Want to show up in AI search? Here’s how 🤖 🔍

Hi there,

One of the upsides of starting my career 20 years ago is that I’ve experienced multiple seismic shifts in technology and marketing: from the dawn of search engines, to the emergence of mobile, to the rise of social media.

Trust me when I say, we’re now living through another one!

Hardly a week goes by without a client, friend, or industry colleague asking how to adapt their marketing strategy for the world of AI.

Everyone wants tactics. A killer framework. The next silver bullet. But here’s the twist: they’re not really asking about AI.

They’re asking how to show up when a customer turns to AI to make progress. 

And that’s a human question, not a marketing one.

We’ve been here before

When Google changed discovery, the brands that won were the ones that adapted early. The same is true now. This is a generational shift in how people find and choose solutions, and the prize is defensibility.

Just like before, this shift is rewriting the rules of engagement.

In the early 2000s, we could game search. Keywords. Backlinks. Metadata. SEO was mechanical. You could track your rankings and tweak your way to the top.

That world is disappearing.

AI discovery doesn’t work like that. There’s no webmaster. No dashboard. No guaranteed top spot.

You’re not being ranked; you’re being recommended or referenced. 

And the way people interact with AI is fundamentally human. It’s natural language, intention-rich and behavioural. AI is becoming the interface. But the user [and your customer] is still human.

Two Paths to Visibility

To navigate this shift, you need to understand how visibility in AI discovery actually works. In my view, there are now two ways your brand or product shows up:

1. Brand Recognition

   If your product is well-established in a known category, or your brand is broadly referenced across trusted sources, AI is more likely to bring you up as a recognised entity. You become the default answer; not because of a direct search, but because you exist in the semantic memory of the category.

2. Problem Relevance
   If you’re newer, you still have a shot, but you need to show up for the right question. Think of someone asking ChatGPT, “What’s the best CRM for a solo founder who hates admin?” That’s not a keyword. That’s a job-to-be-done. And if your product shows up in that answer, it’s probably because your brand is known, trusted, and framed around real customer jobs.

The opportunity? Build brand salience or own the question. Preferably both.

What to Do Now: Your Brand’s Next Move

While the AI era rewards wide contextual presence, it also reinforces the value of owning your most relevant channels; where your audience gathers, your product thrives, and your narrative holds.

If you're established:

Invest in your brand’s presence across public forums and content hubs where AI models are likely to train and infer trust; platforms like Reddit, Quora, Discord, YouTube, and respected industry blogs. 

Prioritise visibility in reviews, community responses, educational content, and third-party mentions that reflect your leadership. This isn't just good product marketing, it's strategic readiness. Make yourself easy to recall, and even easier to recommend.

If you’re emerging:

Get laser-focused on the natural-language questions your customers are asking; especially the ones they type into AI tools. Use Reddit threads, support tickets, forums, and tools like Answer the Public to gather voice-of-customer data; or better still, talk to your own customers! 

Then respond with content in the places AI might scrape, reference, or draw from: your website, help centre, LinkedIn, public video platforms like YouTube (rather than Vimeo), and public knowledge hubs. Build demos and positioning that speak directly to those real-world jobs and struggles.

And for everyone: Think less in terms of keywords. More in terms of human context, struggles, intent and desired outcomes.

The Bigger Picture

This moment is our generation’s Google. Another rewrite of consumer behaviour.

But if we play it right, it’s also a chance to build a truly defensible brand or product.

It also comes with a wonderful irony. In a world shaped by machines, the brands that endure will be the ones that understand humans best.

So, for those of us who’ve been here before, there’s every reason to feel optimistic. I certainly do.

Speak soon,

Peter

P.S. My company Bridge is exhibiting at Tectonic next week in Glasgow. If you're going, see you there! If not, get your tickets here.

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