The way consumers discover brands is starting to shift. According to our recent report, 41% of consumers use generative AI to research high-stakes purchases. That number is even higher among the younger generations — 61% of Gen Z and 57% of Millennials said they use tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity to search for products.
Google is accelerating this behavior by integrating Gen AI results directly into its search results to replace featured snippets. The company recently reported that AI Overviews now reach over 1.5 billion users monthly across 200+ countries, increasing the adoption of AI search. In addition, Google has launched AI mode, a Gemini-powered experience that provides conversational answers instead of showing a traditional list of results.
These figures signal a transformation in the buying journey that demands immediate attention from search marketers. The tried-and-true paid search and SEO tactics are no longer enough to reach your target audience and influence their buying decisions. If you want to meet your customers where they are, you need to develop a strategy for Gen AI channels as well.
In this post, we’ll break down how search marketers can adapt to Gen AI search. We’ll dive into the tactics that industry leaders are using as well as some adjustments you can make to future-proof your strategy.
How to Prepare Your Marketing Strategy for Gen AI Search
1. Don’t skimp on traditional SEO tactics
While the excitement around AI-powered search is well-founded, it's crucial not to take your foot off the gas when it comes to traditional SEO tactics. Why? Many traditional SEO ranking factors apply to LLMs as well. A recent study found that there is a 72% correlation between content that ranks on page one of Google and content that is cited by LLMs. In addition, Google has confirmed that backlinks remain one of its three most important search engine ranking factors, and this authority extends into how AI models select and cite sources.
Because LLMs need to trust the sources they're referencing, they rely on many of the same authority and quality signals that traditional search engines use. Sites with strong domain authority, comprehensive backlink profiles, and well-structured content aren't just ranking better in traditional search — they're becoming the go-to sources for AI-generated responses. This creates a compounding advantage: strong SEO fundamentals not only maintain your traditional search presence but also position you as a trusted source for AI citations.
2. Optimise your content to maximise gen AI discovery
While there’s plenty of overlap in the ranking criteria for traditional and Gen AI search, there are some key differences as well. Below are a few tactics you can use to increase your content’s visibility in LLMs:
- Use schema markup: Schema helps AI systems understand your content's context and meaning. Implement structured data to help AI models quickly identify key information like product details, FAQs, reviews, and business information.
- Keep your content up-to-date: Recent content is more likely to rank in LLM searches. According to Ethinos, content with explicit update signals like "last updated" dates is significantly more likely to be selected over competitors' older content.
- Include statistics with sources: LLMs often cite statistics in their output. When you include clear attribution for statistics in your content, it signals to LLMs that you’re a reputable source of information, making you more likely to get cited.
- Break up content with tables and bullet points: Formatting your content in tables and bullet points can make it more digestible for LLMs, increasing its discoverability.
- Optimise your content for natural language queries: Incorporate conversational, long-tail keywords into your content that reflect how people speak to LLMs (more on this in the next section!)
3. Create long-tail and conversational content that maps intent
As mentioned earlier, consumers don’t interact with LLMs in the same way they do with search engines. When people prompt gen AI, they tend to use longer, more specific queries, mimicking the flow of a conversation. That means you need to create content that’s optimised for these phrases. For example, in addition to targeting keywords like “mortgage rates” in your content, you’ll want to target long-tail keywords like “What rate can I get for a 30-year fixed mortgage?”
Another nuance of gen AI search is that it has a greater ability to understand the intent of consumer searches, or the “why” behind them. When someone asks an AI tool “what to do when my brakes squeal,” the system can pair informational guidance (causes, safety risks, pad types) with commercial next steps like nearby brake shops, same-day availability, and estimated repair costs.
This requires marketers to think beyond traditional keyword matching to comprehensive intent coverage. Your content strategy should address a wide spectrum of questions and concerns that might arise during a consumer's AI-assisted research journey. Consider adding FAQs sections where you concisely answer common queries — this will make it easy for LLMs to pull from your content and assist customers in their buying decisions.
4. Don’t forget phone call attribution across all search channels
While most companies have their online conversion tracking dialed in, phone calls remain a massive blind spot that's only getting worse as search evolves. With AI traffic up 527% year-over-year and LLM referral traffic increasing eightfold since March 2024, you need comprehensive attribution across organic search, paid search, and emerging AI channels. Phone calls often represent your highest-value conversions, yet without proper tracking, you're flying blind on which search efforts actually drive revenue. This makes it hard to determine where to allocate your time and budget.
To solve this challenge, leading brands implement robust call tracking solutions. With platforms like Invoca, you can track which keywords, ads, landing pages, and AI sources are driving phone leads — and which aren’t. This allows you to double down on the tactics driving real results, while reducing spend on search programs that generate impressions but no conversions. As a result, you can create a more efficient search marketing mix.
5. Paid search will get more competitive — take advantage of AI tools
Generative AI has turned paid search into one of the most competitive arenas in digital marketing. As Google leans harder into AI-driven experiences, every brand is vying for the same shrinking window of customer attention. That means there’s more competition for eyeballs, more pressure to prove ROI, and less room for error. For marketers, simply running the same keyword campaigns you did last year isn’t enough — you need AI working on your side, not against you.
That’s where Google’s newest AI-powered features, like AI Max and Performance Max campaigns, come in. Performance Max automatically optimises across channels — from Search and Display to YouTube and Discovery — so your campaigns can find the best audiences at the right moments without manual guesswork. AI Max takes that optimisation even further by helping you refine targeting, creative, and budget allocation in real time. Together, they help marketers keep pace with a rapidly evolving search landscape.
Brands using Invoca can feed phone call conversions into these automated bidding AI tools — this allows the algorithms to generate more phone call conversions cost-efficiently.
Want to learn more about Google’s latest AI tools? Check out this blog post.
Track the Full ROI of Your Search Marketing with Invoca
As AI becomes more sophisticated and adoption continues accelerating, the gap between AI-optimised and traditional-only search strategies will only widen. The question isn't whether consumers will use AI for brand research — they already are. The question is whether your search marketing strategy is ready to meet them there.
The most successful search marketers will not only optimise their content to rank for AI searches — they’ll also implement the right measurement to understand what’s working and what isn’t. That’s where Invoca comes in — our solution gives you complete visibility into how your SEO, paid search, and Gen AI efforts contribute to phone leads and revenue. As a result, you can make the right optimisations to drive bottom-line impact from search.
Additional Reading
Want to learn more about how Invoca can help you supercharge your search marketing strategy? Check out these resources:
- Future-Proof Your Phone Call Conversion Data With Invoca’s Durable Attribution for Google Ads
- 4 AI-Powered Google Ads Strategies to Turn Phone Leads into Revenue Machines
- 5 Tactics to Improve Phone Lead Rates and ROAS From Google Ads
