Search just got personal: How to make sure your brand gets recommended by AI
Search is changing, queries are getting longer and conversational, AI personalises by context and the marketing funnel has compressed. AI traffic converts much better than traditional search but is still only a small percentage of total traffic. Susie Cox, Client Services Director at Oban International says we need 3 pillars for AI visibility, a retrieval readiness, discoverability and authority signals meaning how the brand is discussed online. Traditional rankings and traffic KPIs are not enough anymore, brands need 5 key actions. Brands need to publish clear customer focused content, follow technical SEO best practices, streamline conversations for shorter funnels, distribute context widely and update KPIs to include AI citations and brand lift. These steps can make sure your brand gets recommended by AI in this new dawn of search.
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The culture problem hiding inside every business transformation
People have a 90% success rate compared to tools at 52% when it comes to training and support, thus should not be which AI model to use. Culture matters, need to give staff time to experiment and room to make mistakes. The work is shifting, from tasks manually to reviewing AI output. This is efficiency versus opportunity, don’t just use AI to go faster, use it to enter new business areas. Need to ask for real evidence, not just client testimonial. Clare Eagle, Principle Lead, People and Culture at Signal42 says brands need to be contract smart. Need to keep ownership of your creative output, restrict data reuse rights, check no train policies, cover all data not just AI models, know exactly which underlying model you’re paying for and finally to avoid long contracts. The bottomline is winners invest in people, not just technology, this is how to transform your business.
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LinkedIn 2026: The power of a PB
Joe Lloyd, Social Media Community Manager at OSB Group states LinkedIn has evolved significantly since 2003. It is no longer just a platform for finding jobs, but a space to showcase your personality, expertise and personal brand. In 2026, features such as videos, carousels, photos, polls and articles can help increase visibility and engagement, while a strong personal brand can help individuals become recognised as LinkedIn influencers. To build a strong presence, follow the 5 Cs: Comfort, Content, Conversation, Connection and Consistency. Become comfortable sharing yourself, create content around work, life, passions and ambitions, engage with others, connect with relevant people and post consistently to build credibility over time. LinkedIn is now about more than finding opportunities—it is about building relationships, visibility and a strong professional identity.
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10 ways we’re keeping marketing human in the age of AI…with A
Imperfections signal trust, deliberate small mistakes signal humans and boost engagement. Storytelling sells internally, story of customer as hero and brand as guide. Data should be used over gut feel, a campaign built on instinct flopped, an AI powered internal data warehouse led to better evidence based positioning. AI is able to find prospects and surfaces relevant material, but humans always close the actual relationship. Entertaining branded content beats ads, subtly showing the features of the brand. AI aids personal branding but humans build real relationships, states Gary Gumbleton, Group Creative Director at the Ocean Holiday Group. AI won’t replace people but should be used to enhance the person in the role, not cutting the headcount.
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From search engines to answer engines
History is repeating, says Paul Honey, Managing Director at Strange, today’s AI leaders may fade like early search engines and browsers did. The traffic is small but exploding, AI drives only 1.4% of sessions, 0.6% of conversations but both are growing at 250% year on year. Chat leads but copilot and gemini are surging in session and conversation growth respectively. AI traffic converts better and engages longer than paid search, organic search or social. Chat ads are in the early stage, familiar structure, limited targeting but cheaper CPCs and CRMs than google by far.
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