Artificial Intelligence (AI) has understandably been the hottest topic over the past two years, but while the community at large is interested in whether ChatGPT can code and what are the professions it will sweep out of the job market – what excites me is “how technology is changing business models and consumer behavior.”
One trend that is emerging as hot is the “death of SEO” and Google Search.. and their shifting favor to artificial intelligence and my much beloved Perplexity.
Artificial can be your best business partner.. or enemy – you choose
Recent research from the Boston Consulting Group proves it – 28% of companies surveyed now use AI to recommend various products to them, such as cosmetics. This is just the tip of the iceberg in an ever-widening trend.
Respondents also said that working with artificial intelligence brings them:
- Comfort because it improves their quality of life by helping them optimize their healthy living goals, manage their personal finances and other goals they have set – a full 32% of respondents confirmed that AI is connected to their fitness apps and helps them optimize their results;
- Personalization because it helps them find exactly what they are looking for and provides them with data according to their individual queries and needs;
- Confidence because it reduces the time and effort they put in – 28% of respondents use the visual results provided by AI to find the products they are looking for and buy them.
Hyperpersonalisation is becoming more and more important and critical in decision making
For business strategists like me, artificial intelligence is no longer just a tool to automate routine tasks. It becomes a strategic advisor that shapes consumer choices and perceptions. And every company, regardless of its size or sector, needs to realize that the way AI perceives and represents its brand has a direct impact on its market position.
While AI offers unprecedented opportunities, it also brings significant risks for brands. Perhaps the biggest threat is the loss of control over how a brand is perceived and presented in the marketplace.
Particularly significant is the trend to create AI-powered and managed agents that will make direct purchases on behalf of consumers.
When artificial intelligence becomes the intermediary between brands and consumers, they gain a huge influence on the market. Artificial intelligence tools – bots, agents, search engines, assistants – can filter, prioritize or even exclude certain brands from consumers’ view based on their algorithms and training data.
Imagine a scenario where a user asks their AI assistant,“Recommend me a good shampoo for dry hair.” If your brand is not well represented in that AI’s training data, or if the algorithm doesn’t perceive it as relevant, you may be completely excluded from recommendations, regardless of the quality of your product.
When an “agent” decides which product to recommend or purchase on behalf of their “customer”, brands face a new challenge – to be recognizable and preferred not only by humans, but also by algorithms.
And no, we’re not talking about standard Google Search SEO algorithms anymore, we’re talking about the ability to understand and appeal to big language models (LLMs) like GPT, Claude, Llama and others forming their “opinions” about brands based on massive amounts of training data including texts from the web, books, academic publications and other sources. These models analyse how a brand is mentioned, in what context and with what associations.
The result is so-called “algorithmic reputation” – the way artificial intelligence and LLMs systems perceive and represent a brand.
And yes, fact, that reputation can differ significantly from traditional market perception and how consumers perceive a brand. However, to the extent that artificial intelligence is able to influence business outcomes, the trend should not be passed over lightly.
Another serious threat is the potential for manipulation and distortion of information. AI-powered systems can contain biases, favouring certain brands over others. This can lead to unfair market distribution that does not reflect the true merits of products.
Furthermore, brands face the risk of misinformation, a topic I touched on in my previous article: Artificial Intelligence, AI Marketing and the Sunset of Fact-Checking: How Internet Business Is Changing. AI models can sometimes generate inaccurate information about a brand or product, damaging its reputation. As consumers increasingly rely on AI to obtain information, such errors can have long-lasting negative consequences.
How to protect yourself? Invest in brand management and building a strong brand and identity, not short-term sales campaigns and advertising. You can find out more n the topic in the book“The BRAVO Method – Marketing Masterclass” and my mentoring program.
There is also the threat of “algorithmic anonymity” – a situation where your brand becomes invisible to artificial intelligence for technical or strategic reasons. In a world where more and more purchasing decisions are influenced or made directly by artificial intelligence, such anonymity can be fatal to a business.
Last but not least, brands alsoneed to worry about the ethical aspects of using artificial intelligence. Consumers are becoming increasingly sensitive to issues of privacy, transparency and ethical use of data. Companies that are perceived as abusing AI-technology risk losing the trust of their customers.
How is artificial intelligence changing marketing?
Any change in our consumer habits and social behaviour (should) lead to a fundamental rethink of marketing strategies. Traditional marketing teaches companies to focus on creating an emotional connection with consumers through images, sounds, and storytelling – AI marketing must take into account how products and marketing messages are interpreted by big language models.
Traditional marketing teaches companies to focus on creating an emotional connection with consumers through images, sounds, and storytelling – AI marketing must take into account how products and marketing messages are interpreted by big language models.
Ivelina Atanasova – Genchev
Brands can no longer rely solely on traditional marketing channels. They must adapt to a new reality in which their “digital image” in the eyes of artificial intelligence plays a crucial role. This includes carefully wording product descriptions, using the right terminology, and creating content that is not only appealing to humans, but also understandable to machines.
Companies like Amazon and Netflix are now using powerful algorithms to offer individual recommendations, and ads are becoming increasingly targeted. Chatbots and virtual assistants are replacing traditional customer support, increasing efficiency and engagement. Natural language processing (NLP) technologies allow brands to analyze social sentiment in real time and adapt their strategies flexibly.
Ultimately, the companies that adapt to these trends fastest will have a significant advantage over the competition. They will be able to use AI not only as an optimization tool, but also as a strategic partner in building and maintaining their brand.
The “death” of SEO in favor of AI Perception Optimization (APO)
Traditional web search, dominated by Google over the past two decades, is undergoing a fundamental transformation. We’re seeing the gradual demise of classic SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and the rise of new AI-based platforms like Perplexity that are changing the way users discover information and brands.
