The Rise of AI Search: What It Means for Publishers and Brands

For about 25 years, the deal between websites and search engines was simple. You publish useful content. Google shows it to people. Some of them click, and you get the traffic.

AI search changes that deal. Tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google’s AI Mode read dozens of pages and write one answer. Sometimes they link to their sources. Often the reader never needs to visit them.

That shift hits publishers and brands in different ways. Here’s what it means for each, and what to do about it.

How AI search works, in plain English

When you ask an AI search tool a question, it does three things. It searches the web or its own index for relevant pages. It reads them and pulls out the useful bits. Then it writes a single answer, usually with a few links to the sources it relied on most.

The big difference from a list of blue links is that the tool decides what matters. It picks which sources to trust, which facts to include and which brands to mention. You’re no longer only competing for a click. You’re competing to be part of the answer.

What it means for publishers

Publishers feel this first because so much of their traffic comes from questions: news explainers, how-to guides, recipes and product round-ups. That’s exactly the content AI summarises best.

The traffic problem

When the answer appears on the results page or in a chat window, fewer people click through. For sites that make money from ads, fewer visits means less revenue, even if their content is being used more than ever.

The licensing question

Some big publishers have signed content deals with AI companies. News Corp, which owns many of Australia’s biggest mastheads, signed one with OpenAI in 2024. Others have gone to court. Most smaller publishers have neither option, so they need a strategy that doesn’t depend on a deal.

What publishers can do

• Own the original. Breaking news, original data, interviews and first-hand testing can’t be summarised until someone publishes them first. Be that someone.
• Build a direct audience. Email lists, apps, podcasts and communities give you readers who come to you, not via a search box.
• Lean into voice and expertise. Readers still seek out writers they trust. A named expert with a point of view is harder to replace than a generic explainer.
• Diversify revenue. Subscriptions, events, sponsorships and genuinely helpful affiliate content all reduce reliance on page views.

What it means for brands

For brands, AI search is less about lost traffic and more about a new shelf. When someone asks ChatGPT for the best accounting software for a small Australian business, the answer names a few brands. If yours isn’t one of them, you’re not in the running. That’s the gap answer engine optimisation services in Australia are designed to close.

AI is the new word of mouth

AI tools build their recommendations from what’s written about you across the web: your website, reviews, comparison articles, forum threads, news coverage and directories. It works a lot like word of mouth, just at scale.

Accuracy is now a brand risk

AI tools sometimes get things wrong. They might quote an old price, a service you’ve dropped or a competitor’s feature as yours. If your own information is thin or inconsistent, the AI fills the gaps with whatever it can find.

Smaller brands can win

Here’s the good news. AI answers aren’t just a list of the biggest advertisers. A specialist business that’s clearly described, well reviewed and mentioned in the right places can be recommended alongside much bigger names.

What AI search rewards

Whether you’re a publisher or a brand, the same qualities help you get picked up.

• Clarity. Pages that say plainly what something is, who it’s for and what it costs.
• Consistency. The same business details and story across your website, Google Business Profile, directories and social profiles.
• Corroboration. Other trusted sites saying the same good things about you. One source is a claim. Five is a pattern.
• Freshness. Up-to-date pages, especially for prices, products and anything time-sensitive.
• Access. Make sure your robots.txt file isn’t blocking the crawlers AI search tools rely on, such as OAI-SearchBot for ChatGPT search, unless you’ve chosen to block them.

A practical plan for brands

1. Ask the AI. Put the questions your customers ask into ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google. Note who gets mentioned, what’s said about you and what’s wrong.
2. Fix your own sources first. Tighten your About page, service pages, pricing, FAQs and Google Business Profile so the facts are clear and current.
3. Earn third-party mentions. Industry directories, comparison articles, podcasts, local news and partner websites all feed AI answers.
4. Grow your reviews. Ask happy customers for reviews on Google and the platforms that matter in your industry.
5. Publish something original. Your own data, case studies and opinions give AI tools a reason to cite you rather than a competitor.
6. Measure it. Track referrals from AI tools in Google Analytics and re-run your test questions every month.

This is what people mean by generative engine optimisation. If the acronyms are getting confusing, we untangle them in SEO vs AEO vs GEO.

The bottom line

AI search rewards the businesses and publishers that are genuinely worth citing. For publishers, that means original work and a direct relationship with readers. For brands, it means being clearly described, well reviewed and talked about in the right places. Neither is a quick fix, which is exactly why it’s worth starting now.

Want to see how AI tools describe your business today? Our free audit includes an AI visibility check, or learn more about our AI search optimisation service.

FAQs

Should publishers block AI crawlers?

It depends on your model. Blocking training crawlers may protect your content, but blocking the crawlers that power AI search can also remove you from AI answers. Decide crawler by crawler, based on what you get back.

Can small businesses compete in AI search?

Yes. AI tools recommend businesses based on how clearly and consistently they’re described across the web, not just on size. A focused specialist with strong reviews can hold its own.

How do I see traffic from AI tools?

In Google Analytics 4, look at referral traffic from sources like chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com and copilot.microsoft.com. Some AI visits arrive as direct traffic, so the true number is usually higher.