The Impact of AI on Brand Visibility
Recently, I’ve been exploring how AI search affects brand visibility as part of a project with a pet food and accessories retailer. This company is shifting its focus from merely selling products to providing health advice, care services, and personalized support for pet owners throughout their pets’ lives. I started by testing a common issue pet owners face: finding the right care solutions for aging pets. When I asked a leading AI tool for suggestions, it provided thoughtful and useful recommendations, but none mentioned the brand I was working with, even though they offer exactly that kind of support.
This strategic shift is compelling and something we’re seeing across various industries. But it brings up an urgent question: as brands evolve to offer richer, more customer-centric services, how do people find them in an era where AI is often the first point of contact?
The next wave of search isn’t about keywords; it’s about conversations. As AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s new Gemini interface change how people ask questions and get answers, the old rules of product discovery are quietly becoming obsolete. For brands undergoing strategic shifts—from product sales to lifecycle services—this evolution changes everything.
Expanding Beyond Products to Customer Journeys
Smart brands are moving beyond transactional product models to support full customer journeys. Take the example of the pet food and accessories brand I mentioned earlier. Once focused solely on physical products, it’s now expanding to offer subscription services, health tracking, behavior advice, and care planning. This isn’t just a strategy shift—it’s a customer-centric redefinition of value.
The same pattern is visible across industries:
- Retail: Brands like Nike have expanded from products to lifestyle platforms with apps like Nike Training Club, while LEGO engages users in co-creation through LEGO Ideas and memberships.
- Manufacturing: Companies such as Kaeser Kompressoren and Signify (formerly Philips Lighting) exemplify “servitization”—delivering outcomes like compressed air or lighting-as-a-service instead of physical equipment. (source)
- Healthcare: Firms like Philips and American Well have invested in telehealth platforms and continuous care systems. According to Philips’ Future Health Index, 40% of healthcare leaders now prioritize AI-enabled, predictive technologies.
- Mobility: OEMs like Volvo and Porsche are embracing car-subscription models that emphasize flexibility over ownership.
- Fitness: Platforms like Peloton and Whoop bundle coaching, analytics, and social features into ongoing wellness ecosystems.
These companies are not just selling more—they’re becoming more relevant. Their shift to service- and experience-oriented models has allowed them to unlock recurring revenue, improve customer retention, and build richer data feedback loops. According to a Deloitte report, manufacturers adopting servitized models often generate up to 50% of profits from services and achieve up to 30% higher margins compared to product-only models..
Adapting Discovery Strategies for AI Search
As your offerings evolve, so must your discovery strategy. That’s where AI search changes the game.
Consumers today aren’t typing product names into search engines—they’re asking full questions and expecting full answers. “How do I help my dog lose weight?” “What’s the best air compressor for a dental lab?” These queries aren’t matched to keywords—they’re interpreted by Large Language Models (LLMs) that respond with curated summaries and synthesized recommendations.
In a recent conversation with ChatGPT, I asked for recommended pet care services for aging dogs. The tool gave me thoughtful, practical options. But not a single result included the brand I had just researched—even though it was offering exactly that.
That’s the risk. You can evolve your offer, redesign your website, and refresh your brand—but if an AI can’t “see” you in the problem space your customer is asking about, you’ve disappeared.
Google’s own transformation confirms this. The new AI search experience powered by Gemini doesn’t just rank links—it composes answers. We’ll explore the mechanics of AI-native SEO and Google’s Gemini mode in a follow-up article.
Strategies for AI-Native Discovery
To remain relevant, brands must go beyond traditional SEO and prepare for the era of LLM Optimization (LLMO). Large language models surface answers, not links—and only brands that are clearly defined, consistently referenced, and structurally understandable will make it into those answers.
Here are six key strategies:
- Entity Optimization: Use your brand name consistently and connect it explicitly to your core offerings. Avoid generic naming and reinforce brand–product associations across your site and external platforms.
- Structured, High-Signal Content: Organize your site with clear headings, bullet points, FAQs, glossaries, and comparison tables. This allows LLMs to extract and summarize your content more easily.
- Digital PR & Authority Signals: Build citations and mentions in authoritative publications, product review sites, and forums. LLMs rely heavily on perceived authority—often learned from external references.
- Monitor & Benchmark Visibility: Regularly test AI models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity for brand visibility. Ask natural questions and track whether and how your brand is mentioned. Adjust content to fill gaps or correct inaccuracies.
- Visual and Multimodal Assets: LLMs are becoming multimodal. Make sure your brand visuals (logos, product photos, labeled diagrams) are well-indexed and properly described on your site and across platforms.
- Implement llms.txt: Add an llms.txt file to your site’s root to help AI crawlers discover your most important content. Include links to key product, policy, and help pages with short descriptions for better indexing.
These strategies move you from being keyword-optimized to being LLM-credible – from chasing rankings to becoming part of the model’s mental map.
The Urgency of Adapting to AI
We’ve seen digital disruption before—but never this fast. ChatGPT reached 100 million users in just two months, outpacing Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok by years. With AI tools now integrated into search, productivity platforms, and even operating systems, the new interface is already mainstream.
If your customers’ first interaction is with an AI—and you’re not present—you don’t exist.
And if your strategy has evolved but your technology hasn’t, then your transformation is invisible.
Next Steps for Your Brand
Audit your brand’s AI visibility. Evaluate how your new value proposition shows up – or doesn’t – when customers ask the questions you’re built to solve.
AI-powered search is changing how customers discover brands.
See how our AI strategy services can help you stay visible and relevant in this new discovery era.
