How TransUnion’s AI Findings Should Change the Way SEOs Pitch GEO

Aug 11, 2026 09:30 PM - 3 weeks ago 91

Marketers are much assured astir AI than they person ever been, and little capable to beryllium it’s working. That’s the existent communicative buried successful a caller TransUnion study, and it lines up almost precisely pinch what I’ve been uncovering while digging into the methodological gaps successful B2B AI citation investigation this month. The aforesaid unsighted spot showing up successful really brands measurement AI-driven trading is showing up successful really they measurement AI hunt visibility.

Marketers Are Confident successful AI, but Not Ready to Measure It

TransUnion commissioned United Talent Agency’s marque advisory section to study 100 elder trading and exertion leaders astatine awesome U.S. brands. The institution is calling the consequence a “confidence-readiness paradox.” Eighty-nine percent of marketers expect their AI-enabled trading finance to turn complete the adjacent 12 to 24 months, and 64% opportunity they’re assured they’ll deed their AI goals. But only 42% complaint their organization’s group readiness arsenic high, and conscionable 36% opportunity the aforesaid astir information and process readiness. Fewer than half, 48%, opportunity they person capable visibility into platform-level AI to make optimization decisions pinch confidence.

I asked Matt Spiegel, executive vice-president of TruAudience Growth Strategy astatine TransUnion, to rank the 3 gaps the study identifies.

“If I had to rank them, I’d put information first,” Spiegel told me. “AI tin compensate for a batch of things, but it can’t compensate for incomplete aliases disconnected data. If you’re feeding AI incomplete information, you’re going to get outcomes that are little predictive than you hoped.”

Spiegel’s statement is that group and process problems are downstream of the information problem. Once customer records, transaction history, and behavioral signals are really connected, governance and skills follow. Without that foundation, he said, everything other gets harder.

AI Search Is Part of a Larger Measurement Blind Spot

Where this stops being a wide marketing-ops communicative and starts being an SEO communicative is successful what’s driving the visibility gap. Sixty-nine percent of respondents said walled plot unsighted spots limit their expertise to measure AI’s effectiveness, and 70% said cross-channel unsighted spots make it difficult to way AI’s effect crossed the customer journey. Spiegel told maine the symptom isn’t concentrated successful immoderate azygous platform. Marketers are moving paid social, unit media, connected TV, search, and owned channels simultaneously, and nary azygous situation shows the full customer journey.

I pushed him connected whether AI hunt sits wrong that aforesaid problem aliases extracurricular it, since that’s the nonstop conflict I’ve been having pinch the existent activity of AI citation studies. His reply confirmed what I suspected. “AI hunt is different illustration of why independent measurement is becoming much important,” he said. As consumers progressively observe brands done AI-generated answers alternatively of accepted hunt results, marketers suffer visibility into really those recommendations get created and what influenced them. He called it a earthy hold of the walled plot problem, not a abstracted one.

Every AI citation and GEO study getting published correct now, including ones that I’ve written about, is trying to reverse-engineer visibility into a strategy that was ne'er built to beryllium measured from the outside. TransUnion conscionable handed maine independent confirmation, from 100 trading leaders pinch nary liking successful the SEO industry’s soul arguments, that the aforesaid structural blindness is showing up everyplace AI mediates a customer decision. If you can’t spot wrong a unit media auction, you can’t spot wrong an AI Overview citation either. It’s the aforesaid missing instrumentation, conscionable pointed astatine a different channel.

Treat GEO arsenic a Business Measurement Problem

This should alteration really SEO practitioners talk astir GEO internally. Too overmuch of the existent speech treats AI hunt visibility arsenic its ain isolated subject pinch its ain tooling problem. Spiegel’s information suggests the opposite. It’s a circumstantial lawsuit of a company-wide measurement nonaccomplishment that CMOs are already naming successful committee meetings, which intends SEO teams that framework GEO arsenic portion of that broader speech are going to get funded faster than ones asking for a citation-tracking instrumentality successful isolation.

What SEO Teams Should Do Next

Here’s really to use that this quarter.

First, extremity pitching AI hunt visibility arsenic a standalone SEO statement item. Bring the TransUnion numbers, aliases your ain type of them, into the adjacent fund speech and framework AI citation tracking arsenic the search-specific portion of a measurement spread the CMO already knows exists. That reframing unsocial changes who signs disconnected connected the spend.

Second, earlier buying different AI visibility tool, audit whether your existing customer information is connected capable to moreover usage 1 well. Spiegel’s proposal to a squad pinch a caller AI fund was to walk the first dollar connected information value and personality resolution, not different application. The aforesaid logic applies to a GEO instrumentality bought connected apical of fragmented analytics. It will study activity, not impact.

Third, build incrementality testing into your AI hunt measurement now, earlier it becomes the modular everyone other adopts later. Spiegel pointed retired that only a number of marketers presently usage trading operation modeling aliases incrementality testing for AI, mostly because clip and costs savings are easier to report. SEO teams that tin show incremental postulation aliases conversion assistance tied specifically to AI hunt citations, alternatively than conscionable citation counts, will beryllium the ones pinch credibility erstwhile this gets scrutinized astatine the executive level.

Spiegel closed our speech pinch a statement I deliberation is the existent headline, much than thing successful TransUnion’s property release. The biggest correction he sees isn’t a bad AI strategy. It’s leaders asking “what’s our AI strategy” alternatively of “what business problem are we solving.” I’d widen that consecutive into SEO. The teams still asking “how do we triumph much AI citations” without first asking what business outcome those citations are expected to nutrient are going to extremity up pinch a batch of visibility and nary measurement to beryllium it mattered.

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