SEO and Brand Visibility

While doing some more research on SEO, I came across an article that intrigued me. The article was from Practical Ecommerce and was about being able to balance a new term being thrown around called “brand visibility” with SEO. One of the most interesting things in this article were the statistics. The article says, “generative AI tools such as ChatGPT are becoming the new go-to for 70% of consumers when it comes to seeking product or service recommendations, replacing traditional methods such as search” but then it also goes on to say, “99% of genAI users continued to use traditional search engines for details, such as specs, prices, and reviews”. This is very interesting because it means that people are looking to AI to find new products and services, then using regular search engines like Google and Bing to find specific information.

Another very important piece in all of this is Reddit. Reddit is being used more and more often to find personable information on products and services. Rather than having to scroll through absurd amounts of info on sites that say things like “Top 10 [insert product or service here]”, which are often undisclosed paid ads, on Reddit you know you’re talking to another real person. I know that most of my searches at this point have become either on Perplexity, which is known for its incredible ability to keep searches updated and relevant, pulling real world info from various sources, along with Reddit. Reddit keeps it real. Companies should begin to look about posting on Reddit, as it is also used in the AI overview result you sometimes see on Google, as I said in a previous blog post.

Companies need to stay on top of these changes as they continue to ramp up more and more. I can remember just a few years ago when AI could hardly generate an image, let alone a realistic one. Now, AI is generating images with fully readable words and letters in them. The same goes for searching on AI. It continues to speed up, and I believe that soon, AI will nearly replace regular search engines. Making sure your brand is visible across all mediums on the internet is just another thing that CMO’s and CS workers must worry about, but it can prove very fruitful if you’re one of the first to hop on the train.