Hi, I'm Kalyani Khona

AI Researcher, Investor & Writer

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Entrepreneur turned AI researcher specializing in Large Language Model behavior patterns and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).• Currently I am mapping how Large Language Models think, behave and discover information.
• Investing in the future of human-AI interaction by studying user behaviour and AI adoption. Read my published study herePreviously (2014-2024)• Founder of Inclov, the world's first matchmaking platform for people with disabilities.
• Founding Member & Product Strategy Lead, Jupiter Money
• Product Strategy Consultant, The Yoga Institute, Nispand Wellness App

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writing @ The Third Frontier (AI's impact on human experience)

Through my writing on Substack, I examine AI companions and human loneliness, search algorithms and collective memory, interface design and behaviour change. Everything is always from a place of genuine curiosity about what's actually happening to us. Nothing performative, nobody worth impressing.

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Applied Large Language Model Behavior Research and Generative Engine Optimization

Research Overview:Applied behavioral research studying how Large Language Models behave, interpret content, and make decisions. Through systematic experimentation and empirical analysis, this research explores the interpretability gap between what can be measured and what can be understood about LLM behavior.
Core Research Areas:1. How different base models handle brand mentions differently across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity.
2. Biases in pre-trained models and their effect on content discovery.
3. Why identical queries produce different responses across models and within the same model
4. Brand optimization strategies for AI discovery when AI behavior remains unpredictableAlso Read
- My paper: Behind India's ChatGPT Conversations: Published research
- Why Most AI Search Visibility Tools Are Optimizing for the Wrong India
- Rough notes on AI visibilityFull information on my Github• Last Research Update: October 20th, 2025
• Next Deep Dive Research: Multi-modal AI behavior analysis, Reranking algo of ChatGPT

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Published Research: Behind India's ChatGPT Conversations:

First Comprehensive Study of ChatGPT Usage in IndiaA Retrospective Analysis of 238 Unedited User PromptsArXiv Preprint (September 2025) • Read PaperAbstract:Understanding how users authentically interact with Large Language Models (LLMs) remains a significant challenge in human-computer interaction research. This study presents a behavioral analysis of ChatGPT usage among English-speaking urban professionals in India based on 238 authentic, unedited user prompts from 40 participants across 15+ Indian cities.

Key findings:

Methodology: Retrospective survey methodology using authentic prompt collection via anonymous social media to minimize real-time observer effects.Impact: Contributes novel methodology for capturing authentic AI usage patterns and provides evidence-based insights into cultural adaptation strategies in AI adoption.

