AI is moving into our digital world faster than anything we’ve seen before. Adoption is growing rapidly, much faster than older technologies ever did. This growth looks different depending on the industry or audience, but the trend is clear: AI is changing how people find information and connect with brands.

This shift means we can’t treat AI like another new marketing channel. It’s not something to add to your existing strategy and move on. The most successful brands will be the ones that understand AI is changing the entire digital experience, from how people first hear about your brand to how they decide to buy from you.

The way people discover brands has changed

One of the most significant changes is in how people start their journey. They are increasingly using AI tools instead of search engines like Google. That already has the potential to impact SEO significantly, but it goes further than that.

AI hits some industries harder than others. For example, travel brands are seeing more traffic from Meta’s AI tools across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. These tools create new ways for people to find information that don’t involve search engines.

I’ve seen this shift personally. In just seven months, traffic from AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini has jumped by 200 to 300 per cent. And that doesn’t even include visits lost to AI summaries or Bing’s generative search results.

This kind of growth shows we are at the start of a significant change. It is growing from a small base, but the direction is clear. AI is quickly becoming one of the main ways people find content.

AI users don’t act like search users

People who visit your website after using an AI tool behave differently. These visitors usually already have some information because they got it from the AI. They come to your site because they want more details or answers that the AI couldn’t give.

This need means your content needs to do a better job. If the AI already explained most of what’s on your page, users won’t click unless they think they’ll find something extra. If they don’t, they’ll leave disappointed, hurting your brand.

It’s also harder to control this process. AI tools pull content from many sources, sometimes combining different pages or pulling old, inaccurate information. I’ve seen cases where the AI gave users outdated pricing from a tweet, and when they visited the site expecting those prices, it created a bad experience.

Content needs to go deeper and be more useful

A content strategy used to involve using the right keywords and ensuring that pages had enough text, but that’s no longer enough. Now, we need to think more carefully about what the content is for, how it supports other content, and whether it helps people and AI understand the topic.

If AI tools show summaries of your content before people click, you need to ask:

  • What are they summarising?
  • What’s making users click through?
  • What are users expecting when they land on your page?
  • Are you meeting those expectations?

When there’s a mismatch, when users expect something and get something else, they may lose trust in your brand. AIs mix information from different places and create confusing or inaccurate answers. Then, users show up expecting one thing and find another. That disconnect is your problem to solve.

We need new ways to measure success

This change affects more than just content. It also changes how we measure results. For a long time, SEO has focused on traffic, keyword rankings, and revenue from searches. But those metrics don’t tell the whole story anymore. The way people move through the funnel is more complicated and often invisible.

We need to look at new types of value:

  • Is your content building trust even if it doesn’t immediately lead to a sale?
  • Is it showing up in AI summaries?
  • Is your brand message clear across different channels?
  • How do all your teams, SEO, social, and content, collaborate to create a connected experience?

Focusing only on keyword rankings and traffic volume is outdated. We need to look at the quality of traffic, how often AI uses our content, and how it helps people on their journey. We also need to adjust how we think about growth. The old goal of constant month-to-month increases doesn’t match how AI works. Year-over-year comparisons and broader trends will give a more accurate picture.

Old marketing structures need to change

This evolution isn’t just a challenge for SEO or content teams. It’s a company-wide change. The walls between teams — social, SEO, and brand — need to come down. Everyone has to work together with a shared strategy.

Treating AI as just another part of marketing, like a new pillar next to content, tech, and links, won’t work for long. It limits your thinking and keeps you stuck in old patterns. The companies that do best will be the ones that accept this as a long-term shift and build flexible systems that can adapt as things keep changing.

Don’t try to make this simpler than it is

The most successful brands will be the ones that accept how complex this new world is. They won’t stick to outdated metrics or siloed thinking. They’ll figure out how AI fits into the entire user journey, and they’ll build strategies that reflect that reality.

They’ll stop seeing AI as a threat to search or social and treat it as the next significant shift in how people find and use information. These brands will create content that works for both people and AI. They’ll develop new ways to measure success that make sense for today’s reality.

Most importantly, they won’t rush to simplify things meant to be complex. The marketing funnel is changing. The lines between channels are fading. The path from discovery to action is less clear. But for marketers ready to adjust and learn, this moment is a huge chance to build stronger, more meaningful connections with people, no matter where or how they discover your brand.

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