The ground beneath us is shifting, and it's happening fast. AI is rewriting the rules of content discovery.
If you're creating content, you need to understand the profound impact of AI on how people find information. Forget traditional search as you know it; we're entering an era where AI assistants, chatbots, and virtual agents are becoming the new gatekeepers of knowledge.
A Diminishing Role for Traditional Search
Gartner predicts that traditional search engine volume will drop by 25% by 2026 due to the rise of AI recommendations.
Some, including myself, believe this figure might even be conservative. This isn't just a hypothetical future; it's already impacting behavior.
For example, Forrester's Buyer's Journey Survey from 2024 reveals a stunning statistic: 89% of B2B buyers are already using generative AI in at least one area of their purchasing process. Plus, more Google searches are ending without a single click, thanks to AI overviews.
These trends show that people are actively engaging with AI for their information needs, and for their decision making, and content creators need to adapt.
Understanding "AI Mode" and Optimizing Your Content
AI systems operate differently from traditional search engines in a few ways:
Passage-Level Retrieval: Instead of indexing entire pages, AI models extract specific chunks of information from relevant documents.
Semantic Similarity: Queries, subqueries, documents, and passages are converted into "vector embeddings." AI calculates the similarity between these vectors to determine what information gets synthesized into an answer.
Citation Selection: AI selects citations based on how directly a passage supports its generated response, regardless of a document's overall rank.
When this is delivered to the user, marketers can just aim for page one; we're now optimizing for the immediate AI answer.
Here's how to adjust your approach to make your content AI-ready:
For Semantic Relevance
Map User Intent: Go beyond keywords. Understand the why behind a query.
Concept Mapping: Identify related topics, entities, and questions your audience asks.
Diversify Language: Use synonyms and related phrases to cover broader semantic fields.
Think Topic Clusters: Build comprehensive content hubs around core themes.
For Passage Power (Triple Clarity)
Self-Contained Answers: Make each paragraph or section a clear, complete, standalone thought.
Direct & Concise: Prioritize getting straight to the point. Eliminate fluff.
Define Clearly: Use precise language and define terms where necessary.
Avoid Ambiguity: Ensure no passage can be misinterpreted or requires external context.
Structure for Scannability: Use headings, subheadings, and bullet points to break down information.
Information Architecture and Your CMS Matter
If your website already publishes content with a clear hierarchy and well-organized information architecture, you're in a good starting position.
Even better, if you're utilizing a composable Content Management System (like Sanity, Contentful, AEM), which helps organize content contextually and in components as data, you're ahead of the curve. A composable CMS significantly aids in engineering content at the passage level for both semantic similarity and LLM preference.
Your Next Steps: A Deep Dive into the AI Mindset
Leveraging AI to build campaign strategies or draft content is just scratching the surface. The real game-changer is understanding how content is surfaced to people in this new landscape.
How you present your information to Large Language Models (LLMs) matters, just as it did to traditional search engines.
This isn't just a challenge—it's an opportunity to ensure your content is the definitive source in the AI-first world. Are you ready to make that shift?
The Packing Peanuts
A collection of links to stuff I think are worth sharing.
Chris Williamson x Naval Ravikant — Inspiring and insightful interview with the renowned entrepreneur and investor.
Notion's B2C2B Influencer Strategy — It's less about selling and more about making their product so useful, creators can't help but Notion-ally spread the word.
Bose Pauses Paid Search — When Bose says "no thanks" to US paid search, you know it's time to tune in.
Influencer Marketing Report — Great insights from Sprout. Did you know 41% of consumers send product feedback to creators instead of brands?
Amazon + Roku — Once streaming rivals, they are now playing nice to give advertisers one giant, targeted audience pool.