Competitive pressure
76.9%
said keeping up with competitors is a reason their team is increasing GEO/AEO investment.
2026 Research Report
The GEO/AEO Investment Race: Spending Without Proof
New research from 106 marketing and growth leaders reveals a paradox: companies are increasing investment in answer engine optimization and generative engine optimization, but most can't prove what's working.
May 2026106 respondentsUS + global
Full Report
GEO/AEO Investment Race
May 2026Gather
What these numbers mean
We asked marketing and growth leaders what is driving increased investment in GEO/AEO. These are the share of respondents who selected each reason; because it was a multi-select question, the percentages do not add up to 100%.
Future readiness
50.9%
said they are investing now to prepare for future AI search impact.
Content visibility
31.5%
said improving content visibility is a reason their team is increasing spend.
01 Competitive pressure
Competitive pressure drives the spend
Most teams are investing because competitors are - not because they have a clear strategy. Keeping up is the top reason budgets are increasing.
Leading drivers behind higher GEO/AEO investment:
Keep up with competitors76.9%
Prepare for future impact50.9%
Content visibility31.5%
Key insight
Investment is reactive, driven by competitive pressure more than performance data.
"We're investing because we have to, not because we know it's working."
Growth Leader
02 Team structure
How teams are actually staffed
Most teams are small and spread thin. Over half have fewer than three people focused on GEO/AEO content.
How dedicated is your team to GEO/AEO content?
1-2 people 54.7%
3-5 people 28.3%
6-10 people 11.3%
11+ people 5.7%
1-3
people is the reality for most teams.
40-70%
of teams have no dedicated budget.
5.6%
have 8+ people focused on GEO/AEO content.
03 Tooling and tactics
The tooling and tactics stack
Content creation and optimization tools dominate the stack, but measurement tools lag behind.
What's in your current tool stack?
Content creation84%
SEO tools66%
Analytics50%
Top tactic focus areas:
Content creation75%
Technical SEO51%
Key insight
Teams are focused on creating and optimizing - but not measuring.
"We know what we're doing. We just don't know what's working."
Founder
04 Early wins
Early wins validate the bet
Many teams are seeing early signs of impact, especially in brand visibility and traffic.
60.4%
of teams are seeing increased brand visibility.
Where are you seeing early impact?
Brand visibility
60.4%
Relevant traffic
52.8%
"We're seeing more visibility - now we need it to convert."
Head of Growth
05 Attribution
The attribution catch-22
Attribution is the biggest challenge. Most teams lack the data and tools to connect efforts to outcomes.
The hardest part about proving ROI is:
Attribution challenges80.2%
Lack of data52.7%
Key insight
Without attribution, GEO/AEO content remains a black box.
"We can't connect the dots from mentions to revenue."
Growth Leader
The truth is simple:
The content that ranks is backed by primary research.
Primary data wins.
Generic content fades.
Gather helps you create primary-research-backed content built to rank in answer engines and generative search.
Book a demoFull Report
GEO/AEO Investment Race
May 2026Gather
What's next
The next 12 months will reward whoever solves attribution first
The leaders who build smarter content systems today will pull ahead tomorrow. Gather helps teams turn primary-research-backed data into content that earns GEO/AEO visibility and connects that visibility to outcomes.
Benchmark your strategy
Compare against peers
Find your biggest blind spots
Build primary-research-backed content that ranks
Methodology
This survey was fielded in May 2026 among 106 marketing, growth, and demand generation leaders at B2B companies across the U.S. and globally.
106
Respondents
B2B
Companies
35
Questions
May 2026
Fielded