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A deep dive into India's rapidly evolving AI visibility landscape, where traditional search is dying and smart brands are already winning the generative engine gamePicture this: It's 3 PM on a sweltering Mumbai afternoon. Priya, a marketing director at a leading fintech startup, is frantically refreshing her Google Analytics dashboard. Despite her team's best SEO efforts, organic traffic has plateaued for months. Meanwhile, her biggest competitor—a company half her size—seems to be everywhere when potential customers ask AI assistants about "best digital lending platforms in India."The uncomfortable truth? Priya's competitor isn't winning because they're better at SEO. They're winning because they've cracked the code of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)—and Priya's company is still playing yesterday's game.If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. Across India's startup ecosystem and established enterprises, a seismic shift is happening that's making traditional digital marketing playbooks obsolete faster than a Mumbai local train during rush hour.The Death of Click-Through and Birth of AI CitationsHere's a statistic that should make every Indian marketer sit up straight: Zero-click searches are projected to surpass 70% by 2025, with mobile already showing over 75% of searches ending without a website visit. For Indian businesses that have spent years perfecting their SEO strategies, this represents nothing short of an existential crisis.But here's where it gets interesting—and why Indian executives are more optimistic about this shift than anywhere else in the world.Indian business leaders demonstrate exceptional confidence compared to global peers, with 55% expecting AI-driven revenue growth exceeding 10% over three years—significantly higher than the 17% of US executives sharing similar expectations.** This isn't just blind optimism; it's calculated strategy based on early results showing Indian brands using AI-driven digital marketing strategies have achieved up to 30% increases in ROI.The Flipkart Wake-Up CallConsider Flipkart's transformation. Beyond their well-documented AI implementations serving 500 million users with personalized experiences, they've quietly become masters of what industry insiders call "AI visibility orchestration." When someone asks ChatGPT about "best e-commerce platforms for electronics in India," Flipkart doesn't just appear—they dominate the narrative.Their secret isn't more advertising spend. It's understanding that AI search works on intent, not keywords. It reads content, then grounds answers with sources. It trusts what others say about you more than what you say about yourself.This insight is driving a fundamental shift in how Indian brands approach digital presence. Traditional SEO focused on getting found; GEO focuses on getting cited, recommended, and trusted by AI systems that are increasingly mediating between customers and businesses.India's Unique GEO Advantage: The Community-First ApproachWhile Western brands are still figuring out AI optimization basics, Indian companies have stumbled upon a massive competitive advantage: authentic community engagement. This matters more than most realize because Reddit citations in AI overviews have surged 450% in just three months, with Reddit's overall search presence growing 191% in 2024.Reddit discussions about Indian businesses, products, and services are becoming primary sources for AI-generated responses. When ChatGPT or Perplexity answers questions about "reliable food delivery in Bangalore" or "best fintech apps for small businesses," they're increasingly drawing from authentic Reddit conversations where real users share unfiltered experiences.Indian brands that understand this shift are already capturing disproportionate AI visibility. Take Zomato's approach: while maintaining strong traditional SEO (54.63% organic search traffic), they've simultaneously built authentic community engagement across platforms. Their strategy recognizes that AI models prioritize real user conversations over polished marketing content.The Reddit Revolution in Indian ContextHere's what makes India's situation unique: Indian subreddits like r/India, r/IndiaInvestments, and city-specific communities have become vibrant hubs for everything from product recommendations to business discussions. These conversations are being indexed and referenced by AI systems at unprecedented rates.The data is staggering: Perplexity AI uses Reddit for 46.7% of its citations, while Google's AI Overviews rely on Reddit for 21% of their sources. For Indian businesses, this means authentic community engagement isn't just good marketing—it's becoming essential infrastructure for AI visibility.The Service Provider Paradox: Quality vs. QuantityAs I researched India's GEO landscape, a fascinating paradox emerged. While the market is flooded with agencies offering "AI optimization services," the quality gap is enormous. Most Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) tools stop at the surface. They track mentions, list prompts you missed, and ship dashboards. They do not explain why you are invisible or what to fix. Brands get reports, not steps.This creates a massive opportunity for businesses willing to invest in sophisticated AI visibility strategies. The current market leaders like Socio Labs and Brand Chanakya are capturing premium clients, but there's significant room for innovation in service delivery and measurement sophistication.The real winners are brands that understand GEO requires attribution sophistication beyond basic mention tracking. This means connecting AI citations to actual business outcomes through advanced measurement frameworks that account for the extended customer decision-making processes that AI search influences.The Technical Reality: Why Most Indian Websites Aren't AI-ReadyHere's an uncomfortable truth most agencies won't tell you: the majority of Indian websites aren't technically optimized for AI crawling and citation. AI systems have specific requirements that differ significantly from traditional search engine optimization:AI crawlers prefer clean, structured HTML over JavaScript-heavy implementations, with fast loading times (1-5 second timeouts for many AI systems).** Many Indian websites, especially those built on heavy frameworks or with poor technical foundations, simply aren't accessible to AI systems that could potentially cite them.The solution isn't just technical—it's strategic. Websites need semantic HTML structure, proper schema markup implementation, and AI-specific crawler access through robots.txt configuration that allows GPTBot, Google-Extended, ClaudeBot, CCBot, and PerplexityBot.Five Research-Backed Techniques for AI Visibility DominanceBased on extensive analysis of successful Indian implementations and global research from Princeton University and Georgia Tech, here are five proven techniques that can boost your AI visibility by up to 40%:1. The Citation Authority StackThe Strategy: Build a comprehensive citation ecosystem that AI systems trust and reference.Implementation:
- Wikipedia Optimization: Since ChatGPT draws 47.9% of its citations from Wikipedia, ensure your company has a properly maintained Wikipedia presence with high-quality, third-party sources
