How your prospective customers research purchases and discover new businesses is changing. In 2026, generative AI tools like ChatGPT are the third most popular way to find and vet local businesses, behind Google and Facebook.
More than 80% of shoppers conduct online research before making a purchase, and with “about half” of adults in the US using AI chatbots as of June 2026, it makes sense that 70% of shoppers now use AI while shopping. AI has become an important part of the shopping decision-making process. According to a recent study from the Interactive Advertising Bureau®, AI is the “second most influential shopping source behind only search engines—surpassing retailer websites and apps, and even recommendations from friends and family.”
These statistics highlight what you probably already know: today, putting your business in front of the people who are likely to purchase from it is more complex than ever. As technology and customer behavior change, building a recognizable, trustworthy brand across channels becomes more important.
Why Building a Brand Matters
AI Uses Entities, Not Keywords
Your brand is an entity, or a concept, for AI to understand and relate to other entities around it, like leadership, products and competitors. This is a departure from the semantic processing of traditional search engines, which is what made keywords and phrases one of the most important parts of SEO for years.
How AI understands the entity that is your brand, as well as its expertise and trustworthiness as compared to similar entities, helps determine if you’re included in an AI-synthesized answer to a prospective customer’s relevant question. Because AI uses so many different sources to create these answers, brands with more context and consistent details across the internet become stronger entities.
Consumer Trust in AI is Still Low
Even though most shoppers are using AI in their customer journeys, they don’t totally trust the results, with almost 90% double-checking the results before buying anything. This means heading to more established channels and searching for the brand or products AI recommended. Here, your brand has another chance to make a good impression using established digital marketing best practices:
- Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile
- Keep social media profiles up to date, and monitor mentions and reviews
- Create (or request) profiles on authoritative directories in your industry
- If necessary, consider ads to reclaim space in the search results
Distrust of AI can also impact how your business’s use of AI is received. Once a potential customer visits your website and social media profiles, ensure the information they find there is accurate and trustworthy. AI slop, like exaggerated testimonials or off-brand social media posts, can erode trust, even among people who regularly use AI themselves.
Being Memorable Matters in Zero-Click Searches
Even when consumers head to Google to research before making a purchase, AI Overviews often appear at the top of the search results, leading to zero-click searches. Now, it’s essential that searchers recognize and remember your brand, even when they don’t visit your website.
This is easier for consumers to do when your brand and its offerings are recognizable and memorable. The more times you appear in relevant contexts showcasing expertise and authority throughout the research process, the more likely you are to be remembered and chosen when the time comes to make a purchase.
