Building a Category? Create a Moat Using SEO and GEO

Not-so-well-kept secret: SEO has changed dramatically, and the advent of generative AI is becoming a new form of “word of mouth.” As a marketer, you're no longer just competing for Google's attention; you're fighting to own the conversation in Claude, ChatGPT, and other AI tools that shape how prospects understand your category.

In our debut episode of This Meeting Could've Been a Podcast, Vector’s CEO Josh and I pull back the curtain on our strategy for owning the "contact-based marketing" category, and why we started with SEO and GEO (generative search optimization). 

What you'll learn

• What actually constitutes a new category (and when you should avoid trying to force one)
• The strategic differences between SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
• Why you can’t just publish a ton of AI content and hope that it works
• How programmatic SEO allows you to test multiple content approaches simultaneously
• Tactics for tracking and influencing what AI models say about your brand

Top three takeaways

Takeaway 1: Master both SEO and GEO to own your category

It’s true that generative AI is completely reshaping research and discovery. But traditional organic search isn’t going away any time soon. You need to consider both in your content strategy, especially if you’re trying to build and/or own a category.

But how do you get ChatGPT, Claude or any other LLM to say things about your product and brand that you want them to say?

Ironically, we’re seeing GenAI and LLMs breathe new life into top-of-funnel content. For example, just two weeks after publishing an article titled “What is Contact-Based Marketing?” on Vector’s website, the article powered both Google’s and Perplexity’s AI-generated answers to the same question—while also showing up as the top result in Google SERPs.

The key insight here is that it appears high-quality organic content is training large language models. When you rank well for key terms in your category, you're simultaneously influencing what AI tools will say when prospects ask about your space. 

Takeaway 2: Use programmatic SEO to test what resonates

One of the most frustrating aspects of traditional SEO is how long it takes to test and learn. By the time you know what's working, you've already invested months of effort and resources.

We've tackled this frustration with programmatic SEO. Rather than guessing which content will perform best, we take a templated and automated approach to write and publish batches of content simultaneously. Then let the data tell us where to focus our efforts.

In short, get as many similarly formatted articles up at once as you can. Then see which articles perform and dive deeper into them.

The process works like this:

1. Identify a content format that can be easily templated (competitor comparison pages is a solid place to start)
2. Create multiple variations following that template (~20 is a great number to shoot for)
3. Track which variations gain the most search traction in search
4. Double down on the top performers by bulking them up with more context, screenshots, video, and distribution across other channels

This approach lets market demand guide your content strategy rather than relying on your own personal assumptions.

Takeaway 3: Keep track of what AI says about your brand

In order to influence what AI tools say about your company, you have to consistently monitor and document their responses.

Every 6–8 weeks, we ask all the major LLMs a set of questions about Vector we think our target audience may also ask: What is Vector? What is contact-based marketing? What does Vector do? What is Vector's pricing?

This systematic approach gives us a baseline against which we can measure our influence over time. By recording these responses and checking back every couple of months, you can track your progress in shaping the AI narrative around your brand and category.

The reality check? When we began this exercise, ChatGPT thought Vector was a manufacturing company in New Zealand— a perfect example of why this exercise matters so much. The goal isn't perfection from day one, but rather steady improvement in how your brand is represented across both traditional search and AI platforms.

Catch the full episode (and subscribe to This Meeting Could’ve Been a Podcast!) on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform.