ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Albuquerque Fire Rescue responded to a fire at a home in northeast Albuquerque Tuesday morning. A total of 11 apparatus and 28 firefighters were dispatched to 2833 Madison St. NE at 4:19 a.m. and found a working fire with smoke. AFR said the fire was brought under control within 45 minutes and […]
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Albuquerque Fire Rescue responds to fire at northeast home
Counsel seeks death sentence for ex-S. Korean leader Yoon over martial law imposition
SEOUL, South Korea — An independent counsel on Tuesday demanded a death sentence for former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on rebellion charges in connection with his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024.
Removed from office last April, Yoon faces eight trials over various criminal charges related to his martial law debacle and other scandals related to his time in office. Charges that he directed a rebellion are the most significant ones.
Independent counsel Cho Eun-suk’s team requested the Seoul Central District Court to sentence Yoon to death, according to the court.
The Seoul court is expected to deliver a verdict on Yoon in February. Experts say the court likely will sentence him to life in prison. South Korea hasn’t executed anyone since 1997.
Yoon was scheduled to make remarks at Tuesday’s hearing. He has maintained that his decree was a desperate yet peaceful attempt to raise public awareness about what he considered the danger of the liberal opposition Democratic Party, which used its legislative majority to obstruct his agenda. He called the opposition-controlled parliament “a den of criminals” and “anti-state forces.”
Yoon’s decree, the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea, brought armed troops into Seoul streets to encircle the assembly and enter election offices. That evoked traumatic memories of dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s, when military-backed rulers used martial law and other emergency decrees to station soldiers and armored vehicles in public places to suppress pro-democracy protests.
On the night of Yoon’s martial law declaration, thousands of people rushed to the National Assembly to object to the decree and demand his resignation in dramatic scenes. Enough lawmakers, including even those in Yoon’s ruling party, managed to enter an assembly hall to vote down the decree.
Observers described Yoon’s action as political suicide. Parliament impeached him and sent the case to the Constitutional Court, which ruled to dismiss him as president.
It was a spectacular downfall for Yoon, a former star prosecutor who won South Korea’s presidency in 2022, a year after entering politics.
Lee Jae Myung, a former Democratic Party leader who led Yoon’s impeachment bid, became president by winning a snap election last June. After taking office, Lee appointed three independent counsels to delve into allegations involving Yoon, his wife and associates.
There had been speculation that Yoon resorted to martial law to protect his wife, Kim Keon Hee, from potential corruption investigations. But in wrapping up a six-month investigation last month, independent counsel Cho’s team concluded that Yoon plotted for over a year to impose martial law to eliminate his political rivals and monopolize power.
Yoon’s decree and ensuing power vacuum plunged South Korea into political turmoil, halted the country’s high-level diplomacy and rattled its financial markets.
Yoon’s earlier vows to fight attempts to impeach and arrest him deepened the country’s political divide. In January last year, he became the country’s first sitting president to be detained.
BNY Profit Rises, CEO Calls Pressure on Fed ‘Counterproductive’
Bank of New York Mellon’s chief executive criticized the Trump administration’s pressure on the Fed in a media call that came after the company reported record revenue for 2025.
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2026 Sony Open odds, field, date: PGA Tour picks, predictions, best bets from proven golf model
The 2026 PGA Tour schedule gets underway at the 2026 Sony Open in Hawaii on Thursday, Jan. 15. The season opener at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu comes a week later than normal after The Sentry was cancelled this year due to course concerns. That means there will be just one event on the Hawaii Swing this year, and some top players decided not to make the trip. Big names like Collin Morikawa, Hideki Matsuyama, J.J. Spaun and Jordan Spieth, however, are among the golfers who are teeing it up this week.
The latest 2026 Sony Open odds from DraftKings Sportsbook list Russell Henley as the +1100 favorite. Matsuyama and Ben Griffin are at +1700, followed by Spaun at +1800. Morikawa joins Si Woo Kim and Robert MacIntyre at +2000. Spieth is +4500, just a bit behind defending champion Nick Taylor, who is +4000. Before locking in any 2026 Sony Open picks, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine’s proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been red-hot since the PGA Tour resumed in June 2020. In fact, the model is up over $8,000 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.
This same model has also nailed a whopping 16 majors entering the weekend, including the 2025 Masters — its fourth Masters in a row — as well as this year’s PGA Championship and Open Championship. Anyone who has followed its sports betting picks could have seen massive returns on betting sites.
New users can also target the DraftKings promo code, which offers $300 in bonus bets if your bet wins:
Now that the 2026 Sony Open field is locked in, SportsLine simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard.
