How is AI Search Changing Content Marketing?

It used to be simple. Write content. Add keywords. Build links. Rank.

Now tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity are the new gatekeepers. Instead of the ten blue links, they’re pulling from sources and summarizing answers for you. When they synthesize content into one answer, yours has to be part of that answer to stay visible.

As Chris M. Walker, Founder & CEO at Legiit, puts it: “We are moving from content that ranks to content that answers.”

That’s why we asked founders and marketing leaders what they’re doing differently now that AI tools are shaping discovery.

Here's how they're adapting.

Write answers, not articles

Let’s be honest: nobody wants to read your 800-word fluff piece anymore, not even algorithms. AI search wants direct, structured, quotable answers.

That’s why smart marketers are skipping the fluff and jumping straight into what matters. For Khan Muhammad Imran, founder of Brand Ignite, that means formatting content so an LLM can lift it in one go.

“We look at how people ask questions in tools like ChatGPT. We build one clear answer at the top of each page, with a question-style heading and a short, simple block of text below it. If it’s not ‘quote-ready,’ we rewrite it.”

This approach is about having a clear structure. Eugene Leow, director at MarketingAgency.sg, took the idea further by reorganizing entire pillar pages.

“We’ve restructured our pillar pages into Q&A-style sections, baked in definitions, and added clear takeaways upfront.”

Every section of your content should feel like the final answer on a quiz show. If it’s not clear enough to use in an AI response, it’s not clear enough.

At the same time, you want to make sure you're adding to real conversations, as Gianluca Ferruggia, GM at DesignRush says, "We're changing the way we think about writing... we write things that really add to the conversation."

Replace backlinks with mentions

Remember when everyone was obsessed with backlinks? Yeah. AI search doesn’t care how many domains are linking to your blog post if no one’s actually mentioning your brand in useful contexts.

Bill Gaule, co-founder of SERPsculpt, has already made the pivot:

“Citations, press releases and guest posts are great ways to increase brand mentions and paint the narrative around your brand.”

This is less about building domain authority and more about building narrative authority. You want to be the name that keeps popping up, like an annoying but unforgettable jingle.

Susi O’Neill, founder of EVA Digital, doesn’t mince words: “Think citations, not sad gated PDFs. Get your research distributed far and wide.”

And at Wardnasse, Carla Niña Pornelos is playing the long game: “It’s less about pageviews now and more about being cited, summarized, and surfaced.”

The new game is: who’s talking about you, and how quotable are you?

Use structure AI can process

You wouldn’t hand a librarian a stack of crumpled Post-its and call it a book. The same logic applies here. AI systems need structure—clean, consistent, and skimmable—to understand and reuse your content.

Isaac Bullen, marketing director at 3WH, has embraced the formatting gospel:

“We front-load each article with a 50-word summary, schema markup, and tidy HTML so LLMs can lift it verbatim. And Bing still matters! Especially with ChatGPT.”

Keith Kakadia, Founder & CEO at Sociallyin, explains how he's utilizing content hubs:

“We created an ‘answer-first’ content hub that broke down complex use cases into digestible Q&A formats with structured schema, conversational headers, and clear sourcing.”

Charbonier Consulting founder Jasmine Charbonier shares an incredible result.

“I restructured a client's entire cloud computing content hub [by building comprehensive topic clusters] and their visibility in Claude and ChatGPT jumped +40%.” 

Meanwhile, Firdaus Syazwani, founder of Dollar Bureau, used llms.txt and schema to flag his content for LLMs.

“Within weeks, we started seeing parts of our content getting picked up in AI-generated answers on tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity.”

And Abhishek Shah, founder of Testlify, has built an internal system for exactly how content should be structured.

“We format content around one clear question per section, use first-party data, bullets, lists, and make it conversational but authoritative.”

Your content might be brilliant. But if it’s hidden in a wall of text, AI will simply skip it.

Build semantic authority

Keywords are no longer the big winners. Long live concepts, entities, and associations.

AI maps meaning. That’s why smart marketers are now writing with semantic authority in mind: tying ideas to frameworks, naming concepts, and citing relevant standards.

At CSO Yemen, Dionne Jayne Ricafort ditched keyword stuffing in favor of entity optimization.

“We explicitly tie our insights to known concepts like the UN Sustainable Development Goals. LLMs make stronger connections that way.”

It’s not just about what you write, but who and what you write about.

Meera Watts, founder of Siddhi Yoga, builds every article around well-researched FAQs: “We directly respond to point pains and questions our clients actually ask.”

And Callum Gracie, founder of Otto Media, blends expert opinions, real experiences, and transparency into every piece.

“We created a resource hub and solved all the imaginable problems faced by target industries... There was an AI-generated summary within weeks for every client of ours. We have been able to blend the first-hand experience and information on the topic.”

So stop chasing keywords and start connecting the dots between your brand and the bigger picture.

Design content like a citation

If your blog post feels like a warm-up, AI will never get to the punchline. LLMs reward specificity, structure, and authority. So give them something worth quoting.

Deepak Shukla, CEO of Pearl Lemon, treats content like fine whisky: "aged, rare and brutally honest."

“We even feed our case studies into open datasets, turning them into potential LLM training materials.”

Juan Pineda, managing director of Agile Digital Agency, echoed the importance of clarity and tone:

“We’re doubling down on a more conversational, human tone that resonates with both users and AI. We aim to create the best, not the most.”

And Jamilyn Trainor, senior project manager at Müller Expo, now leans into deeply specific, use-case content:

“Instead of 'Top 5 Trends', we are now providing walk-throughs such as 'How We Created a Fully Collapsible Trade Show Booth for a 4 City European Tour', that includes materials, budgets, and pain points. Doing so establishes authority to LLMs, that clickbait couldn't ever establish.

If you want to be pulled into an answer box, don’t bury your best ideas halfway down the page. Start with them. Bold them. Own them.

Speak in a human voice

Yes, AI loves structure—but it still prefers content written by people.

On the structure aspect, Moattar Ali, VP of marketing at HARO, saw a 340% bump in leads after reorganizing their content into tight topic clusters. 

“We built dense topic centers that interlink associated concepts with internal linking patterns that reflect how LLMs organize information.”

It’s the difference between sounding like a brand and sounding like someone with something to say.

So go ahead: show some personality. Crack a joke. Be honest. LLMs may be machines, but they can still spot authenticity.

To wrap up

AI search doesn’t care how many generic blog posts you publish, how many backlinks you’ve earned, or how much traffic you got last quarter. It’s not ranking content anymore, it’s recommending it.

And recommendation comes with higher standards.

The brands showing up in AI search are the ones that write with clarity, structure, originality and truly address their target audience pain points.

To show up in AI search results, you need to start thinking like a source. That means:

• Answering real questions, not just creating content for the sake of it

• Using structure that machines can parse without breaking a sweat

• Getting your brand mentioned, not just linked

• Associating your insights with concepts that models already recognize

• Writing like a real person—smart, sharp, maybe even a bit weird

As Deepak Shukla of Pearl Lemon said:

“We’re not trying to rank. We’re trying to be the answer.”

That’s the challenge. That’s the opportunity. Because in this new world of AI-first search, if you’re not the answer, it’s practically like you don’t exist.

Need help with your B2B content marketing? Don't hesitate to reach out to us; we can chat about your content marketing needs and see if we can help!