How AI search marketing is changing the way your buyers find you
Inspired by a recent newsletter from AI editor and copywriter Jenny Haken, who attended HubSpot's Content Marketing is Broken webinar
If you've noticed your website traffic slipping - or you're publishing content regularly and wondering why enquiries haven't followed - you're not imagining it. Marketing has shifted, and the shift is being driven almost entirely by AI.
Here's what's happening, why it matters for your business, and what you can do about it.
Your buyers are researching without you
Think about the last time you searched for something online. Did you click through half a dozen websites and compare them? Or did you get a direct answer from Google's AI overview, ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity - and stop there?
Your buyers are doing exactly the same thing.
The middle stage of the buying journey - where a prospect used to find your site, read your content, and gradually build trust in your expertise - is being bypassed. Research by 6sense, based on a global study of nearly 4,000 B2B buyers, found that buyers complete around 70% of their journey independently before they ever contact a supplier.
For science, engineering and technology businesses, this is significant. Your buyers tend to be thorough, analytical and self-directed. They research deeply before making contact. AI tools have simply made that research faster - and less likely to include a visit to your site.
Fewer visitors, better leads
This is where AI search marketing starts to work in your favour. HubSpot's research shows that visitors arriving from AI tools convert at 13 times the rate of those from traditional Google search. They arrive informed, specific, and closer to a decision.
The goal isn't to chase volume. It's to be visible and credible to the right people at the right moment. Which brings us to a term worth understanding: Answer Engine Optimisation, or AEO.
What is Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO)?
AEO doesn't replace SEO. Your web pages and blog posts still matter for traditional search. But AEO adds a layer: writing content in a way that AI tools can find, understand, and reference in their answers.
For businesses in specialist sectors, this is a genuine opportunity. Complex, technical subject matter is often poorly explained online. If you write clearly about what you do, the problems you solve, and the outcomes you deliver - structured for how AI tools scan content - you can become the source AI recommends to your buyers.
Practically, AEO means:
Breaking content into short, question-led sections rather than long flowing articles
Writing for the queries your clients actually ask - which tend to be long and specific (the average AI search query is 40–60 words, compared to 4–6 for Google)
Building visibility across other platforms too: industry forums, newsletters, podcasts, LinkedIn - not just your own website
A smarter way to run campaigns: Loop Marketing
Rather than running a campaign, forgetting it, and starting from scratch next time, Loop Marketing turns every campaign into a feedback system. The four stages are:
1. Express - Define who you are, who you serve, and what you want to say. Be specific about your ideal client: what do they care about, and what problems are they trying to solve? This is your campaign foundation.
2. Tailor - Move beyond a generic message. Use what you know about your buyers to personalise communications for their specific situation. That might mean different messaging for a scale-up founder versus a corporate director - even if you're offering the same service.
3. Amplify - Take your message where your buyers actually are. For technical audiences, that might be LinkedIn, specialist forums, industry events, or sector publications. Video matters here too - YouTube is increasingly functioning as a search engine, and clear visual explanation works well with detail-oriented buyers.
4. Evolve - Analyse what worked. Which messages resonated? Which channels brought the right people? Feed that learning into the next cycle. This is where smaller, more agile businesses can outperform larger competitors: not by spending more, but by learning faster.
Run a cycle for around six weeks, then take two weeks to review the data before you go again.
How to get started
Three practical actions you can take right now:
Take your most-visited blog post or service page and restructure it into short, question-led sections. Write as if someone has just asked you that question directly - that's the format AI tools favour.
Start tracking where your website visitors are coming from. If any are arriving via ChatGPT or Perplexity, treat them as your highest-value leads. They've already done their research.
Run one Loop cycle: pick one client segment, write one message tailored to them, share it on one channel, and review what happens. Refine and repeat.
AI-driven search rewards clear thinking, specific expertise, and content that genuinely answers the questions your buyers are asking. The businesses that adapt to this shift - not necessarily the biggest, but the most attentive - will be the ones that win.
If you'd like to talk through what this means for your marketing strategy, get in touch with Su. A conversation costs nothing, and you'll leave with a clearer picture of where to focus.