2026 Sony Open predictions
One major surprise the model is calling for at the 2026 Sony Open: Henley, the betting favorite, stumbles and barely finishes inside the top 5. He’s a golfer to avoid this week. The 2013 Sony Open champion hasn’t been able to follow up on that success at this event with regularity. Since that time, he’s missed the cut twice and has three other finishes outside the top 30. Last year, he finished T10. He’s played just once since last year’s playoffs and finished 19th at the Procore Championship, so the model doesn’t love his value as a favorite this year. See who else to fade here.
Another surprise: J.J. Spaun, a +1800 longshot, makes a strong run at the title. He’s a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. The 2025 U.S. Open winner finished T3 in this event last year. He also brings some momentum into the new year after playing three times in the fall and finishing no worse than T11 in those tournaments. The model has identified him as a top-three contender this week, making him a golfer to back in your Sony Open best bets. See who else to pick here.
New users can also check out the latest FanDuel promo code and get $300 in bonus bets at FanDuel if your $5 bet wins:
How to make 2026 Sony Open picks
The model also has identified three golfers with odds of +2500 or higher as top-10 contenders. Anyone who backs these longshots could hit it big. You can only see the model’s picks here.
Who will win the 2026 Sony Open, and which longshots will stun the golfing world? Check out the 2026 Sony Open odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that’s nailed 16 golf majors, including three in 2025.
2026 Sony Open odds, favorites
Get full 2026 Sony Open picks, best bets and predictions here.
(odds subject to change)
Russell Henley +1100
Ben Griffin +1700
Hideki Matsuyama +1700
J.J. Spaun +1800
Collin Morikawa +2000
Robert MacIntyre +2000
Si Woo Kim +2000
Keegan Bradley +2200
Maverick McNealy +2500
Corey Conners +3000
Harry Hall +3500
Aaron Rai +3500
Kurt Kitayama +4000
Chris Kirk +4000
Nick Taylor +4000
Keith Mitchell +4000
Adam Scott +4000
Jordan Spieth +4500
Rico Hoey +4500
Chris Gotterup +4500
Kevin Yu +5000
Nicolas Echavarria +5000
John Keefer +5000
Denny McCarthy +5000
Brian Harman +5000
Kristoffer Reitan +5500
Taylor Pendrith +5500
Jake Knapp +5500
Eric Cole +5500
Mac Meissner +6000
Matt McCarty +6500
Daniel Berger +6500
Michael Brennan +6500
Gary Woodland +7000
Neal Shipley +7000
Emiliano Grillo +7500
Billy Horschel +7500
Sam Stevens +7500
Pierceson Coody +7500
Michael Kim +7500
Webb Simpson +8000
Ryan Gerard +8000
Alex Smalley +8000
Vince Whaley +9000
Sahith Theegala +9000
Jordan Smith +9000
Haotong Li +9000
Tom Kim +10000
Tony Finau +10000
Seamus Power +10000
Matti Schmid +10000
John Parry +10000
Chandler Blanchet +10000
Lee Hodges +10000
Patrick Rodgers +11000
Bud Cauley +11000
Max McGreevy +11000
Luke Clanton +11000
Doug Ghim +12000
William Mouw +12000
Jacob Bridgeman +12000
Mark Hubbard +13000
Austin Eckroat +13000
Ricky Castillo +14000
Adrien Dumont De Chassart +14000
Zac Blair +16000
Daniel Brown +16000
Steven Fisk +16000
David Ford +17000
Beau Hossler +17000
Adam Svensson +17000
Keita Nakajima +18000
Takumi Kanaya +18000
S.H. Kim +18000
Christo Lamprecht +18000
Chad Ramey +19000
Kevin Roy +20000
Dylan Wu +20000
Erik Van Rooyen +20000
Ryo Hisatsune +20000
Nick Dunlap +20000
Adrien Saddier +20000
Cam Davis +25000
Alejandro Tosti +25000
Davis Riley +25000
Austin Smotherman +25000
Patton Kizzire +25000
Matthieu Pavon +25000
Brian Campbell +25000
Zecheng Dou +25000
Zach Johnson +25000
Chandler Phillips +25000
Adam Schenk +25000
Tom Hoge +30000
Kensei Hirata +30000
Gordon Sargent +30000
Seung Taek Lee +35000
Emilio Gonzalez +35000
Sudarshan Yellamaraju +40000
Kota Kaneko +40000
Hank Lebioda +40000
Brice Garnett +40000
Davis Chatfield +45000
Ren Yonezawa +50000
Pontus Nyholm +50000
John Vanderlaan +50000
Jeffrey Kang +50000
Yuta Sugiura +60000
Joe Highsmith +60000
Zach Bauchou +70000
Kazuki Higa +70000
Marcelo Rozo +70000
Danny Walker +70000
Vijay Singh +80000
Peter Malnati +80000
Rafael Campos +100000
A.J. Ewart +100000
Rio Rancho police to host a free citizens academy in February
