Walker Sands’ Rachel Cullitan says GEO must sit at the centre of B2B marketing plans

Rachel Cullitan, vice president of marketing at Walker Sands, says generative engine optimisation is now the issue every B2B marketer is wrestling with, and compares its impact to the dot-com boom.

Cullitan, who is judging B2B entries in an industry awards programme this year, has a decade of client service experience. At Walker Sands she leads programmes based on the agency’s outcomes-based approach, aiming to make every touchpoint deliver value and stand out in a crowded category.

Faster, smarter decisions

“AI is helping B2B teams move faster and make smarter decisions,” she said. It automates manual parts of targeting and optimisation and gives marketers “a much clearer read on buyer intent,” allowing them to put quality ahead of volume. Because AI can personalise at scale, teams can now deliver relevance “without burning out their teams.”

For Cullitan, AI also changes the early part of the buyer journey, where decisions begin. “Before you create demand, there has to be awareness of your brand,” she said.

She points to a figure that shapes her thinking: 90% of B2B buyers pick a vendor they already had in mind before starting their research. That is why she does not see brand and demand as competing priorities. “The trick is treating them as one system,” she said.

Lead with emotion

“Be human. Lead with emotion,” Cullitan said when asked how brands can stand out in a category dominated by rational messages. B2B buyers are still people, and she believes brands gain ground when they can “articulate a belief or a tension your buyers actually feel.”

If she were choosing where to invest next year, she said: “I’d choose LinkedIn.” She sees it as an unusual platform where buyers are reachable and in a work mindset, and where thought leadership, community and targeting come together. Treated as a long-term commitment, she believes it can become “a brand engine and a demand engine at the same time.”

The GEO challenge

“Generative engine optimization is the challenge everyone is grappling with,” Cullitan said. Generative engines are changing discovery and decision-making faster than many marketers are prepared for, and she believes GEO “has to sit at the center of the marketing plan” because every channel now affects how and when a brand enters consideration.

That is raising her expectations of the next generation of B2B talent. “They’ll need to be equal parts strategist, storyteller and technologist,” she said.

Her biggest current challenge is accountability. “Every initiative and program we take on must be tied to a measurable business outcome,” she said. Her team is working towards ambitious growth targets while buyer behaviour shifts quickly, which is forcing her to adapt, focus and agree on what will make a real difference. She said that discipline is what she wants to see in the work she judges.