AI Search: What Brands Should Focus on Now

AI Search is changing how consumers discover, compare and evaluate brands. Usage is scaling quickly, search platforms are embedding AI into core experiences, and consumers are already using AI tools during buying journeys.

But for marketers, the harder question is what to do next.

Brands are being shown visibility dashboards, prompted to test tools and told that AI Search will reshape discovery. Yet the practical decisions are often more fundamental: who should own AI Search internally, which tools and partners are right, what should be measured, and how can visibility insight be turned into action?

mediasense has developed this report based on its mapping of the AI Search ecosystem across agencies, technology platforms and brand-side conversations. It cuts through the noise by explaining what is changing, what stronger tools now enable, how brands should think about measurement and maturity, and why operating model is becoming the critical issue.

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Key Takeaways

• AI Search is now too significant to ignore. ChatGPT reached 900 million weekly active users, Gemini surpassed 750 million monthly active users, and IBM / NRF research found 45% of consumers use AI during buying journeys.
• Tooling is moving beyond visibility dashboards. Stronger AI Search platforms are adding workflow, governance, agentic capabilities and proof of impact, helping brands move from signals to action.
• Measurement needs to support decisions, not create false precision. Brands need to separate directional signals, decision metrics and business proxies, especially while prompt volumes, user behaviour and attribution remain difficult to validate.
• Operating model is becoming the critical challenge. AI Search cuts across search, content, PR, commerce, product data, customer care, media and agencies, making ownership, workflows and incentives harder to manage.
• Brands need a maturity path. The right next step depends on whether AI Search is still an unclear starting point, a tactical SEO add-on, a diagnostic dashboard, a workflow opportunity, or part of a broader total discovery ambition.

Report Highlights

The report explores:

• why AI Search matters now and how consumer behaviour is evolving
• what mediasense is seeing across the AI Search market
• how stronger tools are moving into workflow, governance and proof of impact
• why brands should focus on decisions and actions rather than dashboards alone
• four emerging operating models for AI Search ownership and governance
• a maturity framework to help brands assess where they are today
• practical recommendations for aligning teams, incentives, measurement and workflows around total discovery

Download the Report

AI Search is already changing how brands are interpreted, compared and recommended. The brands that respond well will be those that move beyond visibility tracking and build the right measurement, tooling, operating model and governance to act.

Download the report to understand how your organisation can move beyond visibility metrics and build an effective AI search strategy grounded in measurement, governance and business impact.