RESEARCHERS SAY MORE FINDINGS FROM THE STUDY WILL BE RELEASED LATER THIS MONTH. AND IF YOU’VE EVER BEEN CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT THE RIO RANCHO POLICE DEPARTMENT DOES, YOU CAN FIND OUT WITHOUT NEEDING A BADGE. THE DEPARTMENT IS GETTING READY TO HOST ANOTHER CITIZEN’S ACADEMY. OUR OWN ALYSSA MUNOZ IS LIVE IN RIO RANCHO THIS MORNING. TO TELL YOU ABOUT WHAT YOU’LL BE ABLE TO SEE AND DO. ALYSSA. GOOD MORNING. THAT’S RIGHT. THE CAPTAIN TELLS ME THAT THEY WANT TO ENGAGE WITH THE COMMUNITY, BUT ALSO BUILD TRUST. BUT SPOTS ARE LIMITED. THERE ARE 30 SPOTS AVAILABLE NOW. TO JOIN. YOU HAVE TO BE A RESIDENT IN RIO RANCHO OR A BUSINESS OWNER IN 18 OR OLDER. IT KICKS OFF FEBRUARY 17TH AND MEETS EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT FROM 530 TO 845. FOR TEN WEEKS YOU’LL MEET DIFFERENT POLICE DIVISIONS, WATCH K9 AND SWAT DEMONSTRATIONS, AND EVEN GET A BEHIND THE SCENES LOOK WITH A RIDE ALONG WITH AN OFFICER. OR YOU CAN SIT ALONG WITH DISPATCH. CAPTAIN NICK AMEY SAYS IT’S ALL ABOUT PUTTING A FACE TO THE BADGE. THAT’S WHAT ACTUALLY SOLVES BIG CRIMES. I MEAN, YOU LOOK AT SOME OF THE SUSPECTS WE’VE BEEN AFTER, WE WOULDN’T HAVE FOUND THEM HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR CITIZEN THAT TIPPED OFF THE POLICE TO WHERE THEY WERE AT. SO, I MEAN, ACTUALLY HAVING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND PARTICIPATION WITH THE POLICE AND TRUSTING US TO DO WHAT WE’VE SWORN TO DO AND UPHOLD, IT’S PARAMOUNT. NOW, THE DEADLINE TO REGISTER IS FEBRUARY 10TH, AND IT IS FREE TO ATTEND. IF YOU’RE NOT ABLE TO MAKE IT THIS TIME, NO WORRIES. THEY’RE EXPECTING TO HAVE
Rio Rancho police to host a free citizens academy in February
There are 30 spots available
The Rio Rancho Police Department is set to host a citizens academy starting Feb. 17, aiming to engage with the community and build trust.The academy has 30 spots available and is open to Rio Rancho residents or business owners aged 18 and older. It will meet every Tuesday night from 5:30 to 8:45 p.m. for 10 weeks, offering participants the chance to meet different police divisions, watch K-9 and SWAT demonstrations, and experience a ride-along with an officer or a sit-along with dispatch.Capt. Nick Army said, “That’s what actually solves big crimes. You look at some of the suspects we’ve been after, we wouldn’t have found them had a citizen not tipped off police as to where they were at. Actually, having community engagement and participation with the police, trusting us to do what we’re sworn to do, is paramount.”The deadline to register is Feb. 10, and it is free to attend. If you can’t make it, there’s another session expected in the fall.
RIO RANCHO, N.M. —
The Rio Rancho Police Department is set to host a citizens academy starting Feb. 17, aiming to engage with the community and build trust.
The academy has 30 spots available and is open to Rio Rancho residents or business owners aged 18 and older. It will meet every Tuesday night from 5:30 to 8:45 p.m. for 10 weeks, offering participants the chance to meet different police divisions, watch K-9 and SWAT demonstrations, and experience a ride-along with an officer or a sit-along with dispatch.
Capt. Nick Army said, “That’s what actually solves big crimes. You look at some of the suspects we’ve been after, we wouldn’t have found them had a citizen not tipped off police as to where they were at. Actually, having community engagement and participation with the police, trusting us to do what we’re sworn to do, is paramount.”
The deadline to register is Feb. 10, and it is free to attend. If you can’t make it, there’s another session expected in the fall.
7 in 10 patients now survive five-plus years
The U.S. has reached a watershed moment in the fight against cancer: Seven in 10 people now survive five years or more after diagnosis, according to the latest annual report from the American Cancer Society.
That’s a big improvement since the 1970s, when only half of those diagnosed lived at least five years. In the mid-1990s, the rate was 63%.
The 70% figure is based on diagnoses from 2015 to 2021. The findings were published Tuesday in the American Cancer Society’s medical journal, CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
Five years is the most common benchmark for measuring cancer survival, since the risk of certain cancers’ recurring declines significantly if the cancers haven’t come back within that time.
Thanks to improved treatment options over the last decade, many cancers have gone from death sentences to chronic diseases, according to the report’s lead author, Rebecca Siegel, the American Cancer Society’s senior scientific director of surveillance research.
