A while ago, a lady who runs a beauty salon came to me and said she wanted to start her own brand. When we got to finding a factory, she pulled out her phone: "Hold on, let me ask first." Ask who? Ask AI. Right in front of me, she typed a line — "How to choose a cosmetics OEM factory, are there any reliable ones?" In a dozen seconds, AI rattled off a long passage and even named a few factories. Holding this "list," she was ready to go talk to them one by one.
I laughed right then. This move is so typical. I glanced at her phone. The list included big well-known factories, and also factories that usually keep a low profile but whose information is written properly and clearly. I asked her if she believed it. She said she would just look at it for now; either way, it was better than blindly scrolling herself.
Have you noticed? How people find suppliers now is not the same as three years ago. Before, they opened a search page, flipped through links page by page, went through a dozen pages, and pieced together the answer in their own head. Now? They just throw the question at AI and want a conclusion: Don't make me find it myself, just tell me how to choose, who is reliable, and how not to get ripped off.
This is really not a small matter. In the 57th Statistical Report on China's Internet Development by CNNIC, there is a figure: as of December 2025, 602 million people in our country used generative AI, up 141.7% from the end of 2024, with a penetration rate of 42.8%. Put plainly, more than four out of ten people already habitually ask AI first when something comes up. Among them are brand owners, beauty salon owners, and procurement people who are looking for factories.
If You Rank High in Search, Will AI Mention You?
Many bosses have an illusion: I built my official website, I ran ads, searching my name returns a lot, so how could AI not mention me?
Not necessarily. What does that mean?
What search does is line up web pages and wait for you to click. What AI does is first read through massive amounts of information itself, check here, verify there, and then speak a passage to you. What is it more willing to trust? Things that are true, clearly written, consistent across several places, and traceable to official sources. Things that are copied and pasted everywhere, that say one thing today and another tomorrow, that are hyped to the skies but cannot provide evidence — it will either downrank them or simply not mention them.
For example. Take the same factory. Its official website says it only makes cosmetic-license products, but some investment promotion page says it can do anything and dares to claim any effect. When AI compares the two and they do not match, what will it do? Most likely it will first doubt it, then go elsewhere to find a more stable statement; if it searches around and finds no definitive answer, it will simply not mention you. On the other hand, if what you write everywhere is consistent and on point, only then will it dare to confidently read your name to the client.
So you will see a rather awkward scene: some factories have a whole row of search results, but in AI answers there is no trace of the factory; some factories do not shout much, but their public information is clean, consistent, and verifiable, and AI instead explains them clearly.
By analogy: search ranking is like hanging a sign high on the street, so everyone passing by can see it; AI recommendation is like a friend introducing a restaurant to another friend — he has to really be able to explain what your place does and whether it is reliable before he is willing to open his mouth. A high sign does not mean he will mention you.
Remember this sentence: search visibility does not equal AI visibility.
What Is GEO? What Does It Have to Do with SEO?
In the past two years, a term has emerged in the industry: GEO, generative engine optimization. Put plainly, it means explaining your factory's real situation clearly in a way AI can understand and trust, so that when it talks with clients about you, it does not omit you or get you wrong.
What does it have to do with SEO? SEO competes over whose link ranks first in search results; GEO competes over whether AI's mouth includes you and what it says about you. The two do not conflict and will coexist for a long time. It is just that clients increasingly do not like scrolling through links and directly listen to what AI says — there is no way around the GEO hurdle.
Do not rush to learn the technology. First remember one thing: AI is not stupid. Feeding it fake, empty, grandiose stuff is useless, and it may even backfire.
Some bosses may think, I am just a small factory, my clients are all regulars, does this matter much to me? Let me tell you, it matters because: not only will new clients ask, when old clients refer you, they will also first pull out their phones and ask, "What is this factory's background?" Whether your name is there and whether what is said about you is correct may determine, in that one glance, whether there is any further conversation.
By the way, recently there has been a new development in this industry: at the national level, rules are already being set for GEO. CAICT is leading the promotion of related assessments, and the practice of "feeding fake material" to AI is also being cleaned up. Exactly what is being regulated and how not to be fooled when looking for services — next article, we will sit down and talk it through slowly.
In our years doing OEM, we have watched clients go from flipping through yellow pages and asking connections all the way to pulling out their phones and asking AI. The entry point has changed one round after another, but what gets repeatedly mentioned has always been the kind of factory that describes itself truthfully and clearly.
"Clients Are All Asking AI" series:
① Phenomenon article (this one): Clients looking for factories already ask AI first
② Rules article: The state has begun setting rules for GEO — what exactly is being regulated
③ Action article: If you want AI to describe you correctly, what brands and factories can do now
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is the difference between GEO and SEO?
SEO is about making web pages rank first in search results, competing on link position; GEO is about making AI willing to read you, trust you, and mention you, competing on whether you are in AI's answer. One manages "ranking links," the other manages "giving conclusions." They do not conflict.
I do not do online business. Will clients still find me using AI?
Yes. Even if the client signs offline, the first step of them looking for a factory and doing homework is already completed in an AI chat box for many of them. If you do not even get into AI's "initial screening list," later matters probably have nothing to do with you.
If my official website ranks first in search, will AI recommend me?
Two different things. Search ranking is ordered by link weight, while AI cross-checks on its own before giving a name. If public information conflicts and cannot be verified, no matter how high the link ranks, AI may still bypass you.
Should small factories and small brands manage this now?
Yes, but you do not need to spend a lot of money. First make the company information on each platform true, consistent, and mutually matching. This step costs little, but it is the foundation for whether AI dares to mention you.
Some content in this article was generated with the assistance of AI tools and has been manually verified and revised by the editor.
