Customer Journey.

Hardly any customer decides at the first contact. Between the moment a need arises and the purchase lie several steps: you notice the problem, look for solutions, compare providers, read reviews, ask friends, send an enquiry, decide. The customer journey describes this path and all the points at which a company is or could be visible. After the purchase it continues: use, service, repeat purchase, recommendation.

Common models divide the journey into phases, such as awareness, interest, consideration, purchase and retention. Each phase needs different content. In the early phase, guides and glossaries that answer a question help. During consideration, references, prices and comparisons count. Shortly before the decision, an easy way to get in touch and quick answers count. The marketing funnel is a simplified, funnel-shaped view of the same idea.

A new touchpoint is currently changing the journey considerably: AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google's AI Overviews. Many people now put their question to an assistant and receive a summary with a few recommendations. Anyone not mentioned there drops out of the consideration phase before the customer has even visited a website. That is the core of GEO.

Only part of the journey can be measured. Web analytics and ad accounts record clicks and visits, but hardly the conversation at the family dinner table, a neighbour's recommendation or a glance at the company van. A customer journey analysis therefore combines data with conversations: asking new customers how they came across the company often reveals more than any report.