By Rafaela Ruf - Head of product at GUURU and UGC expert
What Is Generative Engine Optimization and What Content Will Give You an Edge?
AI Is Changing How People Shop
For years, search felt straightforward: pick the right keywords, rank high, get clicks. That playbook is starting to break.
Shoppers now ask tools like ChatGPT for advice. They see AI Overviews on Google before ever visiting a product page. Often, they get the answers they need without clicking through at all.
And those answers? They’re not coming from your polished product descriptions. They’re being pulled from Reddit threads, niche blogs, and peer reviews – places where people share honest, first-hand experiences.
Unless… your PDP is the source.
What Is Generative Engine Optimization (G.E.O.)?
Generative Engine Optimization (G.E.O.) is how you make your brand and products discoverable and quotable in an AI-first search landscape. Where SEO helps you show up in traditional results, GEO helps you get cited and referenced inside AI-generated answers.
AI engines don’t just mention brands and products — they quote sources. They reference real user experiences. They surface insights with authorship, context, and specificity. They highlight content that:
- Shares real experience and practical use cases
- Comes from identifiable, credible people
- Is structured so machines can understand it (clean HTML, schema, metadata)
- Stays fresh and indexable
GEO isn’t about writing more polished marketing copy – it’s about publishing more relevant insight that answers real questions, the way people actually ask them, in an authentic way,
Why Your Product Pages Might Be Invisible
The truth is, most product detail pages (PDPs) were designed for a different era. They’re polished, spec-heavy, and not really emotionally appealing. That worked in 2015. But in 2025, it might not be enough.
Generative engines aren’t looking for brochure text — they’re trained to surface answers, advice, and real experiences. If your PDP doesn’t contain practical insight, comparisons, and user perspective, there’s a good chance AI won’t surface it.
Think about it this way: when someone asks an AI tool “Is the Salomon Speedcross 6 waterproof enough for winter trail running?”, the engine won’t pull a bullet list of specs from a PDP. It will surface content that explains how the shoe performs in wet, cold conditions – ideally from someone who has actually run trails in the winter.
If your product pages don’t speak in that language, they risk being invisible.
Content That Wins in the GEO Era
If you want your product pages to appear and be cited in AI-powered answers, don’t just pile on more specs or keywords. Focus on creating content that actually helps shoppers make decisions. The most successful pages usually share a few key traits:
- Use-case storytelling – describe when, where, and for whom the product works best. For example, explain whether it performs well in certain weather conditions or is ideal for a specific skill level.
- Real customer questions – weave in the exact questions people ask when they’re comparing products or deciding what to buy.
- Named authorship – put a real person with credibility and experience behind the insight, whether it’s an in-house expert or a passionate user.
- Conversational tone – write as if you’re answering a friend on Reddit, not drafting a press release.
- Schema + indexability – structure content so that search engines and LLMs can easily crawl and understand it.
AI models are trained to surface helpful, human-driven insights. And shoppers trust advice that sounds authentic and informed. Blending clear structure with natural storytelling helps your PDPs stand out in this new search landscape.
The Unexpected Edge: Community Content
Here’s the good news: You don’t need to write all this content yourself.
Your experienced customers already have the answers. They’ve used the products. They are your community. They know what it’s great for, what fits inside, how it compares to others, what to look out for when to choose. Exactly the kind of practical, first-hand knowledge other shoppers (and AI systems) are looking for.
With GUURU, you can invite those experienced customers to share their expertise directly in your shop through live peer-to-peer chats. Our platform then turns the most valuable advice from those conversations into crawlable, contextual content for your product pages.
Think of it as:
- A mini Reddit thread, but on-brand and conversion-optimized.
- Peer-authored content that adds E-E-A-T value.
- Authentic advice that improves engagement, trust and visibility
By letting your community speak for you — in their own words — you create content that’s credible, conversion-friendly, and highly discoverable.
Real Brands. Real Results.
We’ve been lucky to collaborate with some amazing brands on bringing community-powered content into their product pages. It’s still early days, but we’re already seeing measurable and encouraging impact. Product pages that used to be invisible are now:
- Climbing the rankings for long-tail, question-based searches that real shoppers use.
- Showing up as cited sources in AI Overviews and conversational search results.
- Attracting more qualified traffic from LLM-powered discovery – people who arrive ready to buy.
And behind these results are passionate communities of real customers sharing their expertise. The content speaks for itself, here are some examples:
Atomic Skis – Shared by Tommasco
“The Atomic Redster S9 RevoShock S offers great control and precision, especially in fast and tight turns. It’s perfect for skiers who want to truly shine on edge.”
Shared by Expert Community Member Tommasco – Avid skier with deep experience using Atomic gear. Knows the brand, its product history, and its target audience inside out.
Simon Profi Technik – Shared by Ben
“The STIHL FS 91 weighs around 6 kg and delivers enough power to clear thorns and blackberry bushes. Starting it is quick and easy – especially compared to older or more budget-friendly petrol brushcutters. With the primer, auto-reset throttle lever, and a reliable STIHL engine, it starts up smoothly, even for less experienced users.”
Shared by Expert Community Member Ben – Forestry professional with many years of hands-on experience using STIHL tools. Happy to advise on use and handling.
POLO Motorrad – Shared by VN Bomber
“Even after 2,000 km in the rain, my LS2 FF906 Advant has stayed dry. It’s done over 30,000 km now – and other riders I know swear by it too.”
Shared by Expert Community Member VN Bomber – Passionate motorcyclist with experience across various bike types, hobby mechanic with many years of hands-on experience, tour guide for motorcycle trips across several European countries, and a devoted fan of Scotland and Ireland.
These authentic voices are already being picked up in featured snippets and cited in AI answers, giving brands a real edge in modern search.
Want to See It in Action?
We’ve helped ecom brands turn invisible PDPs into AI-surfaced answers – and we can show you how.
👀 Check out our fact sheet or 📩 book a quick walkthrough.
Let’s make your product pages the source!
Rafaela Ruf, Head of product
With 15 years of experience in product management, Rafaela loves being the connecting piece between what users want and what technology can build. Joining GUURU in 2020, Rafaela enjoys lean experimenting and the hands-on work at a startup. She is also a passionate dancer and member of Lisbon’s Forró dance community. Follow Rafaela on LinkedIn.
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