There’s no shock that search is changing. It’s obvious. We all know from our own personal experience as well as the statistics that back it up. Google’s AI Overview pops up at the top of certain searches on the platform, with many of us going straight to our preferred AI platform to ask them.
In fact, 35% of US consumers now begin product discovery with AI tools, compared to just 13.6% who still turn to traditional search first (Similarweb).
This isn’t just a small change in behaviour, it’s a huge shift. But what does it mean for your brand?
Let’s start at the beginning…
Have you ever thought about where Large Language Models (LLMs) find the information from?
Put simply, LLMs pull their information from earned and owned content. We’re talking about publicly available sources such as media, review sites as well as organic brand channels such as websites and social media platforms. You know, the stuff that is a result of PR and Comms activity…now you see where we’re going with this…
Strategy remains central
We always bang the drum for strategy being at the heart of everything here at Stratos. Well-written, thoughtfully formatted content, put out in a consistent manner forms an important part.
A solid PR and Comms plan will help generate just the kind of thing that the LLM models are looking for when trying to consider your brand or company for the question being posed by billions of global users every day. Definitely, a positive move towards your Generative Engine Optimisation.
It’s all part of a mix…
As Helen Keller said: “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
Our philosophy on strategy is the same. Earned and owned content are just part of the perfect cocktail, they really work when backed by a strong technical and digital foundation – and this is where Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Google Ads come in.
Good SEO ensures that the structure and format is understood most effectively by algorithms. Think site architecture, technical health and on-page signals that turn a great story into something that has multiple benefits.
Google Ads complement this. Reinforcing brand visibility across platforms people are already searching on and capturing that intent right when someone is ready to act.
Individually strong. Together, more powerful.
What does this mean for the future?
We know how much change there has been, even just in the last ten years. With the growth of internet usage, the advent of content creators, SEO and social media. If there’s one thing that’s certain, it’s that nothing is staying the same.
Now more than ever, consistency is key and close relationships between PR, comms and SEO/digital teams is important. To be effective, campaigns and activity can no longer be separate. A great story that isn’t structured correctly or a strong SEO strategy based on tenuous messaging, both leave potential opportunities and value on the table.
It’s handy our Digital Marketing and Comms team sit next to each other hey…
The basics remain simple:
Find the story, distil the messages and tell the message in a way that the target audience wants to listen to on a platform that they’re going to see it. Oh and make sure that the digital foundations are there to help it work as hard as it possibly can.
Ready to get started? Let’s chat…
