found but also trusted.
These three themes are only part of the conversation. In the full episode of GTM Innovators, Michael and I also discuss sentiment management, the economics of shifting ad spend toward partnerships, and the tools he is using to measure performance in the GEO era.
Listen to or watch the full episode here: The GEO Playbook: How Partner Marketing Fuels AI Discoverability with Michael Cole