Marketing consulting meets technology.
SEO, GEO, AI Consulting and Marketing Automation for Swiss SMEs
We help you identify what your business really needs – and implement it with you when required. So you can focus on your core business, not marketing and technology.
30 minutes, free and without obligation. We’ll get back to you within 24 hours.
Publications and specialist articles
Expert articles and insights on OMT.de, Marketing.ch and the AFS Academy for Modern, Data-Driven Marketing.
Many SMEs know they need to take action.The question is: what comes first?
Improve SEO? Invest in AI visibility? Introduce AI into the business? Automate processes? Or first review existing marketing activities?
That is where Zündstoff Marketing comes in. We combine marketing consulting with technical expertise and first identify where the most meaningful opportunity lies for your business.
Not every measure makes sense for every company at the same time. Sometimes greater visibility is the priority. Sometimes the technical foundation needs attention. Sometimes AI can solve the right problem. And sometimes automation creates more value than another marketing campaign.
That is why we recommend what we believe makes sense after analysing your situation – not simply what is easiest to sell.
What we do and who we work for
Marketing consulting for Swiss SMEs, backed by technical expertise.
Zündstoff Marketing is a marketing and technology consultancy based in the Basel region. We support small and medium-sized businesses in Switzerland with questions about visibility, AI and automation.
Our approach. Understand, analyse, prioritise, implement, develop further. First we clarify where your business stands and what it really needs. Only then do we decide together which measures make sense.
SEO. Classic organic visibility in search engines such as Google.
GEO. Visibility and presence in generative AI systems such as ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google AI Overviews.
AI consulting. Selecting and using AI, LLMs, tools and use cases sensibly in your business.
Marketing automation. Sensible automation of recurring marketing and business processes.
Advice first, implementation when you need it. We show you which measures are worthwhile and why. We take on the implementation to the extent you want, whether individual steps or the whole package. No artificial dependency.
In a free initial consultation we get to know each other and clarify where you stand today and what you want to achieve.
Free AI visibility check
How visible are you to AI?
Services
Our four areas of expertise
AI Consulting
Which AI tool, which LLM or which approach suits your business? We assess use cases, compare options and recommend what makes sense for you. Also available as a stand-alone consultation.
GEO
Visibility and presence in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and other generative AI systems. We test, monitor and compare how your business appears there, and improve the foundations for it.
SEO
Classic organic visibility in search engines such as Google. Technical SEO, content and local optimisation for SMEs in Basel, the region and across Switzerland.
Marketing Automation
Sensible automation of recurring marketing and business processes, such as lead management, content publishing or email routing. So it runs without your daily involvement.
Market changes
Search is changing radically.Are you ready?
The traffic shift
68%
According to Gartner, classic Google search volume will drop by up to 25% by 2026. SparkToro shows that almost 68% of searches already end without a single click to a website.
The purchase decision
42%
According to HubSpot, 42% of decision-makers already use AI search engines to evaluate providers. AI filters the web for clear facts and sources, as the Princeton GEO study shows.
Source: HubSpot, Princeton-GEO-Studie
Your opportunity
Now
According to BrightLocal, most local SMEs are not yet optimized for AI search. Whoever starts now secures the first-mover advantage before the competition does.
Source: BrightLocal
Process
This is how the collaboration works
Understand
In the free initial consultation (30 minutes) we get to know each other. We listen, understand your situation and your goals, and tell you honestly what makes sense for you.
Analyse and prioritise
Once the scope and the question are clear, we analyse your starting point, for example your visibility on Google and in AI systems, your use of AI or your processes. From that we prioritise the measures with the greatest benefit for your business.
Implement and develop further
If you wish, we implement the measures with you, in full or in individual steps. After that we develop them further together.
Why Zündstoff Marketing?
Consulting that listens first and then recommends.
Four core areas, one direct point of contact.
IT DNA meets Marketing
Francisco Montemari was a System Engineer in IT and holds a diploma in Marketing Management. Two worlds that rarely come together — working together here: technically sound systems and marketing with measurable results.
Four independent areas
SEO, GEO, AI consulting and marketing automation are separate areas for us. You can engage us for a single area, for example only to assess a suitable AI tool, or for several together.
Consulting first
We show you what to do and why. Which measures in visibility, AI use or automation make sense for your business, and where they are worthwhile and where not. If you can implement them yourself, great. If not, we take care of it.
Swiss SME focus
No standard recipe for the DACH region. We know the Swiss SME market, its languages and specifics, and tailor our recommendations to it.
Client voices
What customers say about Francisco
Sandro Bucher
Former Head of Tourism & Mobility
UNESCO Biosphäre Entlebuch
I had the pleasure of working with Francisco Montemari on a social media project for us – the UNESCO Entlebuch Biosphere Reserve – as well as for Lucerne Tourism and the Weggis, Vitznau and Rigi region.
