In May 2026, Klarna, the global digital bank and flexible payments provider, launched the Klarna Shopping Search application (app) in ChatGPT. The search app allows consumers to describe the types of products they are looking for and see visual results with current prices, availability, and offers from various merchants. The Klarna Shopping Search app then redirects users to the merchant’s site, where they can complete their purchases.
This launch by Klarna is a timely global marketing strategy given that Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is overtaking traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Generative Engine Optimization is when companies optimize content to be cited and recommended by AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google Gemini. For two decades, SEO was a critical strategy for how brands earned attention online. Generative AI platforms on the other hand, do not only return just a list of sources, but they also synthesize an answer showing links of those sources, and recommended brands. If a brand is not in that answer, it is considered invisible to a segment of a specific market.
Klarna reported that traffic from AI platforms to retail sites grew nearly 700% during the 2025 holiday season, with those shoppers converting at 31% higher rates. This is evidence that GEO is becoming critical in generating revenue. It solves one of the major problems with AI-assisted shopping. Consumers may ask an AI chatbot what to buy, but they often still need to open browser tabs, compare retailers, check whether prices are current, and make sure the item is in stock. Klarna’s goal is to compress that process into one flow. The Chief Marketing Officer, David Sandstrom, told ADWEEK that AI is now embedded across workflows, and is helping drive $1 million in revenue per employee.
GEO in Modern Marketing
According to Mary Kyriakidi, a global thought leader on brand guidance, the brands that win with GEO are those whose emotional narrative and factual footprint tell the same story. The bridge between what people feel and what machines interpret is GEO and it is rapidly becoming an important discipline in modern marketing. For brands to win with GEO, they should ensure people understand the brand emotionally and machines interpret it structurally. To do this, brands should treat their websites as sources of truth, not a shop window (built to be machine-readable and useful to humans). They should also convert social media interactions into machine-readable signals which AI models can pick up consistently. Having a clear competitive advantage is key. When that advantage is expressed the same way across sources, it is more likely to surface in generative answers.
Brands must ensure AI models introduce the brand with their strongest, most differentiated value proposition. Finally, it is important to monitor the machine’s perception closely because consumers’ perceptions are determined by the stories, the reviews, and the recommendations they trust.
Klarna’s Milestone
Klarna was recently listed on the New York Stock Exchange as it challenges established consumer banks and aims to be number one on the global payment market. The company is seriously taking on its competitors, Affirm in the USA and London-based Revolut on the European market. “We believe that the primary thing is to have many customers and be global. And that is our great strength: 111 million customers in Europe and the USA,” said Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Klarna’s CEO.
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