{"id":1499,"date":"2026-04-21T14:40:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T14:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.siteplug.com\/blog\/?p=1499"},"modified":"2026-04-21T15:20:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T15:20:42","slug":"5-things-every-marketer-needs-to-do-in-the-age-of-ai-search","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.siteplug.com\/blog\/5-things-every-marketer-needs-to-do-in-the-age-of-ai-search","title":{"rendered":"5 Things Every Marketer Needs to Do in the Age of AI Search"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Your paid search campaigns are running smoothly. Budgets are optimized.  But CPCs are soaring, and incremental reach seems thinner than it was a couple of years ago. The audiences that used to be easy to find are taking more work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a clue: 1 in 3<\/strong> US adults now use AI search summaries<\/strong> for at least half<\/strong> their searches (YouGov, via EMARKETER)<\/em>. They’re still researching and comparing – just not always where your placements show up (which, quite possibly, is only on the SERP.)<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though search has fragmented, most paid strategies haven’t accounted for this. There\u2019s a clear gap between where intent is forming and resolving.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are 5 things<\/strong> you can do to fill this gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Start optimizing for a three<\/em>–phase <\/em>search journey, not one.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The era of SERP-only search is now ancient. Today\u2019s search\u00a0journeys move across three phases: pre-search, during-search, and post-search.\u00a0This takes place across the entire AI-mediated, alternate search ecosystem<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In pre-search, your audience is forming preferences before any search bar is involved.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During search \u2013 which is phase two \u2013 the query is explicit. They’ve identified a need and are actively looking.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post-search is where they either convert or don’t \u2013 through retargeting, content websites, and increasingly, agentic browsers.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chances are that your paid search strategy lives almost entirely in phase two.  
 
Go through your active campaigns and mark which phase each one covers. Focus on building a holistic paid search strategy that covers each phase of the user\u2019s journey to unlock maximum impact. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Three<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2. Stop treating discovery placements as vanity.<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While we\u2019re still on the subject of phases \u2013 let’s talk about the one that most strategies skip entirely: the search before the search. <\/em><\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

VML’s Future Shopper 2025<\/em> report \u2013 surveying 25,000<\/strong> shoppers across 16 <\/strong>countries \u2013 found that 37%<\/strong> of global shoppers begin their product discovery via leading marketplaces, all the way through to purchase. Inspiration and information-gathering also happen largely on feeds, video platforms, browsers, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which means, by the time a user types something into a search bar, they often already have a brand in mind and frequently a shortlist.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Show up in the discovery phase. Then <\/em>follow it up with the query phase.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because somewhere, right now, your competitor’s ad is shaping what your audience thinks they want, and they haven’t even searched for anything yet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Activate on the search surfaces your audience already uses.<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Knowing where intent forms is one thing. Buying media there is another. AI-mediated, alternate search surfaces such as niche browsers, BNPL apps, keyboard apps, chat interfaces, etc. are where your brand needs to be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? Because the scale of these surfaces is not small. For instance, 91.5 million <\/strong>Americans used BNPL apps in 2025, up 5.78%<\/strong> year-over-year. In addition, purchase volume on BNPL apps in the US reached $122.3 billion<\/strong> in 2025 (Capital One Shopping Research)<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another example is that of privacy browsers<\/strong>. Brave <\/em>reached 100 million monthly active users in September 2025, growing at an average of 2.5<\/strong> million <\/strong>new users per month over the past two years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These\u00a0aren’t\u00a0nice-to-have\u00a0channels.\u00a0They\u00a0are\u00a0high-intent environments\u00a0where\u00a0many\u00a0brands have no presence at all. (SitePlug’s latest playbook for search marketers<\/strong> dives deeper into this and provides actionable insights. Get it here<\/a>.) <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Five<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4. Track AI-referred traffic (if you aren\u2019t already).<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Only 22%<\/strong> of marketers are actively tracking AI traffic right now (Conductor)<\/em>. That means, nearly 4 in 5<\/strong> marketers are making budget decisions with data that excludes the fastest-growing part of the search ecosystem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As per Search Engine Land, <\/em>ChatGPT ecommerce traffic converts 31%<\/strong> higher than non-branded organic search. Seer Interactive\u2019s<\/em> client data also shows that traffic arriving from ChatGPT converts at 15.9%<\/strong>, versus 1.76%<\/strong> from traditional search. These visitors arrive pre-informed, with the comparison work already done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start tracking AI-referred sessions as their own segment. And ease up on rankings for queries where AI summaries now dominate. Those positions don’t mean what they used to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n