As AI reshapes how buyers discover brands, Gong’s long-game and the rise of GEO both say: trust comes first.
Gong didn’t just switch tactics. They pulled the rug out from under the old playbook and built their own from scratch.
Instead of chasing leads from the 5% of the market actively shopping for sales software, Gong went after the other 95%, the ones who aren’t even looking yet. That’s the core of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute’s 95-5 Rule; most people aren’t buying right now, but they might be later. And Gong wanted to be the voice in their head when that moment came.
So they stopped pushing product specs and started making content that actually spoke to the daily headaches of salespeople. Podcasts. LinkedIn posts. Stuff that felt more like a colleague venting over coffee than a vendor pitching on a demo call. Emotional relevance over technical brilliance. The result? Gong didn’t just grow its following; it became part of the sales community’s collective brain. When people finally were ready to buy, Gong was already there.
If you’re still waiting for a buyer to Google you, you’re already behind.
Search Is Changing—Fast
Now, here’s where it gets even trickier, and more interesting.
Search itself is changing. Fast. Between ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s new Search Generative Experience, we’re not just typing keywords into a box anymore. We’re having conversations with machines. And those machines aren’t pulling up ten blue links; they’re synthesizing answers. Which means the old SEO game—backlinks, keyword density, title tags—is losing its grip.
Enter GEO: Generative Engine Optimization
Enter Generative Engine Optimization, or GEO. It’s not just a buzzword; it marks a shift. GEO is about making your content the kind that AI wants to quote. That means clear structure, precise language, and content that doesn’t waffle. Bullet points help. So do headings that actually say something.
And while domain authority still matters, it’s not the only game in town anymore. Because these engines pull from the full web, not just the top of Google’s rankings, even early-stage content—the kind made for the 95%—can show up in high-intent queries.
So yes, the funnel’s invisible now. But it’s not gone. It’s just… sideways.
Quick Detour: 3 Things to Know Before Your Next Team Sync
1. Google’s automated translation is rerouting your international traffic.
If you haven’t localized your content or set up hreflang tags, your carefully built pages might be losing credit to Google’s own machine-translated copies. Not ideal. Especially if you’ve invested in
multilingual SEO.
2. A solo marketer built a six-figure agency using AI tools.
It’s not a one-off story. It’s a signal. The barrier to entry for agency work is shrinking, and the definition of “team” is getting fuzzier by the day. Read the full story.
3. Nearly half of Google searches are now branded. That means people aren’t just looking for “CRM software”; they’re searching for “HubSpot CRM” or “Salesforce pricing.” Brand awareness isn’t just a moat anymore; it’s your organic strategy. See the data.
Brand Isn’t Optional Anymore
So if you’re still treating brand as a nice-to-have, maybe it’s time to rethink. Because whether it’s Gong owning the 95%, or AI engines reshaping search, the same truth keeps showing up:
Trust travels further than targeting.
That’s it for today, folks.
Catch you in the next post.
Until then, keep building.
– Perfect Sites Blog
