2026 State of GEO in B2B Marketing report finds 78% of organizations investing in GEO see measurable ROI

GILBERT, Ariz., June 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- GNW Consulting, the strategic marketing operations agency that guides companies through implementation, integration, and optimization of marketing technology, today released its 2026 State of Generative Engine Optimization in B2B Marketing study, co-published with research partner Demand Metric and available as a free public resource. Based on 225 responses from B2B marketing and revenue leaders, the research shows GEO is quickly moving from early experimentation into a more operational discipline, with organizations beginning to report measurable business impact from AI-driven discovery strategies.

"GEO has already reached a market tipping point," says Raja Walia, founder and CEO of GNW Consulting. "We're in an execution phase, with companies betting on measurable performance. As the early advantage narrows, B2B leaders have an opportunity to better understand how GEO works and where it can drive impact within their organizations."

The study found that 92% of organizations are already experimenting with or operationalizing GEO, while 78% of those investing report measurable return on investment. Organizations allocating more than 5% of marketing budget toward GEO initiatives reported even higher levels of measurable impact. The findings suggest organizations delaying GEO investment may face increasing competitive pressure as AI-driven discovery behavior continues to evolve.

Additional findings from the research include:

• 88% of SEO agencies now claim to offer GEO or AI search optimization services, but 37% describe those services as "loosely defined."
• 22% of respondents report AI-driven traffic accounts for more than 5% of total website traffic, significantly above the widely cited industry benchmark of under 1%.
• Community platforms and AI-optimized content are emerging as major drivers of AI discovery, with respondents ranking them slightly ahead of traditional SEO tactics.
• Fewer than 15% of organizations have a dedicated GEO owner, despite widespread adoption activity across marketing teams.
• Budget remains a challenge for many organizations, though the data suggests companies already seeing ROI may also be facing pressure to scale successful GEO initiatives more quickly.

Andrea Lechner-Becker, chief strategy officer at GNW Consulting and co-author of the report, said the findings reflect how quickly organizations are being forced to rethink search visibility strategies.

"Most emerging marketing categories take two to three years to produce defensible ROI," said Lechner-Becker. "What's notable here is how quickly organizations are beginning to measure impact from GEO efforts. This isn't a theoretical category anymore. It's a working one, and the companies treating it like an experiment are losing share to the ones treating it like a discipline."

The full report, including methodology, additional findings, and a GEO assessment framework, is available free here.

About GNW Consulting

GNW Consulting is a strategic marketing operations agency that guides companies through implementation, integration and optimization of marketing technology, including a growing practice in Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) for B2B clients. Andrea Lechner-Becker, chief strategy officer, is a frequent contributor to Fast Company on AI search and marketing strategy. Since its founding, the company has become known for going beyond implementation to integrating and optimizing MarTech stacks regardless of industry. To learn more, please visit https://gnwconsulting.com/.

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SOURCE GNW Consulting