Local investors in China are excited about a new artificial intelligence stock trend. As trading volumes in the retail investor-dominated mainland Chinese stocks surged to record highs this month, one of the big themes centered on generative engine optimization, or GEO . It’s the idea that advertisers will spend more on getting brands to show up in AI-generated chatbot results. Part of the shift is driven by concerns about a bubble in AI chips and other computing power infrastructure, said Wei Wang, a researcher at Tianjin University of Commerce who also runs 10 investment-focused Chinese group chats with more than 3,000 members. News in late December of Meta Platforms’ deal to buy Manus has also bolstered Chinese investors’ interest in agentic AI, Wang said, referring to generative AI tools that can automatically make a series of decisions in order to produce better output. Manus started developing its agentic AI tools — for tasks such as market research and data analysis — as a start-up in China, before relocating to Singapore. “AI agents and its monetization opportunity … is likely to be the top investment theme in 2026,” Bank of America analysts said in a report earlier this month. “We believe established China Internet ecosystems, namely Tencent , Alibaba and ByteDance, have natural advantage on incorporating AI agents.” “W …
