For years, helping prospects find your website was a straightforward process: write content, target keywords, build backlinks, and aim for the top of the Google results page.
Today, that playbook isn’t obsolete, but traditional search is no longer the whole visibility game.
The buyer journey is changing. Government decision-makers, contracting officials, reporters, and industry partners are increasingly using AI search alongside traditional search tools. They type prompts into tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, and Google AI Overview to evaluate vendors and solutions before an RFI or discovery call is even made. In addition to browsing web links, buyers now get a single, AI-synthesized answer in seconds.
This shifts the core challenge for B2G marketing leaders. In the past, the primary focus was on whether your company could be found online. Now, we must also consider: When someone asks AI about the problems we solve, do we appear in the answer? What does it say about us? Who does it recommend instead – and why?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) remains foundational to good Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). Technical SEO, structured content, authority, high-quality backlinks, and schema all continue to matter. AEO and GEO don’t replace SEO – they build on and expand it.
To win at AEO and GEO, you have to ensure AI systems understand who you are, what you do, and why you are credible. AI-generated answers may be informed by your owned content alongside the broader digital ecosystem. If credible external sources describe your company differently or don’t reinforce your claims, AI will reflect that disparity. The key challenge is uncovering why a gap exists between the story you tell about your brand and the story AI can substantiate from the web.
Learn How to Win the AI Search Game at GAIN
To help public sector marketers navigate this massive shift, Chrissie Koeppen, SVP of Innovation at Yes&, will lead a practical session at the GAIN ‘26 Conference: “Why GEO is the New Front Door to Government Buyers + Winning AI Search.”
Moving past the basic “Should we care about AI?” debate, Chrissie’s session will show attendees how to test their company’s visibility. You’ll learn how to examine what AI platforms are saying, evaluate the sources shaping those answers, diagnose why competitors or other sources are winning recommendations, and determine what needs to change.
The session will cover these key controllable factors that drive AI search visibility:
- Entity Clarity: Defining your value proposition, core services, focus areas, contract vehicles and schedules, government clients, NAICS/PSC codes, business designations, and certifications clearly across your site and public reference sources.
- Structured Data & Schema: Adding technical website tags that help AI platforms read and confirm your details.
- Source Authority & Citation Patterns: Understanding who gets quoted in your industry and why AI tools favor them.
- Content Freshness & Specificity: Swapping old PDF files for clear, easy-to-read web pages that are updated regularly.
- Cross-Platform Consistency: Keeping facts, statistics, and company details consistent across official sites, news releases, and social channels.
- Third-Party Reinforcement: Boosting trust through news coverage, industry partners, and external links, which create credible external evidence of your brand claims.
Get Your FREE AI Visibility Snapshot
The learning doesn’t stop when the presentation ends. You can request a free, custom AI-Search Visibility Snapshot to check where your company currently stands across AI platforms.
While you’re at GAIN ‘26, drop by the Yes& table to meet our team in person, and explore our suite of public-sector growth tools:
- The VIBE Report: Discover deep data insights into audience sentiment, brand positioning, and market drivers. Find out how you compare to your competitors in terms of Visibility, Influence, and Brand Engagement.
- Custom AI & Marketing Tools: Learn how Yes& combines advanced data analytics, statistical modeling, and creative strategy to help B2G brands move fast without sacrificing mission-alignment or trust.
- 1-on-1 Discussions: Discuss your team’s specific AI search footprint and content strategy directly with our experts.
AI engines synthesize the information environment surrounding your brand. To ensure there is clear, credible, and consistent evidence across the web for both AI platforms and buyers to understand your true value, secure your spot for Chrissie’s session by registering for GAIN 26 today. And don’t forget to visit the Yes& table to find out more about where your organization stands in the new age of search.
Frequently Asked Questions About AI Search for Government Contractors
AI search visibility describes whether—and how—your company appears in answers generated by platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, and Google AI Overviews. It includes how accurately the platforms describe your organization, which capabilities they associate with you, whether they cite your content, and whether they recommend your company for relevant questions.
Search engine optimization (SEO) helps content become discoverable and competitive in traditional search results. Generative engine optimization (GEO) focuses on helping AI-powered platforms understand, accurately represent, and potentially cite or recommend an organization. GEO builds on SEO fundamentals but also considers factors such as entity clarity, content structure, third-party authority, consistency, and the broader evidence available across the web.
Government buyers, contracting officials, teaming partners, reporters, and job candidates can use AI tools to research capabilities, compare companies, and understand complex markets. If your company is absent, inaccurately described, or overshadowed by competitors in those answers, you may lose visibility before a prospect visits your website or contacts your team.
Start by clearly defining your capabilities, agency experience, contract vehicles, NAICS and PSC codes, certifications, and differentiators across your website and authoritative external profiles. Then strengthen the content and evidence supporting those claims through useful web pages, consistent company information, relevant structured data, credible third-party coverage, industry participation, and authoritative links and mentions.
No. Schema markup can help search engines and other systems interpret information about your organization and content, but it does not guarantee inclusion or citation in an AI-generated answer. It works best as part of a broader strategy that includes technically sound SEO, clear content, credible evidence, consistent information, and third-party authority.
Begin with a prompt library based on the questions your buyers and partners are likely to ask. Test those prompts across multiple AI platforms and track whether your company appears, how it is described, which competitors are recommended, and what sources are cited. Repeat the tests over time to identify patterns and evaluate whether changes to your content and authority signals are improving visibility.
A competitor may have clearer website content, stronger coverage of the topic, more authoritative external mentions, better-supported proof points, or more consistent information across the web. The goal is not merely to ask why your company was excluded, but to examine the evidence supporting the answer and identify the gaps between what your brand claims and what credible sources can substantiate.