Francisco provided us with excellent support, from initial consultation and the quotation stage through to the creation of the adverts and the launch of the campaigns using Google Ads, Facebook and Instagram paid posts. Working with Francisco is a real pleasure; he is incredibly dedicated, critically assesses our objectives and provides expert advice until we can make even better decisions together. Within the limits of what is technically possible, Francisco always tries to accommodate all our wishes and needs or comes up with excellent suggestions. As a tourism partner, I can highly recommend Francisco. This collaborative partnership with him is a real asset.
Thank you, Francisco, for your great commitment and the opportunities we’ve had to work together. It’s been a real pleasure. I look forward to staying in touch with you.
Monika Portmann
Administration and Finance
Grabenlos AG
Working with Francisco Montemari on the relaunch of the grabenlos-ag.ch website was a great success. I was particularly impressed by his in-depth marketing knowledge and his ability to implement technical SEO optimisations efficiently.
Martin Studer
Coaching
msc coaching GmbH
I got to know and appreciate Francisco whilst working on a marketing project.
His analytical approach and the creative ideas that stem from it are of inestimable value to me and my company in terms of our future development.
I was impressed by Francisco’s professional attitude.
Tiziana Jaggi-Stagliano
Assistant, Sales & Marketing
RSAG-Nord
I had the pleasure of getting to know Francisco Montemari as part of our website project, during which he acted as our point of contact from the agency.
He was always prompt, reliable and solution-oriented, as well as competent and a pleasure to work with. I particularly appreciated his clear feedback and the fact that he was always willing to help, even with last-minute requests. It was exactly the sort of collaboration one hopes for — friendly, professional and straightforward.
Blog
Our knowledge. Shared openly.
ChatGPT Ads: How context-based advertising works and what it means for GEO
Since the end of August 2026, ChatGPT Ads have also been available to advertisers in Switzerland via the Self-Service Ads Manager. Unlike traditional keyword advertising, the system takes into account, amongst other things, the context and intent of an ongoing conversation, the landing page, ad copy, context hints, targeting and bids. OpenAI explicitly separates paid adverts from organic ChatGPT responses. Initial data from the US shows that, out of 3,697 adverts analysed, the advertiser appeared simultaneously in the organic ChatGPT response in only 5.4 per cent of cases. This creates a second channel for visibility in AI systems for businesses alongside GEO: Paid AI Visibility.
Read →
AI search engines: Who holds what market share?
ChatGPT currently dominates website referral traffic generated by AI platforms, accounting for around 75 per cent. However, it would be incorrect to infer from this that ChatGPT also holds around three-quarters of the entire AI or search engine market. This figure refers exclusively to the share of AI referral traffic to websites – not to user numbers, search volume or the overall search market. Measured against total website traffic, this channel remains small but is growing significantly. At the same time, there is a fundamental shift in how users search for information and consume answers. This has direct implications for websites, publishers and SEO and GEO strategies. Anyone wishing to correctly interpret the market shares of AI search tools must therefore clearly distinguish between the traditional search market, platform usage, AI referral traffic and integrated AI search experiences such as Google AI Overviews.
Read →
AI-driven automation: optimising processes and cutting costs
AI automation uses machine-learning algorithms and processes unstructured data such as emails or PDFs to independently optimise processes within Swiss businesses. According to the AXA SME Labour Market Study 2025, 34 per cent of Swiss SMEs are already actively using artificial intelligence to optimise their workflows in a targeted manner – a further 37 per cent are trialling the technology. The areas of application are diverse: marketing and sales benefit from lead qualification; chatbots are used in customer service; and automated document scanning and CV screening are employed in accounts and HR. The costs include implementation and licence fees, although investments in Swiss SMEs often pay for themselves within just a few months. Significant risks relate to data quality and compliance with data protection regulations under the DSG.
Read →FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Zündstoff Marketing combines marketing consulting with technical expertise. We support Swiss SMEs with SEO, GEO and AI visibility, AI consulting, and marketing automation. We first analyse which measures make sense for your business before discussing implementation.
SEO improves organic visibility in traditional search engines such as Google. Generative Engine Optimization, or GEO, focuses on how businesses and their content are understood, classified, and considered in answers from generative AI systems. The two disciplines can complement each other, but they pursue different goals.
Our AI consulting helps businesses identify meaningful uses for artificial intelligence and select suitable models, LLMs, or tools. The aim is not to use as much AI as possible, but to find the solution that fits the specific use case.
For marketing automation, we review recurring processes and identify tasks that can be automated in a meaningful way. The goal is to reduce manual work and make workflows more efficient, without automating processes merely for the sake of automation.
Both are possible. We can provide consulting only and give you a clear basis for decision-making. If you need support with implementation, we can also implement suitable measures or assist your existing team or agency.
During the 30-minute initial consultation, we learn about your business, your current situation, and your goals. The consultation is free and without obligation. It does not include an in-depth analysis. If an analysis would be useful, we then define its scope, questions, and cost together.
What does your business need next?
30 minutes, free and without obligation. We’ll get back to you within 24 hours.