The way people search for information online is changing, and the best practice you built your SEO strategy on is no longer enough. Here’s how brands need to expand their thinking about search in 2026 and beyond.
Someone wants to know which running shoe works best for flat feet. Another person is trying to figure out which bank account is actually worth opening. A marketing manager is researching which agencies specialise in retail brand strategy. They’re no longer opening Google and typing two words. They’re opening ChatGPT and having a conversation. And most brands have no idea whether they’re showing up in those conversations or not.
Numbers that should make you sit up
VML’s global report, ChatGPT’s Impact on the Search Landscape, makes the scale of this change hard to ignore. ChatGPT now has over 800 million users, accounting for 80% of the AI user market share. We’re not talking about a niche tech crowd experimenting on the fringes. This is mainstream, and it’s global. Nearly half of those users – 49% – are on the platform specifically to get information, insights and answers to their questions. And the way they’re doing it looks nothing like traditional search.
The average Google search is 3.4 words. A ChatGPT prompt averages 60, because users are adding context, preferences and nuance to get tailored responses. People aren’t searching anymore. They’re explaining their situation and asking for help. “I need a sunscreen that won’t leave a white cast on dark skin and won’t break me out” instead of “best sunscreen.” That’s a different conversation entirely, and brands need to think about what it means for them.
The discovery problem brands weren’t ready for
For years, discoverability was a known game. Rank on Google. Own the right keywords. Get onto page one. Yes, it was complicated, but the rules made sense.
AI search changes it because it doesn’t show a list of hyperlinked results like a traditional search engine. It delivers one synthesised response, removing the choice between sources and replacing it with a ready-made answer. Your brand either makes it into that answer, or it doesn’t exist for that person in that moment. And the moments that matter most are usually right at the top of the funnel.
Most queries people bring to ChatGPT are top-of-funnel. They’re not looking to buy something yet. They’re looking to learn, explore or compare. Definitions, how-tos, summaries and comparisons are its sweet spot. These are exactly the moments where brand awareness is built or lost.
There’s another wrinkle worth being aware of. AI recommendations are highly inconsistent. There’s less than a 1-in-100 chance that ChatGPT, asked the same question 100 times, will give you the same list of brands twice. Brand visibility in AI search isn’t a switch you flip. It’s a reputation you build, across many sources, over time.
So how does ChatGPT decide what to say?
ChatGPT doesn’t have a single transparent ranking algorithm the way Google does. But patterns are emerging. Brands are 6.5 times more likely to be cited through third-party sources than through their own domains. What others say about you carries more weight than what you say about yourself.
That’s a complete inversion of traditional SEO logic. Brands have spent years optimising their own websites – every landing page, every blog post, every meta description. In the world of AI search, your press coverage, your Wikipedia entry, your Reddit mentions, your expert quotes in trade publications… these matter more than your About page ever will.
There’s also a structural truth worth knowing: 44.2% of all large language model citations come from the first 30% of a piece of text, the introduction. If your content, your PR and your thought leadership don’t lead with clear, authoritative, citable claims, you’re leaving visibility on the table.
And it’s not just about what content exists. Quality matters. ChatGPT is more likely to cite content that uses definite rather than vague language, contains a question, has high entity density, balances facts with opinion, and keeps its writing simple and structured. The brands that succeed won’t have the most content. They’ll have the clearest, most confident, most useful content.
This doesn’t mean abandoning Google
As much as AI search is growing, however, Google isn’t going anywhere. Around 95% of ChatGPT users also use Google, and traditional search still owns high-intent, lower-funnel purchase behaviour. The play isn’t to pivot away from what has worked before, but rather to expand your thinking.
As the report points out, queries are getting longer and more specific, especially among ChatGPT users. And when those longer-tail queries carry strong intent, ChatGPT can drive conversions by matching users to exactly what they’re looking for. This makes AI search not just a discovery channel, but a potential conversion engine, particularly for considered, complex or high-involvement purchases.
Brands that understand this is a both/and, not an either/or will thrive in this new search environment.
What brands can do about it
The good news is that building AI discoverability isn’t a completely separate discipline. It rewards clarity, credibility and consistency – the same things great marketing has always rewarded. The difference is where that reputation needs to live.
- Start by looking at your third-party presence. Are reputable publications writing about you? Are you cited in industry reports? Are real customers talking about you in forums and on review platforms? These signals feed AI systems in ways your own website can’t.
- Invest in genuinely useful content. How-to guides, comparison content and practical tools matter more than ever. These formats feed AI responses and influence purchasing decisions indirectly.
- Stop writing for algorithms. And start writing for real people with real questions. In the age of AI, the most human content tends to win.
- Build your brand beyond search. Social presence, community engagement, earned media. These aren’t extras. They’re the raw material AI systems draw from when putting together their answers.
- Measure differently. Click-through rates were never the full picture, and they’re even less so now. Share of voice in AI-generated responses is worth tracking.
The brands that dominate the next decade of discoverability won’t be the ones that cracked ChatGPT’s code. They’ll be the ones that built such a clear, credible and widely referenced presence that AI systems have no choice but to include them. The conversation has changed. The question is whether your brand strategy is part of it.
