Chinese media reports that some developers in the Chinese market have launched services that “make products easier for AI to recommend,” claiming to help businesses shift from being “searched” to being “recommended.” This allows Chinese consumers to use AI to recommend these AI-powered products when they ask for consumer advice.

According to The media, Chinese consumers have recently complained that when they ask AI questions, the responses often include recommendations for specific brands, raising doubts about whether AI can maintain a neutral and objective stance and whether it can remain completely objective in product recommendations.

According to reports, investigations have revealed the emergence of services in China that “make products more easily recommended by AI.” The developers of these programs have even proclaimed slogans such as, “If you don’t implement this strategy, AI will recommend your competitors,” and “It will help you shift from being ‘searched’ to being ‘recommended’; missing out means losing future traffic.”

According to the “AI-Driven Consumer Decision-Making and Marketing Transformation White Paper” released by the Zhihu Research Institute in 2025, consulting AI about consumer-related issues has become increasingly common among Chinese consumers. Among them, 55% of consumers believe that AI’s answers have a significant impact on their purchasing decisions, ultimately leading to as many as 81% of consumers at least partially adopting AI suggestions to complete their purchases.

The report mentions that this type of service falls under “Generative Engine Optimization” (GEO). Its principle is not to directly command AI, but rather to influence AI data sources by publishing articles containing product information, thus making it easier for AI to recommend relevant products when responding to questions.

The report states that, according to surveys, Chinese consumers have a high level of trust in AI in AI-driven environments. This makes “whether AI can accurately recognize and recommend my brand” a new challenge that advertisers and businesses must face, leading to the emergence of GEO.

According to reports, developers offering this service provide various sales plans, durations, and features, with prices ranging from RMB 200 (approximately NT$908) per year to RMB 299 per month.

Regarding the effectiveness, one developer stated that it depends on the “level of business competition.” Some cases only require one or two recommended articles, but most cases require continuous publishing. Another developer claimed to have over 3,000 cases covering multiple manufacturing and service sectors, and that clients’ products consistently appear on the recommendation lists whenever different AIs are asked to recommend products.

However, the report points out that by 2025, a number of GEO “optimization service providers” specializing in this area will rapidly emerge in China. However, some of these companies are engaging in short-sighted practices, leading to problems such as “ranking manipulation, information pollution, and false advertising.” This not only reduces consumer trust in AI but also disrupts market order and damages the long-term value of brands.

It said that “The practice of artificially suppressing the exposure of competitors’ information in order to improve the recommendation ranking of one’s own products has disrupted the fair competition market order, damaged the business reputation of other businesses, and is suspected of violating China’s “Anti-Unfair Competition Law”.