Generative systems like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity are quietly taking over the early parts of discovery – the “what should I know?” stage that once sent millions of people to your website.
Visibility now isn’t just about who ranks. It’s about who gets referenced inside the models that guide those decisions.
The metrics we’ve lived by – impressions, sessions, CTR – still matter, but they no longer tell the full story.
Mentions, citations, and structured visibility signals are becoming the new levers of trust and the path to revenue.
This article pulls together data from Siege Media’s two-year content performance study, Grow and Convert’s conversion findings, Seer Interactive’s AI Overview research, and what we’re seeing firsthand inside generative platforms.
Together, they offer a clearer view of where visibility, engagement, and buying intent are actually moving as AI takes over more of the user journey – and has its eye on even more.
Content type popularity and engagement trends
In a robust study, the folks at Siege Media analyzed two years of performance across various industry blogs, covering more than 7.2 million sessions. It’s an impressive dataset, and kudos to them for sharing it publicly.
A disclaimer worth noting: the data focuses on blog content, so these trends may not map directly to other formats such as videos, documentation, or landing pages.
With that in mind, here’s a run-through of what they surfaced.
TL;DR of the Siege Media study
Pricing and cost content saw the strongest growth over the past two years, while top-of-funnel guides and “how-to” posts declined sharply.
They suggest that pricing pages gained ground at the expense of TOFU content. I interpret this differently.
Pricing content didn’t simply replace TOFU because the relationship isn’t zero-sum.
As user patterns evolve, buyers increasingly start with generative research, then move to high-intent queries like pricing or comparisons as they get closer to a decision.
That distinction – correlation vs. causation – matters a lot in understanding what’s really changing.
The data shows major growth in pricing pages, calculators, and comparison content.
Meanwhile, guides and tutorials – the backbone of legacy SEO – took a sharp hit.
Keep that drop in mind. We’ll circle back to it later.
Interestingly, every major content category saw an increase in engagement. That makes sense.
As users complete more of their research inside generative engines, they reach your site later in the journey or for additional details, when they’re already motivated and ready to act.
If you’re a data-driven SEO, this might sound like a green light to focus exclusively on bottom-of-funnel content.
Why bother with top-of-funnel “traffic” that doesn’t convert?
Leave that for the suckers chasing GEO visibility metrics for vanity,…
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