As AI fundamentally changes how consumers find products and services, experts continue to explore what marketers must do to adapt.

"The most surprising thing, the most pressing thing about AI adoption isn't just that people are starting to use it. It's that they're trusting it, it's that they're using it within their shopping journeys," said EMARKETER analyst Nate Elliott during last week's Future of Digital Summit.

A consumer shift toward conversational search

Elliott said nearly half of U.S. consumers already use generative AI at least once a month, and more than 80% say they trust AI-generated responses as much as—or more than—traditional search results.

“Almost half of them say they trust Gen AI responses more than they trust what they see in organic search,” he said, underscoring how deeply AI is embedding itself into the shopping journey.

Experts agree that consumers are moving away from one-dimensional keyword searches toward more conversational discovery.

“People are searching in video, they’re searching in TikTok, they’re searching in Snapchat… it’s a different way that people are searching in a more conversational manner than ever before,” said Sara Resnick, global organic marketing lead of SEO, ASO, and AiO at Western Union. This shift, she added, varies by generation but points to a broad evolution in how information is gathered.

“What hasn’t changed is people just want better answers faster," said Jim Hamilton, managing director, North America, at M+C Saatchi Performance. "That’s why Google beat every other search engine. But now you don’t even have to click through those more relevant results—you can get the answers you were looking for even faster.”

The click-through challenge

One of the thorniest issues, according to analysts, is how AI affects brand visibility. As Elliott highlighted, consumers are clicking through to brand sites less often when interacting with AI-generated overviews.

“Already people are clicking through maybe half as often,” he said.

Resnick acknowledged the trend, calling it “a brand issue” and stressing the need for companies to assert ownership of their brand presence across queries. She emphasized the importance of EEAT—experience, expertise, authority, and trust—as guiding principles.

“It means you can’t solely rely on yourself as a brand," said Caroline Proto, director of global media at EssilorLuxottica, noting that public relations now plays a more central role than ever. "It needs to be how your brand is being spoken about and where it is being included across the ecosystem. PR becomes a really important part of that.”

To many analysts, traditional search optimization is evolving to generative engine optimization (GEO). While foundational SEO practices like schema markup, sitemaps, and structured content remain critical, the term “SEO” may no longer fit.

Hamilton noted that while the mechanics differ, the fundamentals of quality content and authority still matter.

“The foundational aspects of SEO… are a legitimate place for a brand to start. It’s necessary but not sufficient,” he said.

If AI is transforming discovery, it is also disrupting measurement.

“None of the measurement [tools are] perfect… but there is no doubt that we’re moving down this path," Hamilton said, stressing the need for experimentation despite imperfect metrics. "So the message to senior executives is we have to do something to get some experience.”

Preparing for tomorrow

The AI evolution is far from over. Analysts are already preparing for the rise of agentic AI—tools that act on behalf of users, from booking restaurant reservations to handling customer workflows.

“We won’t be optimizing for users, we’re gonna be optimizing for agents," said Resnick. "The web will become an agentic experience versus a user experience.”

Hamilton framed it in terms of marketing fundamentals: “Quite literally the job to be done could be a workflow—and that can be an agentic AI type of workflow that a brand creates for its consumers.”

As for how marketers can prepare starting today, the experts agreed that it was extremely important to educate organizations broadly.

“Stop assuming that everyone in your organization is in the AI vacuum that we are,” said Proto. "Education needs to continue to be cascaded down. We all talk a lot about these things, thinking everyone understands what we're doing, how we're doing it, when we're doing it, and that's not always the case."

Early experimentation is also considered to be vital.

“Jump in, test and learn,” said Hamilton. "It doesn't have to be perfect, but get that experience. And there are ways to measure, in a very imperfect way, some of the short term results of what you do as well."

While AI-driven discovery presents profound challenges, it also offers marketers a new frontier. Success will require agility, experimentation, and a willingness to redefine not only strategies but also the very language of search itself.

Watch the full session.

This was originally featured in the EMARKETER Daily newsletter. For more marketing insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.