Search shifts from ranking links to answer engines

Not too long ago, ranking on the first page of Google was a badge of success for any brand. The formula was straightforward: publish keyword-heavy blogs, collect backlinks, optimise meta tags, and let SEO do the heavy lifting.

Today, the search ecosystem looks very different. Consumers are no longer just searching; they are conversing with artificial intelligence. Direct, conversational questions are being posed to tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Bing Copilot, and users expect a single, reliable answer in return.

This isn’t just another marketing buzzword. It’s the next frontier in building brand visibility and credibility.

For founders and marketers alike, the shift calls for a mindset reset. Welcome to the age of Artificial Intelligence Optimisation (AIO).

AI-powered search does not play by SEO’s familiar rules. Instead of delivering a ranked list of links, it curates a single or limited set of answers. If a brand is not part of that response, it effectively disappears from the user journey.

AI systems decode meaning rather than relying on keyword density. Poorly written, keyword-stuffed content is instantly discarded. These models gather information from across the digital ecosystem, including blogs, forums, social platforms, interviews, directories, and even unlinked mentions.

They also interpret context. A user might now ask, “Which payment gateway is most secure for D2C startups in India?” Unless a brand has content that addresses the question specifically and clearly, it is excluded from the conversation.

Speak like a human, not a bot

Traditional SEO often treated content as fodder for algorithms. AIO demands something different: content that communicates directly with customers—like a mentor, not a marketer.

That requires a shift in strategy. Instead of isolated keyword blogs, brands need content clusters such as FAQs, buying guides, how-to explainers, founder interviews, and myth-busting articles. These clusters help build topical authority and provide structured answers AI can parse.

Structure itself is critical. Headers, tables, TL;DR summaries, and scannable layouts make content digestible both for humans and machines. Above all, quality trumps volume. Thoughtful, expert-led, 1,500+ word pieces win attention, both from users and AI.

Making brands machine-readable

Visibility in AI-led discovery depends on whether a brand exists in structured, machine-readable formats across the web. This goes beyond content writing—it’s about how information is tagged, linked, and stored.

Establishing a brand entity on platforms such as Wikidata, Wikipedia, Crunchbase, and LinkedIn builds machine visibility. Presence on industry directories and forums adds credibility.

On owned channels, brands must deploy schema markup for articles, products, FAQs, and business information. Machine-readable assets such as whitepapers, case studies, and data tables make it easier for AI models to quote directly.

This isn’t just good practice. It’s how you signal to AI: I’m a trustworthy source.

Search engines and AI platforms increasingly favour content that reflects Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). For brands, this means credibility is no longer an afterthought—it is a ranking factor.

Practical steps include publishing bylined articles on corporate websites, LinkedIn, or third-party media. Real case studies, testimonials, awards, and certifications need to be highlighted. Leadership bios and an updated ‘About Us’ page offer transparency.

Regular thought leadership and press releases reinforce relevance, while backlinks and mentions from reputable sources boost authority. In essence, real voices, real experiences, and real insights matter.

Going multimodal: Beyond text-based content

AI does not process information in silos. It absorbs text, video, images, and audio to form comprehensive answers. That means content strategies must expand beyond the written word.

Founders can repurpose investor decks into explainers, turn interviews into blogs or podcasts, and add transcripts and schema to YouTube videos. Infographics, charts, and alt text-rich visuals can reinforce storytelling.

AI is not just crawling pages, it’s absorbing context. The more formats you show up in, the more complete your brand narrative becomes.

Even the most insightful content can be invisible if technical foundations are flawed. Many websites prioritise flashy design over machine readability—a mistake that undermines discoverability.

The essentials include using static HTML or server-side rendering instead of JavaScript-heavy frameworks. Key content must be visible in source code, schema should be applied across valuable pages, and a llms.txt file can guide AI bots.

Clean semantic tags—like <h1>, <ul>, and <table>—make pages legible to both crawlers and large language models. Your website shouldn’t just impress designers, it should make sense to machines.

Beyond owned media: Where conversations happen

AI platforms do not rely solely on a brand’s website. They scrape data from community-driven platforms such as Reddit, Quora, podcasts, forums, and review sites. That broadens the playing field for discoverability.

Founders should stay active in relevant online communities, contribute to discussions, and collaborate with publishers and domain experts. Tools, checklists, or insights that provide real value increase the chances of being cited by AI systems. You never know which piece of content might become the answer AI platforms latch onto.

The advantage for founders, especially challenger brands, is agility. Without the weight of legacy approval layers, smaller businesses can experiment, adapt, and publish faster than established corporations.

You don’t need massive budgets. Just clarity, consistency, and courage to show up authentically and intelligently. In that sense, AIO offers an opportunity to compete with bigger players, even without deep pockets.

AI-led discovery is already reshaping how users find, trust, and choose brands. For those absent from AI-generated answers, the risk is not slipping in rank but disappearing from consumer consideration entirely.

The way forward is clear: transform insights into AI-structured content, strengthen digital footprints beyond a single website, and ensure technical readiness. In the age of AI, visibility isn’t about shouting the loudest. It’s about being understood.

- Divanshi Gupta, founder and director, The Marcom Avenue