How AI Is Changing the Way Customers Find Your Brand

It's not news that AI is disrupting your marketing funnel. Certainly, it has already changed the face of search. You know you need to keep up but may need a clearer understanding of what keeping up looks like. Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the key to taking back control of your brand's search presence.

The fast-changing web we now live with means your buyers are making decisions long before they find you. As soon as they start to think about filling a need, AI-generated answers, social platforms, and large language models (LLMs) are popping into their path to assist them.

68% of Google searches now end without a click, and AI overviews appear on 48%–58% of all searches. These features might set customers on a whole new path — one that doesn't lead to your site. You need to shift your focus further upstream, making SEO/AEO your leading KPI.

We at TrendyMinds recently hosted a webinar that showed leaders how AI is reshaping search and discovery, what that means for your bottom line, and how to thrive in this evolving ecosystem. Here, we will share the most important takeaways from that webinar.

What Is Answer Engine Optimization — And Why Should Marketing Leaders Care?

Search engine optimization (SEO) — the practice of improving a website to increase its visibility in search engines — was historically critical for driving organic traffic. Answer engine optimization takes it to the next level.

Where SEO optimizes for rankings (getting on the list of blue links), AEO optimizes for being cited by ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and voice assistants. These AI-generated results increasingly capture buyers' attention first.

AI tools go beyond recognizing keywords, as with SEO, to evaluate their context and make connections among them. Both are cost-effective ways to get your brand in front of buyers, but if the AI doesn't mention you, the customer never sees you.

Although they share some principles, such as Google's E-E-A-T, AEO and SEO are not interchangeable. In fact, only 17% of AI-cited sources also rank in the organic top 10. Your site may have strong traditional SEO rankings but lack AI visibility. Today, you need separate strategies for each.

Search Everywhere — The New Reality of Customer Discovery

Today's internet paradigm is Search Everywhere. Customers can search and find information about products in many places, far beyond search engine results pages (SERPs). They move across Google, LLMs (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity), Reddit, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Google Maps, often within a single search cycle. An AI layer now sits on top of all of this, synthesizing information from across the open web.

In this landscape, your potential customers form an opinion of your brand long before clicking on your website. If they don't find your brand — or if they find an inaccurate or negative representation of it — this could spell trouble. They might eliminate you from the contest before you ever get a chance to compete. For many high-consideration B2B purchases with long lead times, these losses can hurt.

As we think about the concept of Search Everywhere, we see how answer engine optimization plays out in the real world. It affects nearly every industry, but each one in slightly different ways. For example, there are some key considerations for how AI is changing search strategy for higher education. To succeed, universities must optimize for AI search alongside traditional search.

Four Ways to Stay Visible in the Age of AI Search

Now that you understand the playing field better, you can take four concrete steps to stay visible in the age of AI search. A qualified agency partner can help you visualize what each of these steps could look like for your brand and guide you through implementing them.

Be Citable

If other websites cite your content, AI is more likely to find it, view it as trustworthy, and quote it. If you asked ChatGPT or Google's AI Overview to answer a question in your space, would your content be the logical source to cite? (Try it and find out.)

Citability prioritizes clear, direct answers to real customer questions, rather than traditional marketing copy. Structure the content so that LLMs can parse it, using clear headings and short paragraphs. Remember that citability extends beyond your website to LinkedIn, YouTube, Reddit, industry publications, and earned media. Treat all of that content as a cohesive whole that positions your brand as the authority.

Avoid bland content or "fluff" at all costs. You have subject matter experts in your organization, so draw on their wisdom. Original data, first-person expertise, and case studies carry more weight than generic topic coverage.

As with SEO best practices, E-E-A-T signals (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) remain central to AI search optimization. They're important for citability, as well as our next point, credibility.

Be Credible

You earn credibility off-site, not just on your own website. AI platforms look for corroboration from trusted third-party sources before surfacing a brand in its answers. Press coverage, expert commentary, and reviews matter more than ever.

Recognizable, third-party subject matter experts publishing under your brand name are an increasingly important credibility signal. In addition, make sure your customers have places to leave reviews and monitor them for any steps you can take to improve your brand experience.

In addition, prioritize off-page and PR strategies. The brands winning in AI search are combining strong foundational SEO with a broader off-site visibility strategy, so continuously build your relationships and reputation.

Be Consistent

One thing LLMs excel at is finding anomalies. If your brand messaging lacks consistency across platforms or presents conflicting stances, AI will view it as less trustworthy. A unified brand story across all owned and earned surfaces is increasingly important. This includes your website, digital advertising, social media, and anything else you publish on the web.

In its thirst for consistency, AI also includes content that other people post about you, which may sound frustrating, but is the current reality. One bad review in a sea of good reviews is an anomaly AI will surface.

Be Measurable

You will only know if you're succeeding in the new AEO landscape if you measure your results. The perfect measurement tool does not exist (yet), but start by establishing a baseline. Use tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, and AI search tracking platforms to get started.

From that baseline you can start to track your new KPIs:

• Share of voice in AI answers — how often your brand is cited across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews

• Brand mention frequency across Reddit, LinkedIn, YouTube, and industry publications

• How the above metrics change or increase over time

• How branded searches for your products or services trend over time (as these indicate lower-funnel inquiries from buyers who may have originated in search)

Monitor these metrics to adjust your strategy and test new tactics. AI will continue to evolve and expand, so everyone involved in marketing will need to keep a close eye on their metrics to understand how well they are keeping pace.

How Marketing Leaders Can Take Action

While you can have SEO without AEO — and yours may be in fantastic shape — you can't have AEO without SEO. Start from your existing content or website investment, then expand where and how you build authority.

Buyer demand hasn't changed. There are likely just as many people looking for solutions in your category as ever. What is changing is where they start the journey. That starting point is increasingly inside an AI-generated answer, not a list of blue links. The brands that show up in that moment are the ones staying in the consideration set.

Take some time with your team to reflect on where your brand currently stands in the changing world of SEO/AEO. Establish a baseline, set some goals, and when you're ready, seek a qualified partner to help shape your AEO marketing strategy.