Brands and the New Gateway to the Internet
- Date
- Written by Miguel Pereira
In a survey I ran on LinkedIn, I asked something very simple: “Let’s say you’re looking for information to plan a trip or a leisure activity. What’s your first instinct? Where would you search online?” The response was quite telling: 56% chose AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini, compared to 23% who would still turn first to traditional search engines, and 21% who would opt for other channels. In other words, more than half of respondents would already go directly to AI chatbots.
This signal aligns with recent studies pointing in the same direction. Gartner noted at the beginning of 2026 that 51% of consumers acknowledge that generative AI has changed how they research information; among those who have changed their habits, 71% say they now formulate queries differently, using more specific, conversational, question-based searches. Adobe has also observed this shift in a category closely related to the survey example: travel and leisure. In its research, 29% of consumers said they had used generative AI for travel-related tasks, and 84% of those users reported an improved experience.
We are not talking about the disappearance of traditional search engines. But we are witnessing the emergence of a new gateway to the internet: a conversational one, where users no longer navigate link by link, but rather response by response. And when the gateway changes, so does the battle for visibility.
SEO Doesn’t Disappear, But It Loses Its Monopoly
The news that completes this picture has appeared recently in coverage of the State of the Art of AI in eCommerce and Digital Marketing report published by Redegal. According to this study, the emergence of AI Overviews reduces organic traffic by up to 34% in key sectors such as fashion and electronics.
There is an even more revealing data point: only 4.5% of the sources cited by AI match traditional search results. In other words, the classic logic of SEO no longer guarantees presence in this new layer of generative responses.
For years, brands competed to rank at the top of search results pages. Now they also compete to be mentioned, cited, summarized, and recommended by language models, conversational assistants, and AI layers embedded in search engines.
SEO is not dead. But it no longer rules alone.
Search Is Becoming Spoken
Another shift is happening alongside this one, often less visible but just as transformative: search is no longer only written, it is increasingly spoken.
At the end of 2025, OpenAI integrated a more complete voice experience into ChatGPT, allowing users to speak, listen, and follow responses through text, images, and other elements within the same thread. Google, for its part, launched Search Live in AI Mode, enabling continuous voice conversations with Search while still displaying web links and content.
This is not just a change in interface. When queries are spoken, they tend to be longer, more natural, and more contextual. This further favors systems that understand complex questions and provide concise, synthesized answers.
In this context, a global study by Yext, based on 2,237 consumers from the US, UK, France, and Germany who had used conversational or voice AI to search online, found that 62% already trust these tools to discover brands.
For brands, this adds a new layer of complexity: it is no longer enough to rank well for written keywords. They must also be prepared to appear when queries are phrased as spoken conversations, much closer to how people actually think and ask.
Being Present in AI Is No Longer Optional
That is why the relevant question for brands is no longer whether they should “do something with AI” in abstract terms. The question is far more concrete: what are AI systems saying about my brand when a user asks for a recommendation, compares alternatives, or tries to solve a need within my category? Because that is where consideration is now happening.
If the answer is synthesized by ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, or an AI Overview, visibility no longer depends only on ranking. It depends on being a source that these systems recognize as reliable, useful, and citable.
In presenting our GEO service, we summarize it like this: we are moving from “10 blue links” to conversational responses, where brands gain visibility when they are cited, selected, and recommended by generative engines.
This is where GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) comes in: a set of tactics and strategies aimed at influencing what models say about a brand, where they get their information from, and how authoritatively they present it.
It’s Not Just About Appearing — It’s About Appearing Well
There is a key difference compared to the traditional SEO world. Before, it was often enough to capture clicks. Now, brands must capture algorithmic trust. It is no longer just about being present, but about ensuring that the information circulating about the brand is consistent, verifiable, and easy for machines to interpret and synthesize.
At this point, the work published by Espace M, our ICOM Network partner agency in Canada, is particularly relevant. In the article Is Your Website Ready for AI Search?, my colleague Christien Paul highlights something very familiar: we are experiencing a moment similar to the transition to mobile. Their GEO checklist emphasizes aspects such as indexing, sitemap, robots.txt, canonical tags, speed, SSL, schema, and above all, a clear source of truth so that systems can find, understand, and trust the brand’s official information.
How We Are Deploying This at Phileas
At Darwin & Verne, we are not watching this change from the sidelines. Through Phileas, our AI-focused unit, we have already launched a GEO service for clients who want to understand and gain visibility in this new conversational layer. In partnership with Digital Angels, our approach combines three fronts: monitoring what generative engines say about a brand using technological tools, interpreting that data and providing strategic guidance, and supporting implementation, both on-page and off-page.
What started as a technological curiosity is becoming infrastructure.
And that demands action.
The LinkedIn survey is not scientific proof, but it is a clear cultural signal: for a
growing number of people, the first instinct is no longer to “search,” but to “ask.”
And increasingly, to do so either by typing or speaking.
When the dominant interface shifts from links to answers, and from keywords to
conversations, the rules of visibility change with it.
Brands that understand this early will have an advantage. Not because it is a
trend, but because they will learn sooner how to be legible, citable, and recommendable for the systems that are already mediating an increasing share
of decision-making.
In other words: it is no longer enough to be on the internet. You also need to be in AI-generated answers. And that work has already begun.
