Who Google’s AI Mode names for GEO in Egypt and the Gulf: 14 questions, October 2026

More buyers in the Gulf and Egypt now ask an AI assistant for a supplier instead of scrolling through search results. To see who gets named, the GrowAxis team asked Google’s AI Mode 14 questions about GEO (generative engine optimisation) and AI SEO on 27 October 2026, each from the country it was about. We also looked at what people in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt search for on Google.

What AI Mode answered

• It named agencies in 10 of the 11 questions that asked for an agency, between 4 and 12 each. The exception, an AI SEO agency in Dubai for startups and SMEs, got general advice instead.
• Three of the 11 were read as something else: “GEO agency” in Egypt and in Kuwait also brought geospatial firms, and “AEO agency” in Abu Dhabi also brought the customs status Authorized Economic Operator.
• In Saudi Arabia and Egypt, most links behind the answers were the named agencies’ own pages, offering GEO or AI SEO in that country.
• In Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, “top agencies” list articles were cited too, one publisher of such lists in all four. For “AI SEO agency in Dubai”, the answer opened with a map of agencies with Dubai addresses.
• For the three “how do I get recommended by ChatGPT” questions, AI Mode cited firms’ own guides, Quora, Reddit, LinkedIn and YouTube. In the UAE, eight of the nine cited sites were marketing and technology firms’ guides.
• GrowAxis was named in none of the 14. On the same day, AI Mode named it first for digital marketing agencies for startups and SMEs in Dubai, Riyadh and Egypt, questions its own pages already answered. Those checks ran in a signed-in browser, which AI Mode personalises, so treat them as a signal rather than a ranking.

What people search for on Google

• Worldwide, over the twelve months to 27 October 2026, “ai seo” averaged 58 against 35 for “aeo”, 9 for “generative engine optimization” and 8 for “geo seo”. Searches for “aeo” rose 59% and “generative engine optimization” 68% in the last six months against the six before.
• In the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, “generative engine optimization”, “geo seo”, “llm seo” and “chatgpt seo” were below Google’s threshold in 50 or more of the 53 weeks.
• “ai seo” is the GEO term with steady searches. In the UAE it averaged 11, against 38 for “seo dubai” and 41 for “ai marketing”.
• “seo for ai” is the top search related to “ai seo” in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. In the UAE, “ai seo agency” rose 60% and “seo agency dubai” 200%, and “geo vs seo” rose 140% as a search related to “geo seo”.
• “ai search” and “ai overview” are searched far more than any GEO term: 64 and 37 in the UAE, 51 and 31 in Saudi Arabia, and 42 and 20 in Egypt, against 13, 8 and 6 for “ai seo”.

How to read the numbers

• Each Trends score is the average weekly interest over twelve months on Google’s 0–100 scale, compared within one country and one set of terms, where 100 is the busiest week of the busiest term. Scores from different sets do not compare.
• Rising related searches compare the last twelve months with the twelve before.
• AI Mode answers change with the person, the day and the wording. Each question was asked once, so treat the counts as a snapshot, not a ranking.

What it means for a company that wants to be named

1. 01Put the service and the place together in plain words. The agencies AI Mode named had pages that offered the service in that city or country.
2. 02Spell out abbreviations. GEO and AEO mean other things in this region; “generative engine optimisation (GEO)” cannot be misread.
3. 03Use the buyer’s words. People in the Gulf and Egypt search for “ai seo”, not “generative engine optimization”, and ask assistants in full sentences.
4. 04Get on the lists. Where list articles and directories are cited, being on them is the shortest route into the answer.
5. 05Write the guide for your market. For “how do I…” questions, AI Mode cited firms that had written the answer for that country.
6. 06Check from the right country. Answers change with location and language, so ask from the market you sell to, in English and Arabic.

The 14 questions

• United Arab Emirates: best GEO agency in Dubai for getting recommended by ChatGPT (4 agencies named); AI SEO agency in Dubai (6, with a map); AI SEO agency in Dubai for startups and SMEs (advice, none named); AEO agency in Abu Dhabi (4, and customs answers); how can my company get recommended by ChatGPT in the UAE (a how-to).
• Saudi Arabia: generative engine optimization (GEO) company in Saudi Arabia (5); AI SEO agency in Riyadh (4); how to get my business recommended by ChatGPT in Saudi Arabia (a how-to).
• Egypt: GEO agency in Egypt (5, and geospatial firms); which agencies in Egypt offer GEO, generative engine optimization (12); AI SEO company in Cairo (4); how to get my company mentioned by ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews in Egypt (a how-to).
• Qatar and Kuwait: AI SEO and GEO agency in Qatar (5); GEO agency in Kuwait (4, and geospatial firms).

How GrowAxis helps

GrowAxis runs GEO with SEO for startups and SMEs in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, from a team in Cairo, in English and Arabic: the AI visibility check, pages that say what, for whom and where, one set of facts, mentions where assistants look and a monthly check. It is part of GrowDigital and goes live within 30 days.

About this research

AI Mode: 14 questions asked in English in Google’s AI Mode on 27 October 2026 by the GrowAxis team, with the location set to the country asked about, one run each in a signed-in browser. Trends: interest over time and related queries, twelve months to 27 October 2026, for the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and worldwide, queried on 27 October 2026. The Trends scores are in the GrowAxis search data CSV with our other studies, free to quote with a link to this page.