Generative AI Optimization: The New Frontier

Graduate | Mar 09, 2026 | Gabelli School of Business

A workshop led by Brian Stempeck, the CEO and Co-Founder of Evertune AI

Have you used AI today?

This was the opening question of last week’s Generative AI Optimization Workshop, hosted by Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business Marketing Area. Guest speaker Brian Stempeck, CEO and co-founder of Evertune AI, began with this question to prove one simple point: the prevalence of AI search. As you could guess, in a room full of university students, every single hand went up.

And I’m sure many of you reading answered the same question with a reluctant yes.

AI models are being incorporated into nearly every search engine we use: Google, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Spotify. Search engine optimization (SEO) is evolving into its next stage. We are no longer optimizing solely for search to appeal to consumers; instead, we are optimizing to target AI agents and bots.

Think about it this way: in today’s economy, businesses and consumers interact more directly than ever before. E-commerce and social media have supercharged a business’s ability to connect with its audience. In every interaction, a business needs to win a consumer’s choice and ultimately, their purchase.

But what happens if a human is no longer making that decision? What if instead it’s made by an agentic AI? Would you even be marketing to people at that point?

One thing is certain: you wouldn’t be marketing in the same way. Your couponing strategy, for example, would look completely different. You might even set up ChatGPT to distribute coupons for your product as a form of advertising, just as you would in a grocery store or on an app today.

Simply put, the strategies don’t entirely change, but the who and how of presenting them does.

So, how do we optimize our businesses to perform when AI search dominates consumer culture?

That’s where Stempeck’s innovation comes in. Evertune AI is a platform designed to help brands evaluate their visibility within AI systems. Much like consumer research, which focuses on understanding human audiences, Evertune analyzes large language models to understand how brands are perceived. It enables companies to see brand visibility, sentiment, and search influence across various large language models, including ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude.

During the session, Stempeck brought these ideas to life through a hands-on walkthrough of the Evertune platform. Each student received trial access to conduct a case study. Using the Evertune dashboard, students examined brand visibility and compared the performance of a brand in focus against key competitors to answer managerial questions. The exercise demonstrated how differences in AI interpretation can directly influence brand exposure and recommendation outcomes.

Hear from one student as he reflected on the case study:

“I personally am bearish on Artificial Intelligence in marketing. Coming from an events and hospitality background, I truly value the human touchpoint. But if artificial intelligence as an industry continues in the direction it is going, I can 100% see AI search dominating industries like CPG & B2B sales. In this case, brands will need a way to test their performance in AI search and optimize accordingly. We got to work with a product today that does exactly that. We are looking at what could be the next stage of consumer research and understanding. What an amazing experience!”

As AI agents increasingly shape how people search, evaluate, and purchase products, marketing is set to undergo a fundamental transformation. Brands will shift from persuading consumers to optimizing how AI systems rank and recommend them. Marketers will move from studying human perception to studying machines’ interpretation of that perception. We are at the edge of the next industrial revolution. Are you ready for AI to do your shopping for you?

A special thank you to our guest speaker, Brian Stempeck, for bringing such a special experience to the Gabelli School community.

A special thank you to the Marketing Area for organizing this workshop, which can only be described as absolutely brilliant!

Written by: Zach Creekmore – MSMI ’26; Chris Remmell – MSMI ‘26