Observed Signal · Oct 22, 2026 · Conference/Event · Source: Horizont · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Search 2.0: How Brands Stay Visible in AI Era
The article discusses the impact of AI on brand visibility and search, focusing on the 'Search 2.0' trend. As AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity gain popularity, users increasingly rely on AI-generated summaries, leading to a 'zero-click' behavior where they don't click through to websites. This shift is affecting brands and media, which must adapt to remain visible. The article highlights a panel at the HORIZONT Digital Marketing Days featuring experts from L'Oréal, PIA Media, and Reddit. It also mentions predictions that conversational ads in AI applications will become the top digital ad channel by 2031, with potential spending of nearly €2.8 billion. L'Oréal's partnership with OpenAI and the role of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) are discussed as strategies for brands to maintain visibility.
The article discusses the shift in brand visibility due to AI search, highlighting strategies like GEO and conversational ads, which are relevant for AdTech and MarTech.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- L'Oréal announced a partnership with OpenAI in June 2026 to develop AI-powered customer journeys and integrate ChatGPT into Maybelline's virtual makeup try-on.
- L'Oréal's brands SkinCeuticals, CeraVe, and Garnier are part of OpenAI's global ChatGPT advertising pilot project.
- The BVDW and Die Mediaagenturen predict conversational ads in AI applications will become the top digital ad channel by 2031.
- Highberg estimates the potential for conversational ads in 2026 at nearly €2.8 billion.
- PIA Media developed the 'AI Voice' tool to measure brand share-of-voice in LLMs.
Connected Companies & Entities
7 Entities mapped“OpenAI is partnering with L'Oréal and running a global ChatGPT advertising pilot.”
“L'Oréal announced a partnership with OpenAI and is developing AI-powered customer journeys.”
“PIA Media developed the 'AI Voice' tool to measure brand share-of-voice in LLMs.”
“Reddit's Country Marketing Lead for Germany & Netherlands discusses platform opportunities for brand visibility.”
“Anthropic's Claude is mentioned as one of the AI chatbots users are turning to.”
“Perplexity is mentioned as another AI search tool users are using.”
“The BVDW predicts that conversational ads will become the top digital ad channel by 2031.”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Brands Must Become Part of AI Answers
The article outlines how the rise of AI-driven chat and voice assistants is shifting marketing from a click-based economy to an "answer economy," where users receive direct recommendations inside AI responses and often never click through to websites. It describes the "Zero-Click" phenomenon—citing a Similarweb analysis that ~80% of Google searches that triggered an AI answer in 2025 ended without a click—and introduces Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) as a new discipline to make brands discoverable and citable by AI systems. The piece explains that named mentions and formal citations in AI answers build trust and brand authority, and argues brands must produce structured, factual content, publish studies and maintain consistent metadata and profiles. It also warns that voice and wearable interfaces (e.g., Amazon’s Alexa+) increase the need for machine-readable expertise and new measurement approaches beyond clicks.
Brands Shift Focus to AI Search for Visibility
MarTech contributor Greg Kihlström argues that brand discovery is shifting from traditional search to AI-driven answer engines, making Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) a C-suite priority. Conductor research cited in the article finds nearly one-third of digital marketing leaders view GEO as the top performance challenge for 2026, with 97% reporting positive results from GEO efforts. Companies are reallocating budget and building GEO capabilities in-house—including structured data/schema work, API-based monitoring, publishing long-form authoritative content and prioritizing first‑party data—to remain discoverable by LLM-powered answer engines like ChatGPT and Gemini. The piece says measurement is moving from volume metrics to quality-focused KPIs (e.g., direct conversions from AI referrals, AI search market share and brand sentiment in AI outputs), and warns brands that delays may widen the gap between high-maturity and laggard organizations.
AI-driven search elevates role of PR
The article argues that the rise of AI-powered search engines and assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini has fundamentally changed how consumers discover brands, leading to fewer clicks and declining referral traffic. In this new landscape, brands cannot rely solely on technical SEO; they must build 'brand authority' through third-party validations such as media mentions, conference appearances, and industry recognition. The author, Bonnie Moss of Moss Networks, introduces the concept of 'brand authority generative engine optimization (GEO)', which combines traditional PR with new AI-focused optimization strategies to ensure AI systems confidently recommend a brand. SEO remains important, but is now part of a broader strategy that includes entity GEO and answer engine optimization (AEO). The key takeaway is that consistent external recognition across trusted sources is essential for AI visibility.
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