How AI is Rewriting Brand Discovery: Why Fintech Leaders Can’t Ignore GEO

As artificial intelligence reshapes customer discovery, companies optimizing for AI visibility are gaining competitive advantage – but most aren’t prepared

The rules of online brand visibility have fundamentally changed.

What was once governed by Google rankings and search engine optimization is now being rewritten by Large Language Models (LLMs), knowledge graphs, and AI-powered answer engines. When customers ask ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity for recommendations, they’re not getting the same list of links that they’re used to getting from search engines. Instead, they’re presented with synthesized answers based on how AI systems understand and represent your brand.

For fintech companies, this shift carries urgent implications. Customers are asking AI for product recommendations, market analysis, and investment advice before they ever visit a broker’s website. If your brand isn’t optimized for how AI systems interpret and surface information about you, you’re losing market share to competitors who are.

Caption: “Fintech leaders on stage at the Cyprus Fintech Summit discussing how Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and AI are redefining trust and visibility in digital finance.”

This reality crystallized at the Cyprus Fintech Summit this week, where industry leaders gathered to discuss the intersection of AI and fintech marketing. The conversation centered on a single, pressing question: How do brands maintain visibility and trust when AI becomes the primary interface between companies and customers?

The answer: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).

THE AI VISIBILITY GAP

Most companies have no idea how AI systems are describing them. They don’t know if their brand information is accurate in knowledge graphs, how frequently they appear in AI-generated answers, or what their status is compared to competitors in AI recommendations.

This visibility gap is where market share gets lost silently.

“As AI becomes the primary discovery layer, brands compete not just for visibility but for accurate representation,” said Uri Samet, CEO of Buzz Dealer, a Digital PR and Online Reputation Management (ORM) agency. “Brands need to appear consistently across all types of AI-driven searches, including reputation questions, category research, competitor comparisons, and others.”

Buzz Dealer unveiled its expanded GEO services at the Cyprus summit, addressing exactly this gap. The response from fintech executives and marketing leaders was immediate. Dozens of conversations followed about how to audit their AI representation, optimize their data in knowledge graphs, and defend their brand narrative as AI systems evolve.

FROM SEO TO GEO: THE SHIFT

Traditional SEO optimizes for search engines. GEO optimizes for how AI systems interpret, understand, and represent your brand.

The difference is fundamental. A company might rank #1 for a keyword on Google but be completely invisible or misrepresented in ChatGPT. Or worse, a competitor’s outdated information might be what the AI cites most frequently.

Caption: “Ron Gilo unpacking how Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is reshaping brand discovery during a live conversation at the Cyprus Fintech Summit.”

“Traditional SEO still matters, but it is no longer enough on its own,” Ron Gilo, Chief Marketing Officer of Buzz Dealer, explained during his panel at the summit. “Brands that do not optimize for AI-driven discovery risk losing visibility in the places where customer decisions increasingly begin.”

A comprehensive GEO strategy encompasses several key components:

• AI Visibility Optimization — Structuring brand data so LLMs recognize and accurately represent it
• Reputation Mapping for Knowledge Graphs — Building authoritative sources that feed into AI knowledge systems
• Fact-Source Alignment — Ensuring a brand’s narrative matches the sources AI systems cite most
• Multilingual GEO Coverage — Scaling brand visibility across different languages and regional AI ecosystems
• AI Narrative Defense — Monitoring and correcting how AI systems describe brands

Caption: “Buzz Dealer team engaging with fintech leaders at the Cyprus Fintech Summit booth”

THE FINTECH IMPERATIVE

For fintech companies, the stakes are higher than in most industries. Customers make high-stakes financial decisions based on recommendations and information they receive. If an AI system misrepresents your platform, cites outdated information, or highlights a competitor instead of you, that’s not just a visibility problem. It’s a revenue problem.

Brands that invest in GEO now, will establish market dominance in AI-driven discovery. Those that wait, will find themselves playing catch-up as market share shifts to early adopters.

The Cyprus Fintech Summit made one thing clear: the competitive advantage in 2025 doesn’t go to companies with the best websites or most SEO backlinks. It goes to companies with the best AI representation.

THE PATH FORWARD

The question isn’t whether to invest in GEO, it’s how quickly you can get started. Waiting means losing ground to competitors who are already optimizing for AI visibility.

For more information on how GEO can transform your brand’s visibility in AI-driven search ecosystems, read Buzz Dealer’s official GEO announcement