Large companies and advertising agencies are actively adapting to a new reality where users increasingly search for information not through Google, but through chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. This is forcing brands to reconsider their promotion strategies, as traditional SEO seems to be giving way to optimization for AI.
Tech startups, including Profound and Brandtech, have developed tools that help large sites track how often they are mentioned in neural network responses, including in Google AI Overviews. Fintech company Ramp, job aggregator Indeed, and whiskey producer Chivas Brothers are already using such services. According to the Financial Times, the main goal is to retain the attention of millions of users who are now less likely to click on links in search engines. We’ll keep you updated as these technologies evolve.
Jack Smyth, a partner at marketing technology group Brandtech, noted, “This is much more than just indexing a site in search results. It’s about having your website recognized by large language models as a major and influential factor [in information searches].” New tools can predict the “sentiment” of an AI model toward a company by sending multiple text prompts to chatbots and analyzing the results. Based on the analysis, brands are ranked, helping ensure they are consistently mentioned in chatbot responses.
The Impact of AI on Traditional Search and Marketing
This shift is happening amid the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing. Meta and Google are already developing their own tools for targeted advertising. On one hand, this could reduce demand for traditional advertising agency services, but on the other hand, agencies will be able to offer clients new, AI-driven services.
A Bain & Company study revealed that 80% of users rely on AI responses for at least 40% of their queries, while 60% of search sessions end without a website click. This trend signals a decline in organic search traffic and presents risks to Google’s traditional business model. Nevertheless, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, recently reported a 10% rise in search and advertising revenue to $50.7 billion in the first quarter, showing resilience despite these challenges, notes NIX Solutions.
Perplexity founder Denis Yarats highlighted that AI search uses a fundamentally different model, where large language models (LLMs) analyze content more deeply and detect inconsistencies. To meet new standards, websites will have to offer the highest quality and most relevant content, and we’ll keep you updated as more best practices emerge.
New Tools to Analyze AI Mentions
Brandtech has launched Share of Model, a product designed to help brands understand their presence in AI searches. Meanwhile, Profound, a startup that recently raised $3.5 million in investments, offers a platform to track queries across neural networks.
As James Cadwallader, co-founder of Profound, aptly put it, “Traditional search has been one of the largest Internet monopolies, but now the walls of this castle are cracking. It’s like the transition from CD to streaming.”