You can now ask a large language model (LLM) highly specific questions—such as requesting arch support within a certain shopping radius—and receive clear, context-rich answers like, “Here are three nearby options that fit your criteria. The top-rated one is available for pickup in 40 minutes. ” This enhanced interaction improves user experience without added complexity, reshaping consumer behavior, expectations, and how marketers approach brand visibility. It signals a fundamental shift in digital marketing, ushering in a new economy of visibility that demands evolved success metrics. **Visibility Is the New KPI** Traditionally, SEO success was measured by ranking on Google’s first page. In the AI era, success means being part of the answer—accurately cited or mentioned when AI systems respond. This is a structural change in how digital presence is valued; companies must treat AI visibility as critical brand capital alongside reputation and market share. Advertising reflects this shift, with U. S. advertisers projected to spend over $25 billion annually on AI-powered search placements by 2029, nearly 14% of search budgets. Recognizing how visibility is measured is just the first step. To capture it, brands must appreciate that product discovery is being reconstructed around two distinct search experiences shaping user interaction: **Two Search Experiences, Two Optimization Models** The landscape now features traditional and AI-driven search, each serving different user needs. Traditional search is navigational, guiding users to lists of pages. AI-driven search is conversational and consultative, capable of multi-step research, contextual interpretation, and synthesizing data from many sources into one response. Marketers must optimize accordingly: SEO focuses on keywords, while AI discovery demands prompt optimization. This shift is quantifiable.

Between August and October 2025, per Semrush AI Visibility Index, the number of distinct sources cited by ChatGPT grew nearly 80%, Google’s AI Mode by 13%, and ChatGPT brand mentions rose 12%. To remain visible, brands should prioritize high-volume, high-impact prompts relevant to their business, balancing volume and relevance as AI discovery rewards context, authority, and precision just like traditional SEO. As AI and traditional search evolve, their boundaries blur. Brands that optimize for both will be best positioned as these models merge into a unified discovery interface. **Preparing for AI + Traditional Search Convergence** Soon, search results will combine conversational answers with maps, reviews, and transactional links—a synthesis of structure and dialogue. Businesses will then focus on two key metrics: traditional traffic and a new AI Visibility metric measuring how often and accurately a brand appears in AI-generated content. However, visibility alone won’t suffice. The next battleground is content quality. Brands must create content that resonates with both humans and AI bots—naturally readable, intelligently ranked, and rich in contextual signals. Websites will need to work seamlessly for both, rethinking design factors like checkout and navigation to accommodate automated, machine-driven interactions, considering that features like SMS authentication could block bots. Ultimately, the true shift is economic: the AI-search convergence is redefining value creation, measurement, and capture in the digital economy. **AI Discovery and the New Economics of Search** This fusion of SEO and AI visibility represents a profound transformation—a new discovery layer connecting information accuracy, credibility, and commercial results into a continuous loop. Within five years, the distinction between “search engines” and “AI assistants” will fade, replaced by intelligent systems from companies like Google and OpenAI controlling what people see, trust, and buy. Though the system is evolving, opportunities remain accessible. AI Search is not exclusive to industry giants; it resets the playing field. Smaller brands can rise rapidly by being precise, credible, and contextually relevant, while large enterprises must regain agility and authority at scale. In traditional SEO, the dominant often won; in AI discovery, relevance wins. Businesses that effectively measure and manage their visibility in this new ecosystem will shape the future of digital competition. *Note: The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect Fortune’s views. *