China marketing shifts as AI search drives GEO boom: CGS

Generative optimisation targets US$100.7b global market.

Generative engine optimisation is emerging as a structural shift in China’s advertising and marketing sector, with the market projected to reach US$11.2b globally in 2025, according to CGS International.

The brokerage said GEO is designed to replace traditional search engine optimisation as generative AI engines increasingly mediate how content is retrieved and recommended. 

China is expected to account for RMB2.9b of the global GEO market in 2025, CGS said, as advertisers adapt to conversational and AI-driven discovery formats.

The firm said the transition from keyword-based optimisation to generative response visibility is gaining momentum as AI-powered search and recommendation tools are adopted more widely.

The brokerage forecasts the global GEO market to expand to US$100.7b by 2030, implying a five-year compound annual growth rate of 55%, with China’s market growing in parallel to RMB24b at a 53% CAGR.

CGS said the scale of expansion highlights GEO’s potential to reshape advertising pricing, content strategies, and performance measurement across digital platforms.

It noted that the commercialisation of AI applications is accelerating as content interaction becomes a core monetisation channel, particularly in marketing-linked services.

The brokerage expects advertising and marketing companies with early GEO capabilities to benefit from shifting client demand as generative AI engines increasingly influence consumer decision-making paths.