124 - What Does AI Think About You?

In the era of AI-driven search and customer engagement, brands face a dual challenge. First, they must understand and adapt to the evolving algorithms that govern online visibility and user interactions. Second, they need to ensure their brand message aligns with both human preferences and the criteria AI systems use to evaluate content.

The proactive provision of accurate training material for AI systems is akin to laying the groundwork for a strong digital presence. By supplying AI algorithms with relevant data and context about their brand, companies can enhance their chances of being prominently featured in search results and other online platforms. Ultimately, the goal is to provide value to both users and AI tools.

Hear more about how AI algorithms can affect your brand reputation in this episode.

Podcast Highlights:

00:00 Prologue

00:44 Podcast INTRO

00:54 Introduction to the episode topic

01:45 The potential for AI tools to influence sales, revenue, and customer journey

03:29 Why is it important for consultants to prepare their clients for a shift in how AI tools would think about your brand in product selections?

05:52 The two steps in baking your brand into the AI algorithms to influence buying decisions

07:23 What SEOLeverage expertise can do to help with your online reputation management?

08:28 End

Connect with Gert Mellak:

Website: https://seoleverage.com/

Email: [email protected]

What Does AI Think About You?

The way we search and interact online is evolving with AI. This presents a double-bind for brands:

• keeping up with ever-shifting algorithms
• tailoring messages for both human appeal and AI’s ranking systems

Providing accurate content to AI systems helps improve online visibility. So, learn more about AI algorithms’ impact on brand reputation in this episode.

The Power of AI Tools in Business

The traditional search landscape is evolving. Many people increasingly use AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity to find brand information.

Why this matters for brands:

• AI tools influence brand perception based on their understanding of a brand’s content and market position.
• Consumers, even those not tech-savvy, are turning to AI-powered chatbots to find products and services.
• This shift in search behavior can impact brand visibility, sales, and customer journeys.

Brands need to be aware of these new AI search platforms and ensure their presence is reflected. Failure to do so could mean missing out on potential customers and hindering business growth.

Why Consultants Must Help Clients Understand AI Tool Perspectives

The rise of AI-powered product recommendations presents a significant shift for brands. Consultants must ensure their clients are prepared for this change.

Similar to preparing for a natural disaster, proactive steps are crucial. AI’s “thinking” revolves around its semantic understanding of a brand. Google understands the meaning behind search queries through interconnected data, a process called semantic search. Instead of simply matching two or more keywords, Google interprets user intent and the context of the queries. Semantic cluster signals—such as thematically grouped content and internal linking patterns—help reinforce this understanding by highlighting topic depth and relevance across a website.This semantic understanding is important, as searches for potential sellers often rely on it.

Brand content and product pages require careful attention to optimize for both AI and human users. AI may struggle to connect generic homepage content to detailed product pages. 

Similarly, simply stating wholesale on the homepage doesn’t translate to every product being recognized as such. The same applies to location; for example, mentioning Perth doesn’t automatically connect to all offered services.

Websites and content need to cater to both audiences. While consumers may make the final decision, AI heavily influences the options. Brands are unprepared for AI’s evaluation risk, which is being overlooked due to insufficient data.

The Two-Step Process for Building Brand Influence

Websites should be viewed not just as marketing tools but also as communication channels for AI. These algorithms crawl the internet for information and use it to understand brands.

Gert also recommended these two key steps:

• Understanding the current online presence. Analyze how the brand is represented online to identify areas for improvement.
• Defining a strategy. Develop a plan to strengthen the brand’s online image for AI algorithms. This could involve optimizing website content and addressing negative reviews.

Moreover, it’s important to manage an online reputation. Gert Mellak wrote their book “Fix Your Online Reputation.” This shows negative reviews, inaccurate information, and even irrelevant historical data can all be used by AI to shape a brand’s image.

How SEOLeverage Can Help You

SEOLeverage has provided online reputation management services for nearly 20 years. With artificial intelligence (AI), these strategies are relevant to ensure accurate information is fed into AI systems.
To learn more, book a consultation to discuss your specific needs and potential solutions.