Insights · Field note 03
Search optimisation got you onto a results page. Generative engine optimisation gets you inside the sentence an assistant writes. Different mechanism, different signals, same stakes.
For twenty years the goal was a blue link near the top. A growing share of buyers never reach it — they ask an assistant and act on the paragraph it returns. If your name isn't in that paragraph, you were never in the running.
The signals overlap but don't match. Classic SEO rewards backlinks and keywords; generative visibility rewards clarity, structured facts, consistent identity, and being described accurately across engines.
AI HALO measures and improves the generative side specifically: the four signals, across every assistant your buyers use, with a re-scan that proves the lift.