- Brands without Trustpilot accounts only appeared in 1% of AI-generated responses
- Review and trust platforms are the second most cited type of source
- Relevance, recency and classification are vital in a good GEO strategy
Trustpilot claims that companies could be effectively “invisible” in AI-generated responses if they fail to generate visible trust signals through customer reviews and engagement, signaling a new post-SEO era.
While search engine optimization remains key, generative engine optimization (GEO) has introduced even more challenges for businesses looking to survive into 2026 and beyond.
According to Trustpilot research, only those with active review profiles are more likely to appear in AI results based on analysis of 800,000 responses across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google’s AI mode.
Reviews Could Revolutionize Your Business
Alarming data reveals that brands without a Trustpilot presence were cited in just 1% of AI-generated responses. In contrast, those with more than 80 reviews were cited in more than three-quarters of the responses.
Fortunately, even laying the foundation can generate significant momentum. By creating a Trustpilot account, or presumably a similar online review account, the company saw companies being cited in more than half (53.5%) of the AI-generated responses. More reviews, responses, and engagement lead to even greater visibility.
This is all important information for companies looking to increase visibility, as more than half (58%) of consumers now use AI to find products and services, a figure that is expected to increase.
The report states that brands increasingly need AI visibility, as well as (not instead of) search visibility, as AI-generated responses quickly emerge as the new front page for businesses.
More broadly, review and trust platforms are playing a larger role in AI discovery. According to the data, they are now the second most cited source type in AI-generated responses, accounting for 14% of all citations.
The availability of new content, detailed information and signals of public trust and legitimacy influence the prevalence of review platforms in AI-generated responses, the firm said, summarizing the ‘3Rs’: relevance, recency and ranking.
Trustpilot criticized company websites for being static, corporate places of information, while public forums, like review sites, offer real-time, conversational, experience-based details to tick the relevance box.
The recent is where Trustpilot sings its own praises, racking up around 200,000 reviews daily by 2025, while a domain authority score of 94/100 gives this website a high ranking in information retrieval using artificial intelligence engines.
Looking at the industry as a whole, the report details how AI systems increasingly combine traditional search indexing (hence the continued importance of SEO), retrieval systems, LLMs, and real-time web grounding.
Why it is important to respond to reviews
While opening a profile can increase AI visibility to some extent, Trustpilot found that responding to reviews and engaging with customers gives businesses the best chance of appearing in AI-generated search results.
It’s not clear why, but the company assumes that two-way interaction could reduce spam signals and demonstrate accountability.
Live streams also show that a business is still operational, that customer support exists, and that complaints are addressed.
“In an era of AI-powered purchasing processes, trust is a high-value, quantifiable asset for businesses,” said Chief Customer Officer Alicia Skubick.
While Trustpilot’s findings focus on its own business model, the data points to a broader shift in how businesses need to reach customers in an AI-first era.
Future discovery strategies must go beyond SEO to include trust signals, customer engagement, and real-time insights to address the emerging challenge that is GEO.
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