After 15 years of working with global brands through digital disruption and shifting customer behaviours, one thing is clear: AI search changes everything and the question is, are you adapting fast enough?
It’s not a trend. It’s a transformation — one that rewrites how your brand is discovered, understood, and chosen. If you’ve built strong positioning, recognition and consistency — great. Now you need to make sure AI sees that, too.
The crumbling of the old funnel
For decades, we’ve relied on the classic funnel:
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Conversion
- Loyalty
But conversational AI tools like ChatGPT, Google SGE and Perplexity are reshaping this entirely. People aren’t starting with your brand — they’re asking machines what’s best. Questions like: “What’s a durable plant-based snack for travel?” or “Which low-code tools integrate well with Salesforce?”
Buyers get aggregated answers, not ad links. As commerce APIs (like Shopify or Etsy) integrate with AI, users can convert without ever visiting your site. If your brand isn’t mapped to semantic search — you might not exist in the moments that matter.
Your brand is no longer what you say, It’s what the machines say about you. It used to be: “Your brand is what customers say.” Now? It’s what AI models believe — based on your content, consistency and clarity.
That means:
- Structure and relevance matter more than ever
- Category claims and proof points must align across articles, code, metadata, product pages
- Your tone and language must connect not just with humans, but with algorithms mapping authority and usefulness
A recent Harvard Business Review article points out that brands are increasingly selected or skipped by AI before people even know your name.
So, what should future-fit brands do now?
Here are four key moves:
- Build your structured narrative
Use schema.org tags. Label your testimonials, features, and methods. Treat your brand like a dataset. Give AI clear signals. - Align to “problem-first” searches
People don’t ask about brand voice — they ask how to solve problems. Frame your content to show up as answers, not just pitches. - Prioritise clarity over clutter
AI favours substance, not SEO fluff. Fewer but deeper narratives, strong use cases and thought leadership win over noise. - Make brand strategy operational
A strategy in a PDF isn’t enough. Make it visible in actions, digital design, team messaging — even metadata. Align closely with business and content strategy, because revenue will depend on it.
AI search demands better branding – not less of it
The brands that win now will be:
- Clear and consistent
- Distinct and credible
- Human and helpful
If your purpose is authentic and your narrative solid, AI will amplify your brand. If not, it won’t just be competitors outranking you — it will be the machines.
Final thoughts
You can’t opt out of AI search. But if you understand how it works, you can turn it into a growth engine. Ask yourself:
- Does your brand signal clarity to machines?
- Are your proof points structured and discoverable?
- Does your content teach, not just sell?
Because in the AI era, helpful brands get chosen — by algorithms and by people.
Want to talk about what this shift means for your brand? We’d be happy to help at Grow.
Emma Widerberg
Business Director at Grow
emma.widerberg@grow.eu
