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When was the last time you asked ChatGPT for a recommendation — and wondered why your brand wasn’t mentioned? That’s the problem at the heart of this episode.
On The Education Insider, host Jacob Hanson brings together PR thought leader Kristen Plemon and SEO/GEO expert Rachael Bly to unpack Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) — a term that still makes most executives respond with, “What the heck is GEO, and why should I care?”
Rachael explains it plainly: “It’s really just the practice of making sure your brand is showing up in these searches with AI tools… controlling the narrative so that when someone is searching for what you offer, your brand is the one showing up in those spaces.” She compares it to the early days of SEO, when the first movers carved out long-term dominance.
Kristen draws the parallel to PR: “We’ve always said you need to feed the media beast. Now you need to feed the AI answer bot.” For her, GEO is about ensuring that credible third-party mentions and fresh content build the entity profile that AI tools rely on.
The conversation gets practical, too. Jacob admits he never searches without superlatives — “If you put ‘awesome’ in front of anything, I will find your site.” Rachael suggests leaning into FAQs and Q&A formats, because large language models favor those direct question-and-answer structures. Kristen urges PR teams to rethink the language they pitch, noting that journalists may resist words like “best” or “top,” but AI tools thrive on them.
The big takeaway? GEO is not a futuristic buzzword. As Jacob puts it: “It’s already shaping who’s being found, what you’re being found for, and who wins new business.”
If you’re in education marketing, PR, or district leadership, this episode is both a warning and a playbook: now is the time to act, or risk being invisible in the age of AI search.
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PRP Group, a Hawke Media Company, is an award-winning full-service education PR and marketing firm serving the pre-K–12 and higher-ed community.