AI search is a competitive advantage for sustainability‑minded companies — but only if they act quickly

Have you noticed? How we all search for anything and everything has quietly shifted in the last year. With the rise of AI tools, we’re no longer typing a few keywords into a traditional search bar and scrolling through a list of links. Increasingly, people are opening their preferred AI assistant and asking full questions — often 20+ words long — to get direct, distilled answers. 

This shift has transformed search from a filter into a decision‑maker. And the more we all use AI, the more we trust it to choose for us. 

For brands, this means sustainability marketing needs to evolve just as quickly. The companies who succeed in this new environment will be the ones whose claims are clear, verifiable and easy for AI systems to read and interpret. Let’s dig into what that looks like. 

How GEO will complement — and eventually redefine — your SEO strategy 

Traditional SEO is no longer enough to stay competitive. SEO helps ensure your content appears somewhere on search engine results pages. But GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) ensures AI can identify your content as relevant, credible and usable in its responses. 

In practice, that means brands need to optimize existing and future content so AI systems can easily cite it. Put simply: SEO builds discoverability; GEO determines whether you’re actually quoted, recommended, or trusted by AI.

Together, they maximize visibility at a moment when more consumers are relying on AI to inform their decisions. HubSpot even reports that AI search users show higher purchase intent, meaning being recommended by AI is directly tied to conversion.  

Why greenwashing won’t survive the AI‑driven search era 

Here’s where sustainability becomes a competitive differentiator. 

AI automatically cross‑checks every claim against credible sources: certifications, regulatory databases, third‑party evaluations, product reviews and marketplace performance. Vague or unsubstantiated phrases — “eco‑friendly,” “all natural,” “planet positive” — are deprioritized unless they’re backed by real evidence. 

The consequence is straightforward: Unsupported claims don’t just undermine trust, they reduce visibility and push brands lower in AI‑generated recommendations. 

AI amplifies what it can verify. Brands that provide clear sourcing information, measurable environmental data and frequent, transparent sustainability communications send strong credibility signals to ranking models. Those that can “show their work,” and share their work often, will consistently outperform vague claims or stagnant sustainability pages. 

What this means for you 

In the AI‑powered search landscape, credible sustainability performance isn’t just a reputation asset — it’s a visibility engine. The brands that win will be the ones building an AI-ready sustainability communications strategy: where claims are verified, stories are consistent and content is structured for AI to understand and elevate. 

Understanding how AI platforms and multimodal models (MMLs) read, interpret and connect data allows brands to optimize their content for visibility. This shift affects every stage of the marketing funnel, not because the basics of marketing sustainability have changed, but because AI has rebuilt the way information is shared and how consumers make decisions. 

As the leading sustainability marketing communications agency, we are working across many B2B and B2C companies to: 

• Validate and strengthen sustainability claims with data-backed rigor 
• Craft compelling narratives that translate complex progress into clear, human storytelling 
• Optimize existing content for GEO so AI can actually find, interpret and recommend it

We are learning a lot about what works — and what doesn’t. In the coming months we are planning to share our experiences, as well as findings from some insights work we're starting now, in the form of a “How To” playbook for any company to follow to ensure their sustainability efforts are being discovered and prioritized in AI searches. Stay tuned for that, and reach out any time to share what you’re learning and to pick our brains. It’s a brave new world and we all benefit when we learn together!