BOLD PERSPECTIVE · AI DISCOVERY
AI is changing how customers find businesses. Is your brand ready?
Customers are beginning to ask AI platforms what to buy, who to trust and which businesses deserve consideration. The question is no longer only whether your brand ranks. It is whether AI understands enough to recommend it.
The shortlist is being shaped earlier.
For years, digital discovery followed a familiar pattern. A customer searched, reviewed a page of results, opened several websites and formed a view.
That journey is changing. AI search and assistants can interpret a complex question, compare alternatives and present a concise answer before a customer visits a website.
Deloitte Digital's 2026 Australian research found that 73% of consumers had used AI to research or find products, while 64% were using AI at least weekly.
Kantar's international research, which included Australia, found that 74% of AI-assistant users regularly sought AI-driven recommendations.
This does not mean traditional search has disappeared. It means discovery now includes another influential layer between the customer's question and the businesses they consider.
01 · THE SHIFT
From finding options to receiving an answer.
Traditional search usually presents a list. AI is more likely to synthesise information, explain differences and recommend a smaller set of options.
Customers can ask more specific questions about their circumstances, priorities and constraints. Instead of searching for "marketing consultant Sydney", a business leader might ask which type of marketing support is best for a growing Australian company without a senior marketing leader.
The brands included in the answer may gain early influence. The brands omitted may never enter consideration.
Google introduced AI Mode in Australia in October 2025, allowing people to ask longer, more complex questions and explore information through an AI-generated response. Google has continued to expand AI-led search experiences in 2026.
Why it matters
A business can have a polished website and strong traditional search performance but still be poorly represented when AI systems interpret its offer, expertise and credibility.
THE QUESTION
If a prospective customer described their problem rather than searched for your company name, would an AI system understand when to recommend your business?
02 · WHAT AI SEES
AI cannot infer what the business has never made clear.
AI systems draw on accessible public information. That may include a company's website, structured business details, articles, credible third-party references, reviews and other sources that help establish context and authority.
If a business describes itself differently across its website, LinkedIn page, directories and media coverage, the picture becomes harder to interpret.
The same problem occurs when a website relies on broad claims. Phrases such as "innovative solutions", "trusted partner" and "customer-first" provide little evidence about what the business actually does, who it helps or why it is different.
Clarity becomes part of discoverability. A business needs a proposition that both people and systems can understand.
What needs to be clear
- What the business does
- Who it is best placed to help
- What problems or needs it addresses
- What credible evidence supports its claims
THE MOVE
Compare the description of your business across your website, LinkedIn page and major public profiles. Remove contradictions and make the central proposition unmistakable.
03 · AUTHORITY
Being mentioned is not the same as being trusted.
AI visibility is not created by repeating the same claim more often. Systems look for information that is clear, relevant and supported by sources they can retrieve.
That makes credible evidence more valuable. Detailed service information, expert perspectives, genuine customer proof, recognised credentials, useful original content and authoritative third-party references can all strengthen the public picture of a business.
Google advises organisations to provide explicit information and structured data to help its systems understand official business details. Microsoft's AI visibility tools now report which pages are cited in AI-generated answers, the queries behind those citations and the share of authority a domain earns.
These developments point to an important shift. Digital visibility is beginning to include not only rankings and website traffic, but whether a business is understood, cited and represented accurately in AI-generated answers.
Why it matters
A business that is easy to understand but difficult to verify may still be overlooked. Claims need proof, and proof needs to be visible.
THE MOVE
Identify the three claims most important to winning customer confidence. For each claim, ask what public evidence supports it and whether that evidence is easy to find.
04 · THE TEST
See what AI already believes about your brand.
The most useful starting point is not a large technology project. It is a simple discovery test.
- 1Ask three leading AI platforms to describe your business without giving them your website.
- 2Ask which customers your business is best suited to help.
- 3Ask how your business differs from several named competitors.
- 4Ask what evidence supports the answer and request the sources.
- 5Record what is accurate, missing, vague or incorrect.
Test both branded and non-branded questions. A branded question includes the company name. A non-branded question describes a customer need or category without naming the company.
Repeat the test periodically. AI responses can change as sources, models and retrieval systems change.
DO NOT OPTIMISE FOR A SINGLE ANSWER
The goal is not to manipulate one platform into producing a preferred description. It is to make the business consistently clear, credible and useful across the public information ecosystem.
05 · WHAT TO IMPROVE
Make the business easier to understand and recommend.
CLARIFY THE PROPOSITION
State what the business does, who it helps and the outcome it creates in specific language.
STRENGTHEN CORE PAGES
Give each important service, capability or product enough substance to be interpreted without relying on slogans.
PUBLISH USEFUL EXPERTISE
Address the real questions customers ask with original, evidence-led content.
BUILD VISIBLE PROOF
Make credentials, customer outcomes, reviews and independent recognition easy to find and verify.
ALIGN PUBLIC INFORMATION
Keep business descriptions, categories, locations and key facts consistent across the website and external profiles.
The aim is not to write for machines.
The strongest information for AI is usually also stronger for customers: clear propositions, useful answers, credible evidence and consistent facts.
AI discovery raises the standard for how precisely a business explains itself. Brands that meet that standard are better placed to be understood before a customer ever reaches their website.
Sources and notes
Research reviewed 28 September 2026. Australian and international findings are identified according to the underlying research. Interpretations and recommended actions are BOLD's analysis.
- Deloitte Digital Australia, The Rise of the Agentic Customer, 19 April 2026
- Kantar, Marketing Trends 2026
- Kantar, Connecting with the AI Consumer
- Google Australia, Google Search: Introducing AI Mode in Australia, 8 October 2025
- Google Search Central, Add Business Details to Google
- Microsoft Advertising, The AI Performance dashboard: Your view into where your brand appears across the AI web, 23 March 2026
HOW DOES AI SEE YOUR BUSINESS?
Start with a clearer view.
BOLD helps businesses clarify what they offer, strengthen the evidence behind it and focus marketing on the choices most likely to create growth.
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