“It takes decades for research to understand and develop these more effective treatments, and now we’re seeing the fruits of those investments,” Siegel said.
The report estimates that 4.8 million cancer deaths were prevented from 1991 to 2023, largely because of better treatments, earlier detection methods and reductions in smoking.
Siegel said scientists have a greater understanding of how cancer develops and spreads, allowing them to engineer the immune system to stop or slow cancer growth.
She highlighted immunotherapies as one of the biggest advances — the treatments help the immune system find and attack cancer cells. Immunotherapy has been “game changing” for myeloma, Siegel said. The five-year survival rate for the blood cancer, which is twice as common among Black people as in white people in the U.S., rose to 62% from 32% in the mid-1990s.
Targeted therapy, which targets specific genes or proteins that help cancer cells grow, has been another major advancement, as such treatments cause less damage to healthy cells and come with fewer side effects.
“Staying on treatment longer allows patients to live longer, and these less toxic treatments allow more sequences of therapy,” said Dr. Christopher Flowers, head of cancer medicine at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who wasn’t involved in the report.
Flowers said targeted therapies and immunotherapies have improved survival outcomes for lung cancer, which kills more people than any other cancer in the U.S. The five-year survival rate for regional lung cancer — which is found in the lung and nearby structures or lymph nodes — is now 37%, up from 20% in the mid-1990s.
However, further progress could be made by addressing major risk factors for cancer, said Dr. Clark Gamblin, a gastrointestinal surgeon at the Huntsman Cancer Institute and chief of surgical oncology at the University of Utah.
“Our country has an epidemic of obesity, and cancers follow that,” said Gamblin, who wasn’t involved in the report. “So we’re not winning on every front.”
Colorectal cancer rates are rising in people under age 50, and overall breast cancer rates are rising among women. Obesity can be a risk factor for both cancers.
Overall, the American Cancer Society estimates there will be more than 626,000 cancer deaths and more than 2.1 million newly diagnosed cases in the U.S. this year.
Siegel said she is concerned about scientists’ ability to study new methods of prevention, detection and treatment, given recent cuts to cancer research by the Trump administration. An analysis from Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee found a 31% decline in cancer research grant funding in the first three months of 2025, compared with the same period in 2024.
“Other threats to progress are the enormous gap that we see in the cancer burden in people of color, specifically Native American people and Black people,” Siegel said.
The same populations are among the most affected by the expiration of Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies, which could reduce access to cancer drugs, Siegel said.
Disruptions to cancer screening during the Covid pandemic could also have further effects, including late-stage diagnoses.
“The screening for [asymptomatic] cancer largely stopped during that time period, and I don’t know that we’ve seen the tail of that yet,” Gamblin said.
Sika Shares Drop After Guidance Cut
The Swiss chemicals company cut its 2025 earnings margin guidance on weaker sales and currency effects.
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Alonso wasn’t perfect, but sacking him ignores Madrid’s real problems
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Graham Hunter
So, Xabi Alonso becomes the tenth permanent Real Madrid manager of Florentino Pérez’s 21-plus-year presidential reign to be sacked without even completing a year in charge.
Just when the 44-year-old Madrid playing legend seemed to have calmed the stormy waters that had threatened to overwhelm him since autumn, the biggest sin in the entire dictionary of Must Not Commit for Bernabéu managers, losing to Barcelona when a trophy is at stake, has cost him his job. Those around Alonso — who leaves with Madrid only four points off the top of LaLiga, safely in the UEFA Champions League top eight and with a nervy Copa del Rey tie at Albacete on Wednesday — will look back at the final moments of Sunday’s Supercopa final and think about Álvaro Carreras and Raúl Asencio, who each had point-blank chances to score and take the final to penalties.
Alonso, in retrospect, stands condemned, at least in the eyes of Pérez — the only person whose opinion matters when a coach’s fate is concerned — of several offenses.
First: The damage done to Alonso’s public reputation and club credibility when, on substituting Vinícius Júnior in the victorious Clásico last October, the Brazil international erupted in anger while showing disrespect for his manager. Even in victory, the player’s actions hogged the headlines because he screamed into the night air, “This is why I’m going to leave this team. This is why I’m leaving!”
Pérez wants Vinícius to renew his contract, at all costs. So although Alonso palpably repaired much of the damage with his 24-year-old star, and on Sunday helped him produce his best goal and best performance since Carlo Ancelotti left, it’s now clear that irreparable damage was done to Pérez’s view of his coach.
Second: Losing to Barcelona in a big final remains, it seems, a capital offense. Just as a reminder, it has been about five weeks since I wrote in this very space, “If the 44-year-old coach, who won all there is to win in his playing career and then made history by making Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga champions for the first time, can beat Atlético Madrid in the Supercopa semifinal and either Barcelona or Athletic Club in the final, then he’ll finally be left alone to do his job until the end of the season. But to come home without a trophy? Alonso will almost certainly be sacked.”
