China’s GEO boom shows AI reshaping search and marketing economics
TL;DR
On the evening of January 23, 2026, China’s 21st Century Business Herald reported that "GEO" (generative engine optimization) stocks have surged and then whipsawed as brands and agencies rush to adapt marketing strategies to AI-first search experiences on tools like ChatGPT and domestic chatbots. The article notes that despite investor enthusiasm, GEO business models are still immature and profitability remains uncertain.
About this summary
This article aggregates reporting from 1 news source. The TL;DR is AI-generated from original reporting. Race to AGI's analysis provides editorial context on implications for AGI development.
Race to AGI Analysis
This piece is one of the clearest mainstream descriptions yet of how generative systems are quietly rewriting the economics of online discovery. As users shift from ten blue links to single AI answers on ChatGPT, Doubao and domestic large‑model platforms, the fight for "position 1" becomes a fight to be embedded inside the model’s response. GEO is essentially SEO for agents and answer engines: structuring content, data feeds and brand signals so models trust and surface you.([21jingji.com](https://www.21jingji.com/article/20260123/herald/fdd78a36c3712038dd92bb4f6d41a938.html))
For the race toward AGI, GEO’s emergence is important for two reasons. First, it creates a huge commercial tailwind for agentic systems that mediate transactions end‑to‑end – from query to recommendation to checkout – making those platforms structurally more monetizable than traditional search. Second, it further concentrates power in whoever controls the high‑traffic models, because brands will pay premiums to be "in the answer" rather than merely advertising around it. That dynamic strengthens giants like Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and their Western counterparts, and may make regulators more nervous about gatekeeping in an AI‑mediated information ecosystem.
