The marketing world is seeing a huge change, maybe the biggest since Google became so dominant. Big companies like Expedia, HubSpot, and L’Oreal are completely changing how they do things. This is creating new chances for marketers who are ready to adapt.
While regular SEO is still important, AI search tools are changing how people find and pick products. The CEO of HubSpot even said that the drop in traffic from Google’s AI Overviews was like a "traffic apocalypse." For businesses aiming for big growth in 2026, getting good at AI Search Optimization isn’t just a good idea – it’s becoming necessary to stay in the game.
Key Takeaways
- AI Search is Here to Stay: Major brands are already adapting their strategies because customers are using AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini to find products.
- Two Tiers of Marketers: Some CMOs are actively changing their strategies for AI search, gaining an advantage, while others are unaware of the shift.
- Three Core Areas to Focus On: Visibility tracking, prompt optimization, and source citation strategies are critical for success in AI search.
- Tools Like Peec AI Are Essential: Using AI tools to monitor your brand’s AI search performance against competitors is key.
- Content Matters: Understanding which websites and content formats AI tools prefer is vital for getting your brand recommended.
- First-Mover Advantage: This is a prime opportunity for early adopters to secure a significant competitive edge.
The AI Search Revolution Is Here
When marketing leaders from major companies say they’re rewriting their strategies for AI search, it’s not just a passing trend. It’s a plan for survival. They know their customers are using tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Google’s AI Overviews, and Grok to discover new products and brands. And naturally, they want these tools to recommend them.
As mentioned, the HubSpot CEO described the traffic changes from Google’s AI Overviews as a "traffic apocalypse." This clearly shows that AI search is something marketers can’t afford to ignore. Today, we’ll look at what proactive CMOs are doing about this shift and how you can make sure your brand benefits from these changes in how people search.
Understanding the Shift: Two Tiers of Marketers
We’re starting to see a split among CMOs. Some are fully aware of the AI search shift. They see brands like HubSpot creating new marketing strategies specifically for AI answers, and companies like Walmart adapting their infrastructure for AI personal shopping agents. They’re asking, "What do we need to do to take advantage of this instead of getting left behind?"
Then there’s the other group. They might not even realize this is happening. They use ChatGPT themselves and see their own online behavior changing. They know their friends and family are using AI more than traditional search. But they haven’t connected the dots to understand how disruptive this will be for their brands.
The good news is that it’s not too late. We’re still in the early stages of AI search. Here at Exposure Ninja, we’re at the forefront of this space and see how fast it’s evolving. Our advice for any CMO looking to adapt their strategy to include AI search optimization comes down to three main things:
- Your Brand’s Visibility: Where does your brand stand in AI tools right now?
- Improving Visibility: What steps do you need to take to get seen more?
- Tracking and Adapting: How do you monitor changes and adjust your strategy?
Getting Hands-On with AI Search Tools
It’s worth spending some time to understand how this space works, especially if you’re in marketing. There’s a new set of tools and strategies to learn. Even if you hire an agency, you need to grasp the basics to understand their reports and know where you stand.
A great way to start is by using a tool like Peec AI. This is one of the new AI search tools that helps you understand your brand’s visibility and how you compare to competitors. Let’s take a look at how these tools work and some of the new terms you’ll encounter.
Peec AI, like many AI search tools, focuses on three key areas:
- Visibility: How often your brand is mentioned and recommended compared to competitors in AI responses.
- Prompts and Responses: The specific questions or terms you want AI tools to use when recommending your brand.
- Sources and Citations: The websites that AI tools reference when compiling their answers.
Understanding Visibility and Prompts
Visibility is a score showing how often your brand appears for the prompts you’re tracking. Think of prompts like keywords – they are the search terms you want your brand to show up for. You can choose your own important prompts, or the tool can suggest them.
For example, a prompt like "best CRM for a marketing agency" might be a priority for HubSpot. The tool then checks different AI platforms (like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google’s AI Overviews) to see where your brand appears. You can also look at the sentiment score to see if your brand is being mentioned positively, neutrally, or negatively. Negative sentiment can highlight content gaps you need to address.
The Importance of Citations and Sources
Citations are where AI tools get their information. When an AI answers a question, it pulls data from various websites. To get recommended, your brand needs to be featured on those cited websites.
Tools like Peec AI can show you the top sources cited across different AI models for your tracked prompts. You’ll notice that certain types of websites are cited more often:
- User-Generated Content/Social Sites: Like Reddit and YouTube.
- Authority Publications: Such as PC Mag or industry-specific review sites.
- Brand-Owned Websites: Like HubSpot or Salesforce’s own sites.
This information is gold for content marketing and digital PR teams. They know which websites to target to increase their chances of being recommended by AI tools.
Example: Analyzing HubSpot’s AI Visibility
Let’s say you want to improve visibility for "best CRM software for a marketing agency" specifically on ChatGPT. You can filter the results to see which domains and even specific URLs are most often cited in ChatGPT’s answers for this prompt. This gives you a clear list of articles and websites to focus on. Your digital PR team could then reach out to the writers of these articles, perhaps to be included in future updates or similar content.
Building Your AI Search Plan
Beyond using tools like Peec AI, the first practical step is to build an AI search plan. At Exposure Ninja, we conduct AI search audits for clients. These audits break down visibility, analyze how current content performs in AI tools, and provide a detailed plan for improvement.
Having a structured plan is crucial. It prevents you from feeling overwhelmed and helps you focus your efforts. This plan can then be shared with your internal team or with an agency like ours.
While having a plan is great, implementing it is even better. You need to integrate AI search strategies into your overall digital marketing for 2026 and beyond.
A New Era of Search: A Land Grab Opportunity
This is an exciting time in digital marketing. We’re at the start of a completely new era of search. SEO has been a major traffic source because Google was the primary starting point for internet use. But now, user behavior is shifting.
Even within Google, AI search results are becoming more prominent. When AI Overviews appear, the number of clicks on organic results decreases. This means we have to adapt. The great news is that CMOs and marketers who embrace this change and build their strategies accordingly can gain a lot. We’re still early enough that there’s a first-mover advantage. It’s a land grab opportunity, and we see it happening with our clients every day. We’re really excited about this, and we hope you are too.
Rodney Laws is an ecommerce expert with over a decade of experience helping entrepreneurs build and grow online businesses. He specializes in reviewing ecommerce platforms, optimizing user experience, and guiding brands toward higher conversions. His insights have been published on leading industry sites including UsabilityGeek, G2, Spendesk, and PPC Hero.
As the editor at EcommercePlatforms.io, Rodney combines hands-on knowledge with clear, actionable advice to help business owners choose the right tools and strategies. When he’s not testing the latest software or analyzing trends, he’s sharing practical tips that make complex ecommerce decisions simple.