Third: When Madrid played anodyne, point-dropping football against Rayo Vallecano, Elche and Girona, and then lost consecutively at home to Manchester City and Celta Vigo, there was a massive manhunt mounted, by the club and by the media, to find someone to blame. Correctly or not, and I think the answer is firmly “not,” it has been the coach — rather than the president or the players — who has been found guilty.
Fourth: Alonso, it must be said, hasn’t “played the game.” Managing upward is an increasingly key skill when you’re coaching at a big club — that’s true anywhere in the world, but particularly when your direct boss is the unaccountable Pérez.
Throughout his life, either as the son of the excellent player Periko Alonso; or while coming through the ranks at Real Sociedad; playing brilliantly for Liverpool, Madrid, Bayern Munich and Spain; or making history by taking Bayer Leverkusen to their best-ever trophy season; Xabi Alonso has been the man. Venerated, respected, ultra talented, backed, fêted, desired, rewarded and awarded deity status. Don’t take my word for it, just think how he’s regarded by Spain (European and world champion), at Liverpool (hero of the greatest match in their entire history), local boy made good at Real Sociedad, José Mourinho’s lieutenant at Madrid and Pep Guardiola’s chosen linchpin while winning trophy after trophy at Bayern. He simply didn’t need to kowtow to anyone. Ever.
It’s different at Madrid and, so, when his friend and mentor, Guardiola, used a vulgar expression in support of Alonso before City won at the Bernabéu in December, it went down very badly indeed when Alonso’s postmatch response, teased out by a journalist, seemed to be sympathetic to what City’s Catalan coach was suggesting about Alonso’s relationship with Pérez.
Until very recently, Alonso, never rude, was standoffish and cool with the assembled, hard-nosed, some would say Pérez-aligned media who turned up to news conferences six times a week at the Madrid training ground. He changed his stance when he knew he was fighting for his continued employment: He began to expand on answers, share a joke, become a bit more touchy-feely, and it was working. But he played that game a little too late.
It was extremely telling when Alonso suggested to his players on Sunday in Jeddah that they form a guard of honor for Barcelona’s victorious players (as Hansi Flick’s men had done for them while they walked up to get their losers’ medals), but Kylian Mbappé usurped him and fiercely gestured to the squad that he, not Alonso, had the final word and that no way would they be forming two lines and letting the Supercopa winners feel honored. Very, very damaging imagery.
What’s a little bit shocking is that the Spanish football media, having set the table for an Alonso sacking over and over again in November and December, were utterly caught by surprise. Even playing pretty moderately, in victory against Sevilla, Real Betis and Atlético, Madrid’s players were clearly pulling for their coach, they were building results — admittedly from a low base — and they were looking very like steering Los Blancos into the extremely valuable top eight of the Champions League with two winnable matches in their sights this month. Marca’s headlines this morning included “Xabi revives the Mourinho style” and “What a miss from Carreras in the 95th minute.” No blame thrown at the coach. Their famous columnist, Alfredo Relaño, stated, “Xabi Alonso lost the final but saved his situation.” The much more hawkish, Pérez-oriented Diario AS used “Only Raphinha was better than Madrid” as their match headline, and the self-confessed ultra-Madridista columnist Tomás Roncero’s column read “Nothing to reproach you over.”
One of the biggest signs, in my opinion, as to the general mood of this singular, polemic, but highly successful, billionaire president, and something that Alonso could have paid more attention to, is the name of the stadium.
For the longest time, it’s been called the Santiago Bernabéu in honor of the man previously regarded as the greatest leader in Real Madrid’s history. More and more, and often in formal terms, it’s being called “the Bernabéu” — a change that, in my view, will preface a gradual, strategic and corporate-driven moving of Pérez toward the top of the podium of all-time presidents. This 78-year-old has, gradually but consistently, aimed at moving beyond his “Primus inter pares” (“first among equals”) status to be regarded as the all-time greatest. His costly and, so far, not wholly successful redevelopment of the stadium was supposed to be the jewel in the crown but, for a host of reasons, hasn’t hit home with the power he expected it to. I think, a couple of months away from his 79th birthday, he feels that time is flying, and he has none to waste.
He needs, desires, more league wins, more Champions Leagues, fewer sights of Barcelona lifting trophies, less whistling and jeering when Madrid play at their imperious HQ. He craves the formation of a European Super League. Right now, he’s being thwarted in too many of those desires.
Those previous nine coaches he sacked only a few months into their reigns usually, it must be pointed out, made way for more successful, more glorious periods for the club as European and domestic trophies were stacked up and the best players actively chose to move to Real Madrid. This fact is incontestable.