- Industry Publication Citations: Get mentioned in authoritative publications that AI systems regularly reference (Economic Times, Business Standard, industry reports)
- Academic and Research Integration: Contribute data or insights to research studies that become citable sourcesIndian Success Example: Paytm's transformation into an "AI-first" platform wasn't just about internal tools—it was about building citation authority across multiple platforms that AI systems reference when discussing digital payments in India.Measurable Impact: Companies implementing comprehensive citation strategies see 115.1% increase in visibility for lower-ranked websites, according to Princeton research.2. The Community Intelligence ApproachThe Strategy: Build authentic presence in community discussions that AI systems prioritize.Implementation:
- Strategic Reddit Engagement: Participate meaningfully in r/IndiaInvestments, r/IndiaTech, city-specific subreddits, and industry-relevant discussions
- Expert AMA (Ask Me Anything) Sessions: Host educational sessions that become referenceable content
- Forum Contribution Strategy: Provide valuable insights on Quora, Stack Overflow, and industry-specific forumsWhy This Works: Reddit threads increasingly appear in Google features like 'Discussions and forums' and AI Overviews, making Reddit a key player in search visibility. AI systems trust community validation more than corporate messaging.Measurement Framework: Track mention sentiment, discussion quality, and citation frequency across community platforms.3. The Fact-Dense Content ArchitectureThe Strategy: Create content specifically structured for AI parsing and citation.Implementation:
- Statistics Integration: Include relevant, updated statistics in every piece of content (AI systems prioritize fact-rich information)
- Expert Quote Incorporation: Include quotes from industry experts, customers, and credible third parties
- Question-Based Structure: Format content to directly answer questions users ask AI systems
- Schema Markup Optimization: Implement FAQ, HowTo, and Article schema for better AI understandingTechnical Requirement: Content should be comprehensive (3,000+ words perform 3x better in AI citations) while maintaining readability and structure.Validation: Research shows statistics addition and quotation inclusion significantly increase AI citation probability.4. The Cross-Platform Attribution SystemThe Strategy: Build measurement systems that connect AI citations to business outcomes.Implementation:
- Citation Volume Tracking: Monitor appearances across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and Claude
- Context Quality Analysis: Track whether you're cited for basic information or complex, authority-demonstrating topics
- Revenue Attribution Modeling: Connect AI visibility to conversion events and customer acquisition costs
- Competitive Citation Analysis: Monitor how competitors appear in AI responses relative to your brandAdvanced Technique: Use survey-based attribution to capture customer self-reported discovery methods, specifically tracking AI platform usage in the customer journey.Business Impact: Visitors from AI citations often convert at 12-18% higher rates than traditional organic traffic due to pre-qualification within AI interfaces.5. The Semantic Optimization FrameworkThe Strategy: Optimize content structure for AI comprehension and extraction.Implementation:
- Conversational Query Optimization: Target natural language phrases people use when talking to AI assistants
- Entity Relationship Building: Clearly establish your brand's relationship to key industry entities, concepts, and competitors
- Context-Rich Internal Linking: Create content clusters that help AI systems understand your expertise scope
- Technical Infrastructure: Ensure server-side rendering, avoid noindex directives on valuable content, and use canonical tags properlyIndian Context: Focus on local language nuances and regional search patterns, as voice searches comprise over 40% of queries in India and are expected to grow significantly by 2026.Implementation Timeline: Most organizations see initial AI citation improvements within 90 days, with mature programs achieving 10% of organic visits from generative engines.The Future Is Already Here (And It's Profitable)The data paints a clear picture of where Indian businesses are heading. 36% of Indian enterprises have already deployed Generative AI in production, with companies planning to significantly invest in AI-based tools over the coming 3-4 years. This isn't future planning—it's current reality.But here's what separates the winners from the wishful thinkers: successful AI visibility strategies require understanding that we're optimizing for machines that talk to humans, not just humans directly. This fundamental shift demands new approaches to content creation, community engagement, and performance measurement.The Platform Proliferation EffectWe're witnessing something unprecedented: search is becoming platform-agnostic. ChatGPT's growth from 400 million to 800 million weekly active users between February and June 2025, combined with Google's search market share declining below 90% for the first time since 2015, signals the end of the single-search-engine era.Indian businesses that adapt quickly to this multi-platform reality will capture disproportionate visibility as their competitors remain focused on traditional SEO tactics. The opportunity window is substantial but narrowing as awareness grows.The Attribution RevolutionPerhaps the most significant shift is in measurement sophistication. Traditional analytics methods miss the significant brand awareness and consideration influence that AI search citations provide throughout extended customer decision-making processes. Companies that master multi-touch attribution for AI visibility will have sustainable competitive advantages.This is where Indian businesses have a unique opportunity. The market's current focus on basic tracking and reporting creates space for sophisticated attribution modeling that connects AI visibility to actual business outcomes.The Execution Reality CheckDespite the opportunity, implementation remains challenging. Most Indian companies are underutilizing AI potential, but the impact of AI in marketing is already transforming the business landscape, helping leaders make data-informed decisions with greater efficiency and accuracy.The key is understanding that GEO isn't a replacement for SEO—it's an evolution that requires new skills, tools, and strategic thinking. Organizations implementing comprehensive GEO strategies report achieving 10% of organic visits from generative engines within 90 days, with conversion rates often exceeding traditional search traffic.The Skills Gap ChallengeOne critical obstacle many Indian businesses face is the skills gap. Engineers with deep expertise in design and manufacturing often lack even foundational data science skills needed for sophisticated AI optimization. This extends to marketing teams that understand traditional digital marketing but struggle with AI-specific optimization requirements.The solution isn't just training—it's strategic partnership with agencies and consultants who understand both the technical and strategic aspects of AI visibility optimization.

