Eco Africa Digital CEO Lizanne du Plessis shares insights from her CNBC Africa interview on generative engine optimization, AI search, smart content and the future of tourism marketing in Africa.

There's a dangerous misunderstanding taking hold in digital marketing: that AI means replacing human storytelling with automated content. For conservation brands especially, that's exactly the wrong instinct. AI should make the human story easier to find and easier to act on — and nowhere is that more obvious than at Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary in Mpumalanga.

If your tourism brand is still relying on isolated blogs and basic SEO tactics, you’re already falling behind. Search has changed. We are no longer optimising only for Google’s ranking algorithm; we are now optimising for AI systems that choose which brands to recommend. And this is where SEO clusters and GEO clusters become critical.