Perplexity (and all its future competitors) goes beyond the traditional display of links to websites and “general search results” by keyword. They directly answer questions, provide summaries and analysis, and as I mentioned, can make recommendations based on their understanding of user needs.
In this context, brands lose direct control over the information that reaches consumers. Traditional SEO metrics like search result positions, clicks and organic traffic are losing their relevance.
While traditional SEO focuses on keywords, metadata, and backlinks, the new reality requires a deeper understanding of context, intent, and relies on the generative capabilities of artificial intelligence.
This represents a fundamental shift for companies’ brand positioning and marketing strategies.
Instead of competing for positions in search results through traditional SEO techniques, they should focus on how their information is interpreted and synthesized by AI systems. A key factor here is not only visibility, but also the credibility and authority of the information associated with a brand.
Understanding how AI algorithms work and how they perceive brands is now the most important factor for business development and brand management, and for brand managers this creates a whole new dimension to their work – Artificial Intelligence Optimization or AI Perception Optimization (APO).
AI Perception Optimization (APO) requires much deeper and serious technical knowledge than SEO, as well as additional strategies to improve the way AI systems perceive and represent a brand.
Furthermore, Perplexity and other AI systems learn and evolve on a daily basis – the more we use them, the smarter they get. This means that optimization strategies also need to be dynamic and adaptive.
The success of digital marketing is no longer measured by the number of Facebook fans or the presence of a website
The digital transformation of business, which for a very long time was seen as a luxury and most often ended with the construction of a basic and informative website – is now extremely insufficient. Artificial intelligence allows businesses to grow, go global and expand very easily, but with that comes increased competition. If yesterday it was possible to come up with some “quick fix” and “run an ad for 500lv on social networks” to save the day – tomorrow this will not be possible and yes, many, many businesses will be unprepared and will go bankrupt.
AI and APO strategies require long-term brand management and marketing at a really high level. These can include creating structured content that is easily understood by machines, using consistent terminology that accurately reflects your products and values. Yes, the role of corporate philosophy and values will become increasingly important, as will active brand monitoring and timely correction of inaccurate information and data about your brand or services.
In addition, brands should pay attention to the integration of artificial intelligence into their own marketing and business processes. Using AI for consumer data analytics, content personalization and communication automation can provide a significant competitive advantage.
Brands also need to rethink their digital assets.
Instead of optimizing websites for search engines only, they should structure their information in a way that is easily understood by AI systems.
The death of traditional SEO does not mean the end of digital marketing, but rather its evolution to a more intelligent, contextual and adaptive form that reflects the growing capabilities of artificial intelligence.
Ultimately, successful brand management in the age of AI requires a balancing act between human and machine perception – brands must maintain their authenticity and emotional connection with consumers while optimizing for algorithmic understanding and performance.
How companies should start their transformation
Like any transformation and change in our lives, this one will be neither easy nor desirable for many businesses, but.. unfortunately it can’t be avoided either. So, in my typical style, rather than whine, I believe it’s better to meet change prepared.
Here are the five key areas and steps I believe every small and medium-sized business should invest in to adapt to the new AI-dominated digital reality over the next five years:
- Invest in your technical skills and understanding how AI algorithms work, how they perceive your brand. Invest in technology solutions and specialized brand monitoring and analysis tools. Similar to the way we used to monitor our social networks and Google Search results until yesterday, it’s now time to invest in systems to monitor your brand presence in AI-generated content.
- Invest in strong branding and “AI-ready” content. This means creating information that is not only appealing to human audiences, but also easy for AI systems to understand and integrate – have a corporate philosophy, a clear audience, archetypal marketing – a clear methodology to work with and a consistent approach. If you haven’t yet read my book “The BRAVO Method – Marketing Masterclass”, checked out my coaching program or my mentoring program, don’t delay any longer. Tomorrow may be too late to start the change. Structured data, semantic tags and consistency in brand messaging and content will be critical to your survival and success.
- Companies urgently need to rethink their marketing metrics and KPIs. In a world where direct user interactions are being supplemented or replaced by artificial intelligence, traditional metrics such as clicks, impressions and conversions need to be supplemented with new metrics focused on how artificial intelligence perceives your brand and message.
- Organizations need to build their own AI and marketing automation capabilities. This includes not only hiring technical specialists, but also training marketers and brand managers to understand and work effectively with AI and concepts.
- Organisations should experiment with integrating AI into their own products and services. This can create new channels of interaction with users and provide valuable data to improve their overall APO strategy.
By the way, if you haven’t yet signed up for the waiting list to access our marketing automation tool – BRAVO.AI, now is the time – https://thebravo.ai/ – we’ve provided A 90-day FREE trial period while we test the product, access to one-on-one coaching sessions and all sorts of other “perks” for the first 100 people who sign up.
Finally, what I believe most deeply, and what underpins my personal success, is that companies must stay true to their values and mission, even as they adapt to a dynamically changing technology environment. Until recently, the most successful brands used the web to reinforce their identity and presence – tomorrow the same will be true for artificial intelligence.
I believe that no technology can displace or replace human creativity and authenticity, but I also believe that it is unrealistic and unsustainable to ignore change, believing that our “uniqueness” will protect us from technological evolution.
History has provided us with enough examples of global companies – Nokia, Kodak, Polaroid, MySpace and hundreds of others that failed to adapt in time and lost their market positions.
Remember – The transformation to the age of artificial intelligence is not a momentary act, but a marathon. It is a constant process of adaptation, testing and refinement. The companies that embrace this reality and invest in it will be the ones that not only survive, but dominate the market, making AI their best ally rather than a competitor that threatens them.
If you are looking for support in the process of digital transformation and implementation of artificial intelligence in your business, I remain available.