Actionable Takeaways To Get started with generative engine optimisation or AI search visibility right away:Here's a framework based on successful Indian implementations:Phase 1: Foundation Assessment (Week 1-2)- Audit your current AI visibility (search for your brand across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI)
- Evaluate your technical infrastructure for AI accessibility
- Assess your community engagement and social presence qualityPhase 2: Quick Wins Implementation (Month 1)- Fix technical barriers preventing AI crawling
- Begin authentic community engagement on relevant platforms
- Optimize existing high-performing content for AI citationPhase 3: Strategic Integration (Month 2-3)- Develop comprehensive measurement frameworks
- Build systematic content creation processes for AI optimization
- Establish cross-platform citation monitoringPhase 4: Advanced Optimization (Month 4+)- Implement sophisticated attribution modeling
- Scale community engagement strategies
- Develop thought leadership content that becomes referenceableIndia's AI Visibility MomentWe're witnessing a fundamental shift in how businesses get discovered, evaluated, and chosen by customers. The winners in the search landscape of 2025 and beyond will be brands prioritizing conversions over traffic, quality over quantity, and strategic AI integration rather than resisting it.For Indian businesses, this shift represents both unprecedented opportunity and significant risk. Companies that act now, while the market is still developing, will establish advantages that become increasingly difficult for competitors to overcome.The choice is clear: adapt to the age of AI mediated discovery, or risk becoming invisible as customer behavior evolves beyond traditional search patterns.The companies that will thrive aren't necessarily the largest or best-funded—they're the ones that understand human-AI interaction patterns and non-deterministic AI behavior well enough to position themselves at the intersection of customer questions and AI-generated answers.The question isn't whether AI will transform how Indian businesses connect with customers. The question is whether your business will be part of that transformation or a casualty of it.Key TakeawaysThe Market Reality: 55% of Indian executives expect 10%+ revenue growth from AI initiatives, with early adopters already seeing 30% ROI improvements.Community Is King: Reddit citations in AI responses increased 450% in 2024, making authentic community engagement essential for AI visibility.
Technical Foundation Matters: Most Indian websites aren't AI-ready, creating opportunities for businesses that prioritize technical optimization for AI crawlers.Attribution Is Everything: Success requires sophisticated measurement connecting AI citations to business outcomes, not just tracking mentions.The Window Is Narrowing: With 36% of Indian enterprises already deploying GenAI in production, early movers are establishing advantages that will be difficult to overcome.The future of search isn't coming—it's here. The only question is whether you're ready to seize it.Kalyani Khona
Researcher, Third Frontier LabsAlso read: Behind India's ChatGPT usage