Right, let’s have a bit of a heart-to-heart about your marketing budget, shall we? Because according to HubSpot’s CMO, Kipp Bodnar, most of us are currently throwing money at a wall and acting surprised when it doesn't stick.
He recently dropped a statistic that should, quite frankly, make you drop your tea: Traffic coming to your site from Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini is 13 times more likely to convert than traditional search or social media.
That’s not 13%—which would be a nice little win—it’s 13 times. If you had a salesperson who was 1,300% more effective than the rest of the team, you wouldn’t leave them sitting in the broom cupboard. And yet, that is exactly what most brands are doing with AI Search.
From the "Inbound" Crawl to the "AI Search" Sprint
For years, we’ve lived in the "Inbound" era, where we made it easy for people to get information because buyers had a "research-first" mentality. It was all very human, and all very slow.
In 2026, it’s not about finding information; it’s about finding the answer. Buyers have shifted to a "decision-first" mentality. They aren't looking to read your 3,000-word whitepaper, your testimonials or product features, your pricing page and all the extra factors that could mean you are the perfect fit for them or not ; they want the AI to read it for them and tell them if you're worth the bother. It’s a partnership of Humans + AI, and if you aren't invited to that meeting, you're irrelevant.
What Is SEO Now In Ai Search?
Traditional SEO is starting to feel like standing in the middle of a field shouting directions at people who already have Google Maps open. It’s a lot of exercise, but nobody’s looking at you. AiSe is about being the blue dot on the screen telling them exactly where to turn so they don't have to think about it
|
Traditional SEO
|
The New AEO Strategy
|
|
Aiming for the top 10 links
|
Aiming to be part of the answer
|
|
Using keywords, backlinks, and meta tags
|
Using statistics, quotations, and high-authority sources
|
|
Relying on the reputation of a single source
|
Building reputation and repetition across multiple sources
|
|
Optimizing for website visits
|
Optimizing for AI visibility to drive conversion
|
How Should You Approach AI as Part of Your Marketing?
To survive this, you need a strategy that actually moves. It’s a four-part loop that never stops:
- Express: Clearly define who you are.
- Tailor: Customise that message to your specific customer.
- Amplify: Spread that message across every channel the AI is scraping.
- Evolve: Change in real-time based on what’s working.
Take a brand like Fresha. They aren't just "blogging." They are amplifying their brand by highlighting customer wins on TikTok and Reels, answering specific booking policy questions in beauty forums, and providing quick product demos that show exactly how they solve problems. They are feeding the AI the exact "repetition across sources" it needs to trust them.
Stop Fighting for the Scraps In Ai Search
If you aren't in the model, you aren't in the conversation. You can keep ignoring the traffic that converts 13 times better than everyone else if you like, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's a long way down from the "traditional search" cliff.
Would you like me to help you audit your current strategy to see if you're actually providing the content AI models are looking for? Quote this column for a free audit normally worth €1500.
