AI & Search Marketing – The Future is Now

Welcome back Rankers! This week I dive into the seismic shifts happening in the world of search and digital advertising as we enter a brave new world in 2025. With AI tools like ChatGPT and competitors like Perplexity gaining traction, the traditional search landscape is evolving rapidly, creating new opportunities and challenges for businesses and marketers alike. I discuss how these changes are impacting Google’s business model, the rise of alternative search engines, and the potential game-changer that is OpenAI’s rumoured browser. Expect actionable insights, forward-looking predictions, and strategies to keep your brand ahead in this new era of search.

What I Learned

• The Decline of Traditional Search: How AI tools are replacing Google’s blue links with faster, ad-free solutions.
• Google’s Business Model at Risk: The impact of alternative search engines and AI tools on Google’s ad revenue.
• Emerging Competitors in Search: Highlights on Perplexity, OpenAI, and their innovative approaches to advertising and browsing.
• Actionable Insights for Businesses: Strategies for leveraging these changes to enhance your brand’s visibility and sales in an evolving digital landscape.

Transcript

Welcome to 2025: A Year of Change in Search

Hey, welcome back, Rankers. Happy New Year! 2025 is going to be huge. Search, as we know it, has been changing over the last two years. The traditional blue links that Google has always served up are no longer cutting it. Why? Because AI tools like ChatGPT allow us to get answers faster and more efficiently. And this trend will only continue this year.

We’ve seen many competitors emerge, like Perplexity, Exa, Tivoli, and other innovative search tools. All these platforms are pushing the boundaries, and now, you can even build your own search engine with resources available for free on GitHub. While such search engines aren’t entirely free (as they typically involve costs for using language models like OpenAI or Claude), they’re ad-free—just another sign of how the search landscape is evolving.

The Impact on Google’s Business Model

This shift is shaking up Google’s business model. On the one hand, Google has rolled out extraordinary AI products, such as NotebookLM and Google’s AI Studio, which have been fantastic tools for testing new models. Over the holiday season, they released game-changing updates, including live video and vision analysis, making it easier than ever to interact with your screen. And yet, despite these advancements, changes in search behaviour could pose challenges to Google’s ad revenue.

Informational search—the kind that typically garners fewer ad clicks—is particularly vulnerable. While some argue this won’t significantly impact revenue, Google’s ad network is a multi-billion-dollar business. Platforms like OpenAI’s search tools and Perplexity are starting to pull users away from traditional search, introducing new competition.

Perplexity, OpenAI, and the Browser Revolution

Let’s talk about Perplexity and OpenAI. Perplexity recently introduced an ads model that directs advertising at AI assistants rather than users. This concept is intriguing—why should users see ads if they’re relying on an AI agent’s advice? Although the early screenshots of this ad model aren’t particularly exciting, it’s worth watching as it evolves.

OpenAI, on the other hand, is making significant strides. Not only have they embedded search into their tools, but they’re also hinting at launching a browser. This move would be monumental. The OpenAI app already integrates with Chrome, and during installation, users are asked if they want to set ChatGPT as their default search engine. If OpenAI develops a full browser, it could fundamentally alter the landscape of online search and advertising.

What This Means for Brands and Businesses

For businesses, these changes raise critical questions: How do you advertise on platforms like SearchGPT? How do you secure prime placement in this new environment? Companies are already seeing sales referrals from platforms like Perplexity and ChatGPT, including several of our clients, signalling the potential of these emerging tools.

Additionally, brand searches remain crucial. Many users rely on Google’s omnibox or search bar instead of typing web addresses directly. As I’ve said before, building your brand is the best way to ensure search success. Encourage users to search for your brand repeatedly—it works, and you can’t game the system for long.

The Future of AI, Search, and Business

Looking ahead, OpenAI’s rumoured browser could have an even greater impact than their current search tools. Meanwhile, other developments, like NVIDIA’s advancements in AI and robotics, promise to further revolutionise how we interact with technology. Imagine asking your car to perform a search—this future isn’t far off.

We’ve got exciting plans for the year, including new products, webinars, and possibly more workshops. Stay tuned, and as always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Let’s explore this transformative year together.

Thank you for tuning in. I hope this was helpful. Speak soon. Thanks very much—bye!

And don’t forget! We’re excited to remind you of our two groundbreaking reports that will catapult your business into the AI-driven future: The SAMScrum Report—a comprehensive analysis that will provide actionable insights to optimise your website for the AI era, and the Brand Intelligence Report – that reveals brand sentiment, competitive positioning, and product associations in the AI realm.

The SAMScrum Report: Your Website’s Secret Weapon

• Analyses your entire online presence: SEO, Google Ads, UX/UI
• Identifies revenue-killing issues in your digital strategy
• Implements changes that have DOUBLED revenue for our clients in months

The Brand Intelligence Report: Your AI Visibility Booster

• Examines your brand through the lens of leading AI models (Claude, ChatGPT, Google Gemini)
• Reveals brand sentiment, competitive positioning, and product associations in the AI realm
• Uncovers hidden opportunities to dominate your market in the age of AI

These aren’t just reports. They’re your battle plan for the AI revolution. (And you get a FREE Brand Intelligence Report with every SAMScrum purchase!)

Check out the reports here https://research.stewartmedia.com.au/

Jim

Jim’s been here for a while, you know who he is.