Latest news with #YuanYong
Bangkok Post
4 days ago
- Business
- Bangkok Post
As AI chatbots gain popularity, so does business of inserting ads into results
HONG KONG — As ChatGPT-like chatbots gain traction, generative engine optimisation (GEO) has emerged as an increasingly significant approach for brands seeking visibility in answers generated by artificial intelligence (AI). Unlike traditional search engine optimisation (SEO) that is meant to improve rankings in results, GEO aims to ensure content is cited, summarised or recommended by AI models, which generate "answers with a word limit", said Yuan Yong, branding director of Big Fish Marketing in Shenzhen. Yuan, who has been working with SEO since 2014, only ventured into GEO this year after Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek burst onto the scene, prompting many local companies to rethink their strategies. Optimising AI-generated content involves improving the information provided on a company's website, thereby increasing its exposure to news outlets, online portals and Wikipedia-like platforms, Yuan said. Yuan cited the example of online education platform Nuoyun, which received a recommendation from DeepSeek as one of the best such resources in China after the Big Fish team "polished" the content on its website, as well as posting 40 articles on other websites. But that does not mean the new-found visibility stayed permanent, as continued attention would be required to fine-tune the content. Big Fish offers its clients three standard packages costing from 3,800 yuan (US$530) to 29,800 yuan, depending on the number of prompts and length of time needed. The most expensive package guarantees that at least 12 prompts out of 20 in a month would deliver results. Otherwise, Big Fish would refund 1,000 yuan for each failed prompt. When it comes to how long a company's information can stay in answers provided by GEO, "it depends on your competitors", Yuan said. For example, if the product targets individuals, like lipstick, there will be advertisements from other brands feeding the internet every few days, so it is harder to stand out. But for a specialised product, like medical equipment, it may be able to continue being cited by AI chatbots for a few months, Yuan said. The GEO industry itself is also competitive. Yuan said that players need to keep updating "every day, or even every few hours", to boost visibility when users search for GEO services. AI chatbot developers have started to monetise their services through advertising. In November, US-based Perplexity AI said it had started to experiment with ads that would be displayed as sponsored follow-up questions. The company added, however, that answers would "not be influenced by advertisers". Major Chinese AI companies have yet to announce any similar plans. Tencent Holdings' chief strategy officer James Mitchell said in a November earnings call that it was focused on making its Yuanbao chatbot "as appealing and attractive to users as it can be", and that it was "not focused on premature monetisation" for now. That means some AI platforms may resist showing marketing content in answers. "If your content contains words such as 'cheapest' or 'absolutely effective,' or if it includes mobile phone numbers or WeChat accounts, AI may simply ignore your content," Lu Songsong, a marketing specialist who runs Beijing Songsong Brother Technology, said in a post on WeChat earlier this month. For now, GEO is still a nascent industry. Yuan said his company relied on traditional SEO for revenue, as income from GEO is "only a fraction" of the total. Lu said GEO was an "avant-garde" concept in China where deep-pocketed companies could test the waters, but there "would not be much of a splash". "If AI search becomes mainstream, for example, with a market share of more than 30%, GEO will definitely become a necessity", he said. Globally, AI search remains limited in use. In 2024, Google handled 14 billion searches per day, more than 373 times as many as ChatGPT, but the OpenAI tool was growing faster, according to a March report by SparkToro and Datos.
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
As AI chatbots gain popularity in China, so does the business of inserting ads into results
As ChatGPT-like chatbots gain traction, generative engine optimisation (GEO) has emerged as an increasingly significant approach for brands seeking visibility in answers generated by artificial intelligence. Unlike traditional search engine optimisation (SEO) that is meant to improve rankings in results, GEO aims to ensure content is cited, summarised or recommended by AI models, which generate 'answers with a word limit', said Yuan Yong, branding director of Big Fish Marketing in Shenzhen. Yuan, who has been working with SEO since 2014, only ventured into GEO this year after Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek burst onto the scene, prompting many local companies to rethink their strategies. Optimising AI-generated content involves improving the information provided on a company's website, thereby increasing its exposure to news outlets, online portals and Wikipedia-like platforms, Yuan said. Yuan cited the example of online education platform Nuoyun, which received a recommendation from DeepSeek as one of the best such resources in China after the Big Fish team 'polished' the content on its website, as well as posting 40 articles on other websites. But that does not mean the new-found visibility stayed permanent, as continued attention would be required to fine-tune the content.
