How AI Search is Changing Digital Marketing

The way people search for information is undergoing the most significant transformation since Google replaced the phone book. AI-powered search engines — Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, and others — are fundamentally changing how consumers discover, evaluate, and choose businesses. If your digital marketing strategy is still built entirely around traditional search rankings, you are already falling behind.

This is not a future prediction. It is happening now. Google AI Overviews appear in over 40% of search results in the United States and roughly 30% in the United Kingdom. ChatGPT handles hundreds of millions of queries per month, many of them with commercial intent. Perplexity, with its source-cited answers, is growing at triple-digit rates quarter over quarter. The businesses that understand this shift and adapt their strategy will capture disproportionate market share. Those that do not will watch their traffic decline while wondering what went wrong.

What Has Actually Changed

Traditional search worked like a library index. You typed a query, Google returned a list of ten blue links, and you clicked through to find your answer. The website that ranked first received roughly 31% of all clicks. The entire SEO industry was built around climbing that list.

AI search works differently. Instead of returning links, it synthesises information from multiple sources and presents a direct answer. When someone asks Google 'What is the best CRM for small businesses?', an AI Overview may appear above the organic results with a complete answer — pulling data, recommendations, and comparisons from dozens of websites. The searcher gets their answer without clicking through to any of them.

This is the critical shift: in AI search, being a source is more valuable than being a result. If your content is cited by the AI engine in its answer, you receive brand visibility and authority — even if the searcher never visits your website directly. This is the foundation of Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO).

Google AI Overviews: What Marketers Need to Know

Google AI Overviews (formerly Search Generative Experience) are AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of Google search results for certain queries. They pull information from multiple web pages, synthesise it into a cohesive answer, and include small citation links to the source pages.

From a marketing perspective, AI Overviews present both a threat and an opportunity. The threat is real: if an AI Overview answers the searcher's question completely, click-through rates to organic results drop by 25% to 60% depending on the query type. Informational queries are most affected, while transactional and local queries retain higher click-through rates because searchers still need to visit a business to make a purchase or book a service.

The opportunity is equally real. Websites that are cited in AI Overviews receive significant visibility and brand exposure. Early data suggests that being cited in an AI Overview is roughly equivalent to ranking in positions 3 to 5 in traditional organic results — but with the added benefit of being positioned above the fold in a prominent, attention-grabbing format.

ChatGPT and Perplexity as Search Engines

Millions of people now use ChatGPT and Perplexity as alternatives to Google for commercial queries. 'What is the best accountancy firm for small businesses in London?', 'Which roofing company should I use in Dallas?', 'Recommend a good CRM for trades businesses' — these are real queries being asked daily in AI chatbots instead of Google.

Perplexity is particularly significant because it cites its sources explicitly. When it recommends a business or references a piece of content, it includes a linked citation that users can click through to. This makes Perplexity citations measurably valuable for driving traffic and building authority.

ChatGPT's influence is more subtle but arguably more powerful. When it recommends your business or mentions your brand in response to a query, it shapes the user's perception before they ever visit your website. The user arrives with a pre-existing positive impression, which dramatically improves conversion rates.

The GEO Framework: How to Optimise for AI Search

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the practice of structuring your content so that AI engines are more likely to cite it in their responses. While GEO shares some principles with traditional SEO, it requires a different mindset and different tactics.

• Include specific, citable statistics and data points throughout your content — AI models strongly prefer concrete numbers over vague claims
• Use authoritative, first-person language that positions your business as a primary source rather than a content aggregator
• Structure content with clear headings, short paragraphs, and logical flow that AI models can easily parse and extract
• Implement comprehensive schema markup (FAQ, HowTo, Article, LocalBusiness) to give AI engines structured data about your content
• Answer questions directly and concisely within your content — AI models favour clear, definitive answers they can quote
• Build topical authority by creating in-depth content clusters around your core services and expertise
• Maintain consistent, accurate business information across every platform — AI models cross-reference multiple sources to verify claims

The businesses winning in AI search are not the ones with the most content — they are the ones with the most citable content. Specificity, authority, and structure are the new ranking factors.

Structured Data Is Now Non-Negotiable

Schema markup has always been important for SEO, but in the age of AI search, it is essential. Structured data gives AI engines explicit, machine-readable information about your business, services, reviews, FAQs, and content. Without it, you are relying on AI models to correctly interpret unstructured text — a process that is unreliable at best.

At minimum, every business website should implement LocalBusiness schema (with accurate NAP, opening hours, and service area), Service schema for each service offered, FAQPage schema on any page with question-and-answer content, Article schema on blog posts and content pages, and Review/AggregateRating schema if you display customer reviews on your site.

At Prism Digital Group, structured data implementation is built into every website we develop and every SEO campaign we run. It is not an afterthought or an add-on — it is a core part of the technical foundation. If your current website lacks schema markup, this should be one of the first things you address.

Content Strategy for AI Search

Your content strategy needs to evolve. In the traditional SEO model, the goal was to rank for keywords. In the AI search model, the goal is to be the authoritative source that AI engines reference when answering questions related to your expertise.

This means creating content that is genuinely expert-level, not surface-level keyword-targeted articles. Write from direct experience. Include original data, case study results, specific methodologies, and proprietary insights that cannot be found elsewhere. AI models are trained to recognise and prefer primary sources over content that simply aggregates information from other websites.

Build comprehensive content hubs around your core topics. If you are an SEO agency, your hub might include detailed pages on local SEO, technical SEO, link building, content strategy, and GEO — all interlinked and all positioning your brand as the definitive authority. AI models use topical authority signals when deciding which sources to cite, so depth and interconnection matter enormously.

How This Affects Paid Advertising

AI search does not eliminate the need for paid advertising — but it does change the context. As organic click-through rates decline for some query types, paid search ads may become more important for maintaining visibility. Google Ads still appear above AI Overviews in many cases, and paid social advertising remains entirely unaffected by AI search changes.

The most significant impact on paid advertising is in audience behaviour. Users who have already been influenced by an AI engine's recommendation arrive at your website with higher intent and higher trust. This can improve conversion rates on paid landing pages and lower your cost per acquisition. Combining a strong GEO strategy with targeted paid campaigns creates a compounding effect: the AI exposure builds brand awareness and trust, while the paid ads capture demand at the moment of decision.

What You Should Do Now

The shift to AI search is not coming — it is here. The businesses that adapt their digital marketing strategy now will have a structural advantage that compounds over time. Those that wait will find it increasingly difficult and expensive to catch up.

• Audit your website for schema markup and fix any gaps immediately
• Review your content strategy — are you creating citable, authoritative content or generic keyword-targeted posts?
• Monitor your visibility in AI search engines (check what ChatGPT and Perplexity say about your business and industry)
• Build topical authority through comprehensive, interlinked content hubs
• Ensure your business information is consistent and accurate across every platform
• Consider working with a partner who understands both traditional SEO and GEO — they require different expertise

At Prism Digital Group, we have been building GEO into our SEO methodology since early 2025. Our local SEO and GEO visibility service is designed specifically for businesses that want to be found in both traditional search results and AI-powered engines. If you are ready to future-proof your digital marketing strategy, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss how we can help.