Purposeful Relations has adopted AMEC’s new GEO Principles which are designed to help communications professionals measure the growing influence of AI-led discovery, generative search and large language models. Purposeful Relations’ AI as a Stakeholder framework already complies with the new GEO Principles.
AMEC (International Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication) launched the AMEC GEO Principles at the AMEC Global Summit in Dublin on 20 May 2026.
The GEO Principles are a response to the changing information environment where AI-generated summaries, conversational search and zero‑click discovery shape what people see and trust. AI answers are increasingly shaping how organisations, brands and issues are found, understood and trusted online.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation), are terms used to describe how organisations appear in AI-generated answers.
In November 2025 Purposeful Relations published The Impact of Generative Relations and Communications white paper analysing research from GEO tool vendors, PR agencies and academia. The analysis found wide variation in findings, largely driven by differences in data sources and methodologies.
It concluded that many tools rely on incomplete or opaque datasets, often producing inconsistent or superficial metrics. This reinforced the need for robust, transparent measurement standards.
The white paper concluded that all of the tools on the market were limited as they were based on questionable data sources and methodologies. They frequently provided flawed metrics and vanity metrics.
The AMEC GEO Principles recognise this and are designed to help practitioners assess this responsibly, without reducing measurement to simplistic rankings, vanity metrics or opaque scores from individual tools.
Purposeful Relations co-CEO Stuart Bruce said:
“We welcome the new AMEC GEO Principles. They address many of the challenges we’ve identified while working on GEO and AEO over the last three years. Our AI as a Stakeholder framework already complies with the GEO principles.
“Every chief communication officer (CCO) should treat AI as a stakeholder and prioritise GEO/AEO within their strategy. This means auditing how their organisation appears in AI and taking practical steps to manage reputation in large language models and generative search.
“We support CCOs, PR agencies, public affairs and corporate communications consultancies with audits, strategy and training to build effective GEO/AEO capacity.”
The AMEC GEO Principles set out a practical framework for measuring AI-led discovery across three connected areas:
- Upstream reputation signals, including earned coverage, third-party commentary, reviews, expert content and owned assets
- Search and content readiness, including whether an organisation’s digital presence is credible, accessible and structured for interpretation by search engines and AI systems
- Downstream AI outputs, including how an organisation appears in AI-generated answers, citations, framing, omissions and potential reputational risk.
The principles also introduce baseline evidence requirements, including repeatable prompts, documented methods, transparent assumptions and clear limitations. They reinforce that AI outputs should be treated as directional evidence rather than absolute truth, and caution against relying on any single score, platform or tool.
You can read the full AMEC announcement at How to Measure GEO: Why AI Visibility Alone Is the Next AVE..
Purposeful Relations is an AMEC member and its co-CEO Stuart Bruce is an AMEC Fellow.
Please contact the team to assess how your organisation is represented in AI and to build a practical AI as a stakeholder GEO/AEO strategy.
AMEC GEO Principles
The seven AMEC GEO Principles are:
- AI-led discovery should be measured against communication objectives and stakeholder information needs.
- GEO measurement must assess the upstream information environment before interpreting AI-generated answers.
- Search and content readiness should be evaluated as evidence of whether reliable information can be found, understood and cited.
- Observed AI outputs are directional indicators and should be tested transparently across tools, prompts, markets, languages and time.
- GEO measurement should distinguish visibility from outcomes and connect AI discovery to awareness, trust, behaviour and impact.
- Reliable, trustworthy and current sources matter more than volume, promotion or short-term visibility.
- Ethical GEO improves the public information environment and should not manipulate, disguise or flood it.
