In this episode of Datalicious, Carsten Sander speaks with Dr. Anja Konhäuser, co-founder and CEO of Ommax, about the fundamental shift from traditional search engines to AI-powered answer engines – and what this means for brand visibility. They focus on how companies can remain relevant in the responses from ChatGPT, Gemini, and others through Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), context-relevant content, and technical accessibility. In addition, they explore the uncomfortable flip side: the dwindling diversity in the content ecosystem and the urgent need for fair monetization models for publishers, whose content forms the foundation of AI responses.
Topics discussed in this episode:
- From search engines to answer engines: How is the shift from traditional “search engines” to AI-powered “answer engines” changing user behavior? And why have traditional search queries fallen below ninety percent for the first time since 2015?
- GEO as the evolution of SEO: What distinguishes Generative Engine Optimization from traditional Search Engine Optimization, and why must brands also consider context to remain visible in AI-generated responses?
- Visibility, citations, and sentiment as new KPIs: Which metrics determine whether a brand appears in AI responses? And why are so-called “money prompts” the key to monetization?
- Fairness and the future of publishing: About 85 percent of the content cited by LLMs comes from third parties. Who benefits from this? And what new monetization models are needed to fairly compensate content producers?
Takeaways from this episode
- Context beats keyword: Brands who tailor their content not only to products but also to specific usage contexts – such as sunscreen for athletes, babies, or people with acne – are significantly more likely to appear as relevant recommendations in AI responses.
- Technical readability is underestimated: Many companies fail not because of their content, but because AI bots are technically unable to read it. Ensuring so-called “crawlability” is one of the most important – and most frequently neglected – prerequisites for GEO visibility.
- Visibility is more than clicks: In a world where 68 percent of Google searches no longer result in a click, simply being mentioned in an AI response has become a value in its own right. Brands must rethink their customer journey and treat visibility as a KPI on par with traffic.
- Publishers need new business models: Because AI models rely heavily on third-party editorial content, fair compensation models must be developed – ranging from paywalls for crawlers to “subscriptions” for agents – to maintain the diversity and quality of content in the long term.
Chapters
00:00 – Introduction: The paradigm shift from “search engine” to “answer engine”
03:00 – How companies are responding to the AI shift and seeking guidance
06:30 – Google, Gemini, and the dynamics of the AI search landscape
11:30 – GEO vs. SEO: evolution, not revolution
13:00 – Context-based brand positioning: the sunscreen example
19:00 – Measuring and monitoring AI visibility
21:30 – KPIs in the world of AI: visibility, links, sentiment, and money prompts
27:00 – Ommax at a glance: holistic digital transformation
30:00 – Dr. Anja Konhäuser’s career and the founding of Ommax
34:00 – Fairness and monetization: who owns content in the age of AI?
44:00 – Technical readability and websites for agents
48:00 – New business models: paywalls for crawlers and subscriptions for agents
56:00 – Time travel to 2030: Europe’s dependence on AI, and the future of Ommax