President Pérez, in my opinion, has blamed the wrong man, has ignored the real problems and, now that he has passed the baton to Álvaro Arbeloa, he has perpetuated the real flaws rather than cured them in sacking Alonso. But he won’t care about that opinion and, in the past, his irresistible force has defeated any apparently immovable object. This time? I’m unconvinced.
Bad luck, Xabi. You only partially contributed to this situation. But, as you always said yourself, Real Madrid is different. Real Madrid is unique. Good luck with what comes next.
New Mexico's Massive Healthcare Expansion
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) is reshaping healthcare across the state in a massive expansion effort underway. UNMH is establishing new clinics, a Critical Care Tower, and requesting state assistance to fund a brand-new, $600 million School of Medicine. This week on the New Mexico News Insiders Podcast, UNM Health System […]
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Generative Engine Optimization Tools that Marketing Teams Actually Use
If you‘ve noticed your brand appearing less frequently in ChatGPT answers, you’re not alone. Savvy marketers are using generative engine optimization tools to address this issue. These tools help your content get cited by AI platforms, rather than being buried under competitors.
Fortunately, I spend way too much time monitoring how content performs across different platforms (an occupational hazard of being a marketer), and I’ve watched GEO tools evolve from experimental technology into genuinely helpful software that marketing teams actually rely on.
In this guide, I’ll break down what generative engine optimization tools actually do, how they complement your existing SEO strategy, and which ones are worth your time and budget.
Table of Contents
What is a generative engine optimization tool?
A generative engine optimization tool is a software that helps create and improve digital content to increase its visibility and inclusion in responses from AI platforms like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Claude AI.
Basically, GEO tools analyze how AI models like ChatGPT and Claude “read” and prioritize content, then give you recommendations on structure, formatting, and language that increase your chances of being cited in their responses to inquiries.
So, how does GEO differ from SEO? SEO is focused on ranking high in SERPs by optimizing for keywords, building backlinks, and praying to the algorithm gods that your website lands at the top of the first results page.
In contrast, GEO means you’re optimizing to be quoted or referenced within the AI-generated response. The AI doesn’t show a results page — it synthesizes information from multiple sources and generates one cohesive answer.
The mechanics differ from traditional SEO because AIs aren‘t limited to examining keywords and backlinks. Instead, they’re evaluating credibility, clarity, how well your content answers specific questions, and whether your information can be easily extracted and synthesized.
In short, while SEO gets you clicked, GEO gets you quoted.
GEO software vs. SEO software
We know that SEO helps people find your website through search engines. GEO gets your brand mentioned in AI answers. Does this mean marketers should choose one method over the other? No. You need both, and they actually complement each other.
While SEO builds your discoverability foundation, GEO extends your reach into AI platforms where people are increasingly getting their answers. They‘re not competing strategies; they’re covering different parts of the customer journey.
A user might ask ChatGPT for product recommendations (GEO territory), see your brand mentioned, and then search for your company name on Google to learn more (SEO territory). Or they might find you through organic search first, and later reencounter your brand in an AI answer, reinforcing your authority.
The key is to know when to prioritize SEO or GEO.
Prioritize SEO when:
- You’re building a new site or brand and need foundational visibility
- Your audience primarily uses traditional search engines
- You’re in e-commerce or local services where Google Maps and shopping results matter
- You need direct website traffic for conversions
Prioritize GEO when:
- Your target audience is heavy AI users (tech-savvy, younger demographics, developers)
- You’re in industries where people ask questions (B2B software, education, health)
- You want to establish thought leadership and get cited as an authority
- Your competitors aren’t doing it yet (first-mover advantage)
It’s that simple.
How Generative Engines Choose Sources
When you ask an AI a question, it scans through massive amounts of content to generate its answer, looking for signals that indicate “this information is trustworthy and relevant.”
The AI prioritizes content that’s crystal clear and well-structured. If your content rambles or buries the answer six paragraphs deep, the AI will skip over it for something more straightforward.
This is where structure becomes crucial, so descriptive headers, bullet points for key facts, and clear definitions help the AI quickly extract the information it needs. The easier you make it for the AI to understand and quote you, the more likely you’ll get cited.
Citations and external credibility are must-haves. AIs are trained to value content that shows its work, much like a good college research paper. When your content references authoritative sources, includes data from reputable studies, and links to other credible sites, AIs interpret that as a signal that you’ve done your homework.
Entity consistency is another significant factor, although it may sound more complicated than it is.
Essentially, if you’re writing about “email marketing,” stick with that term consistently rather than switching between “email campaigns,” “inbox strategy,” and “electronic mail promotion.”
AI seeks precise and consistent use of terms and entities to understand the content’s actual subject matter and its connections to other authoritative sources on the same topic.
This is precisely where GEO tools come in handy. They analyze your content and flag issues like unclear structure, missing citations, inconsistent terminology, or buried key information. Instead of guessing what might help you get cited, these tools give you specific recommendations. They essentially reverse-engineer what AIs are looking for and give you a roadmap to fix it.
