New Conductor Survey of Enterprise CMOs Shows AEO/GEO Investment Is Accelerating and Late Movers Are at Risk

Conductor, the only end-to-end enterprise AEO platform, released its 2026 AEO/GEO CMO Investment Report, revealing that enterprise investment in AI search visibility has entered a new phase of acceleration. According to the study, nearly all enterprises plan to increase investment in Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) in 2026, while organizations that are already ahead are accelerating at a pace that may leave others unable to catch up.

AEO/GEO has moved from experimentation into long-term strategy, budget allocation, and annual planning.

The research, based on a survey of more than 250 senior executives and digital decision-makers who oversee or are responsible for AEO/GEO/SEO at enterprise organizations, shows that AI search is no longer being treated as an experimental initiative. Instead, it is increasingly embedded in long-term marketing strategy, annual planning, and budget allocation.

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Key findings from the report include:

• 94% of enterprises plan to increase AEO/GEO investment in 2026
• Enterprises allocated an average of 12% of their digital marketing budgets to AEO/GEO in 2025
• High AEO/GEO maturity organizations are 2x more likely than medium-maturity organizations, and 3x more likely than low-maturity organizations, to significantly increase AEO/GEO investment in 2026
• Nearly all enterprise executives (97%) report AEO/GEO is already driving a measurable, positive business impact on the marketing funnel in 2025
• AEO/GEO ranked as the #1 strategic marketing priority for 2026

“These numbers point to a fundamental shift,” said Seth Besmertnik, CEO and co-founder of Conductor. “AI search has moved from a future-facing initiative to a long-term strategic commitment. Early leaders are not just investing more; they are accelerating faster, and that creates an advantage that becomes harder to overcome.”

As AI-powered answer engines increasingly influence how customers discover, evaluate, and trust brands, organizations are recognizing that visibility within these systems compounds. Brands that establish credibility early are more likely to be cited, referenced, and surfaced repeatedly, reinforcing their position as others attempt to enter later.

“AEO/GEO brand mention and citation tracking is a top priority for our organization. We need the data and insights in order to understand how generative AI is reshaping discovery. It’s hard to optimize without knowing where and how we show up and under what context.” – Greg DiMedio, Digital Marketing Manager and Head of SEO & AI Search Strategy at Taylor Corporation

As investment accelerates, the research highlights a growing focus on measurement quality and foundational readiness. Respondents cited data quality and trustworthiness of AI visibility insights as the top technology challenge facing AEO/GEO programs, reflecting concern that scraping-based approaches are fragile and insufficient for measuring performance in closed, rapidly evolving AI systems.

The report also shows that alignment on success metrics is still evolving. C-suite leaders most frequently cited scaling AI-optimized content as their top challenge, while marketing and AEO leaders emphasized ensuring that AI systems can reliably crawl and access content in the first place. This shift reflects a broader transition from early experimentation toward more mature, execution-focused strategies.

“What’s changing now is the level of discipline required,” said Besmertnik. “As AI search becomes a core channel, leaders need to be clear about what they are measuring and why. Without that clarity, investment alone won’t translate into advantage.”