In the AI discovery era, visibility means being surfaced by generative engines that dictate attention, rather than simply being seen. As consumers increasingly depend on AI platforms to summarize, recommend, and make decisions, brands that fail to adapt risk disappearing. AI has become the internet’s front door. New research from Optimizely, a leading digital experience platform, highlights a significant gap between consumer behavior and brand readiness. Surveying over 1, 000 marketing leaders and 1, 300 consumers across seven global markets, the study uncovers a 30-point disparity between urgency and execution: 62% of marketers believe click-less journeys will become common within a year or already are, yet only 27% feel prepared. “If you're not optimized for AI, you're invisible, ” states Tara Corey, Optimizely’s SVP of Marketing. Consumers increasingly use AI-driven platforms to make purchase decisions without visiting brand sites. While marketers debate prioritizing Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), their brands are summarized, compared, and potentially dismissed by algorithms. Brands that swiftly adapt to influence these AI-driven moments will shape the future of digital marketing. The readiness gap is clear: although 67% of consumers use AI tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, or Perplexity to research products, only 39% of marketers rank GEO as a top-three priority in the next 6-12 months.

Younger consumers (18–44) are three to four times more likely than those over 55 to use AI daily for product research, indicating this trend will grow. Despite 75% of marketers lacking confidence in how their brand appears in AI summaries, 40% of consumers trust AI-generated summaries without visiting websites. Furthermore, nearly one-third of consumers have purchased based solely on AI responses, with 87% satisfied afterward. Brand recognition remains vital for trust: 31% of consumers trust AI-generated summaries more if from familiar brands; another 31% rely on a combination of brand and product information, while 22% value clear, accurate product details alone. Marketers face the challenge of ensuring favorable and accurate AI representations, yet only 25% feel confident these summaries reflect their brand well. Talent retention also suffers as marketing concerns over AI are fragmented—legal/compliance risks (25%), reduced site traffic (20%), outdated content (20%), loss of message control (19%), and measurement difficulty (18%) are all cited. Notably, 66% of marketing leaders would leave their company within a year if it lacks an AI or GEO strategy, demonstrating that slow action risks employee turnover. Currently, only 45% of teams have a defined AI strategy for GEO, showing most companies lag behind market and workforce demands. Optimizely’s research underscores the rapid acceleration of AI-driven discovery and the urgent need for brands to catch up. For more insights, read the full report here: https://www. optimizely. com/click-less-customer-report/