Generative Engine Optimization Tools that Marketing Teams Actually Use
Best for: HubSpot users who want native GEO capabilities without adding another platform to their stack
Stack fit: Already in your stack if you‘re a HubSpot customer. The AI Search Grader analyzes how your content performs in AI search results and provides optimization recommendations directly within HubSpot—pairs with HubSpot’s Content Assistant for AI-optimized content creation.
What to measure after adoption: AI Search Grader scores over time, citation rates in AI platforms for HubSpot-optimized content, content performance improvements when following AI recommendations, and how AI visibility correlates with traditional SEO metrics you’re already tracking in HubSpot.
Best for: Tracking your brand’s visibility across multiple AI platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Claude)
Stack fit: Works alongside your existing SEO tools and HubSpot. Think of it as the “AI version” of rank tracking. Data can be reported into HubSpot dashboards for centralized reporting and analysis.
What to measure after adoption: Track citation frequency across different AI platforms, which topics you’re being cited for, and how your visibility trends over time compared to competitors.
Best for: Getting actionable optimization recommendations for existing content
Stack fit: Can integrate with HubSpot via API to audit your existing blog posts and pages. Use it during content audits or before publishing. Recommendations can feed back into your HubSpot content workflow.
What to measure after adoption: Improvement in AI citation rates for optimized content vs. non-optimized baseline, time saved in content optimization, and conversion of recommendations into measurable visibility gains tracked in HubSpot analytics.
Best for: AI-native content creation that’s optimized for both traditional search and generative engines
Stack fit: Integrates with HubSpot CMS via Zapier or API. Create optimized content briefs and drafts that you can publish directly to your HubSpot blog. Works in conjunction with HubSpot’s built-in Content Assistant.
What to measure after adoption: Content production velocity, citation rate of AI-generated content vs. human-only content, time to publish, and whether AI-assisted pieces maintain your brand voice standards.
Best for: B2B content teams who need both SEO and GEO baked into their content workflow with native HubSpot integration
Stack fit: Direct HubSpot integration that syncs content, tracks performance, and feeds data into your HubSpot reporting. More comprehensive than a point solution — it’s a content operations platform with GEO features built in.
What to measure after adoption: Overall content ROI in HubSpot dashboards, AI platform visibility, organic traffic growth, lead attribution from AI-optimized content, and whether the integration actually streamlined your workflow.
To choose the right GEO tool, identify your actual problem, not the trendy solution. Are you invisible in AI answers and need to understand where you stand? Get a visibility monitoring tool first. Do you already know you‘re not being cited but don’t know why?
You need an optimization tool that audits your content and gives you specific fixes.
Trying to scale AI-optimized content production? Look for creation and brief tools. Don‘t buy a comprehensive enterprise platform when you really just need citation tracking — and definitely don’t buy citation tracking if your content fundamentally isn’t structured for AI discoverability yet.
Use a simple evaluation rubric to compare tools.
- Coverage: Does it track the AI platforms your audience actually uses?
- Accuracy: Are the recommendations based on real AI behavior or just guesses?
- Actionability: Can your team implement the suggestions without a PhD in machine learning?
- Integration: Does it work with your existing stack (CMS, analytics, project management), or does it create more silos?
- Governance: Can you control access, maintain brand standards, and audit what the tool is doing with your data? Score each tool on these five dimensions, and the right choice usually becomes obvious.
Finally, involve the right people early. Your SEO team needs to vet whether GEO recommendations conflict with the existing SEO strategy. Your content team needs to use the tool daily, so if they find it clunky or confusing during the demo, walk away.
Your operations team evaluates the integration complexity, licensing, and whether this solution adds to or reduces tool sprawl. Your analytics team confirms that you can actually measure success and pull data into existing dashboards.
A tool that works for one team but frustrates the other three is a failed implementation waiting to happen.
GEO Tool Buying Checklist
Before the demo:
- [ ] Define your primary problem (visibility tracking, content optimization, or content creation)
- [ ] List AI platforms your audience uses most
- [ ] Document your current content workflow and tech stack
- [ ] Set a realistic budget range
- [ ] Identify 3-5 success metrics you’ll track in the first 90 days
During evaluation:
- [ ] Score tool on coverage, accuracy, actionability, integration, and governance (1-5 scale)
- [ ] Request a trial or sandbox with your actual content
- [ ] Have content creators test the interface (not just watch a demo)
- [ ] Ask for customer references in your industry and company size
- [ ] Confirm what’s included vs. add-on modules
- [ ] Review data privacy and security policies
- [ ] Check integration documentation for your CMS and analytics platform
Cross-functional review:
- [ ] SEO sign-off: Recommendations align with (not contradict) SEO strategy
- [ ] Content sign-off: Team finds the tool intuitive, and the workflow fits reality
- [ ] Ops sign-off: Integration is feasible with current resources and timeline
- [ ] Analytics sign-off: Data can flow into existing reporting dashboards
- [ ] Legal/Security sign-off: Data handling and privacy meet company standards
Before purchase:
- [ ] Calculate actual cost (licensing + implementation + training + maintenance)
- [ ] Define ownership (who’s the internal champion and admin?)
- [ ] Create 30-60-90 day adoption plan
- [ ] Set review checkpoint to evaluate ROI after 6 months
- [ ] Document what “success” looks like and when you’d cancel
Red flags to watch for:
- Vendor can’t explain how they track AI citations (vague = probably inaccurate)
- Zero integration options with your existing stack
- Pricing structure that punishes growth or usage
- No straightforward onboarding or training plan
- Sales pressure to buy “everything” when you need one specific capability
- Customer references all in different industries/sizes than yours
The tool that scores highest on your rubric and gets enthusiastic buy-in from all four teams (SEO, content, ops, analytics) is your winner. If you can‘t reach consensus, you probably haven’t found the right fit yet — or you need to resolve an internal alignment issue before purchasing external software.
Frequently Asked Questions About GEO Tools
Do GEO tools replace my current SEO stack?
No, GEO tools don’t replace your SEO stack; instead, they complement it. Traditional SEO still drives the majority of your organic traffic through search engines, while GEO extends your visibility into AI platforms where people increasingly get answers.
Keep your existing SEO tools (e.g., Ahrefs, SEMrush) and layer geographic capabilities on top of them. The best approach is to maintain strong technical SEO fundamentals (site speed, mobile optimization, schema markup) since these same elements also help AIs crawl and understand your content.
How do I prove GEO’s value without changing my entire strategy?
Begin with a focused pilot on a single high-value topic cluster where you already have established content. I suggest 5-10 related articles on a subject your audience frequently asks about.
Optimize that cluster using GEO best practices (clear structure, citations, entity consistency) while leaving the rest of your content unchanged as a control group. Track AI citation frequency for the optimized cluster compared to your baseline, but also monitor down-funnel signals like branded search volume, direct traffic, and conversions from users who discovered you through AI platforms.
Run the pilot for 60-90 days, and if you see measurable improvements in either visibility or business impact, you have data to justify expanding GEO across more content.
What’s the minimum viable GEO pilot?
Start with GEO Ranker for measurement. It tracks your visibility across major AI platforms without requiring any changes to your content, giving you a baseline to work from. For optimization, use Profound or HubSpot‘s AI Search Grader if you’re already on HubSpot.
Both HubSpot’s AI Grader and Profound will provide you with specific, actionable recommendations you can implement immediately. Pick one content cluster you own completely, ideally 5-8 blog posts on a single topic where you already rank decently in traditional search and know your audience asks AI tools about it.
Optimize that cluster over 2-3 weeks, then track it for 60 days.
You’re looking for two key metrics: increased citations on AI platforms (as measured by your tracking tool) and any uptick in branded searches, direct traffic, or conversions that correlate with improved AI visibility.
This approach costs $200-$500 per month in tools and a few weeks of content work, and provides you with concrete data on whether GEO moves the needle for your business. If it works, you‘ve got proof to expand; if it doesn’t, you haven’t blown your entire content strategy or budget finding out.
How often should I monitor AI citations and visibility?
Begin by monitoring your progress weekly during the first 60-90 days to identify patterns, determine which optimizations are effective, and make course corrections promptly.
Once you‘ve established a baseline and your strategy stabilizes, shift to biweekly check-ins. AI citation patterns don’t fluctuate as wildly as daily search rankings, so you don’t need to obsess over them daily.
Create monthly roll-ups for leadership that tie AI visibility metrics to business outcomes (traffic, leads, brand searches) since executives care more about “did this drive results?” than “we got cited 47 times this month.”
Are there risks to optimizing for LLMs?
Yes, and the biggest one is sacrificing accuracy for AI-friendliness. If you oversimplify complex topics or remove nuance just to create “quotable” content, you risk being cited for information that’s technically correct but misleading in context.
Set a guardrail: Every piece of content should be reviewed by a subject matter expert before publication, regardless of its score on GEO metrics.
Brand voice is another risk. Content optimized purely for AI discoverability can start sounding robotic, generic, or like everyone else in your space.
Establish a review step where someone on your team reads the final piece and asks, “Does this still sound like us?” If anyone could write your competitors‘ content, you’ve optimized too far.
Governance matters because once an AI cites incorrect information from your site, you can‘t easily “recall” it the way you’d update a blog post. Implement a fact-checking process, cite your own sources properly, and include dates on time-sensitive content so AIs (and humans) know when information might be outdated.
The goal is to be cited often and cited accurately — not just to rack up mentions at the expense of your credibility.