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Consumer behaviour is undergoing a significant transformation, particularly in terms of how people discover products and services. Gartner forecasts a 25% decrease in traditional search engine volume by 2026, largely driven by the rise of AI chatbots. This shift in searches towards AI-powered platforms, demands a new approach to visibility and engagement from marketers.
To gain a deeper understanding of these changes, we asked Nishith Srivastava, VP, Europe - BORN (Digital, CX, Martech, Data and eCommerce Transformation) at Tech Mahindra, with over 25 years of experience in omnichannel customer experience, MarTech architecture, data-driven growth and marketing strategy across global markets, about the implications of this shift for marketers, he emphasised the critical need for adapting to new consumer interactions shaped by AI:
“Users no longer 'search' in the traditional sense, they 'ask.' And that pivot demands a new kind of strategy i.e. Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO). It’s not just about ranking anymore; it’s about responding. ”
In practical terms, Nishith suggests: “Marketers must shift from 'ranking' to 'resolving' because if you’re not optimising for answers, you’re invisible. AEO flips the SEO playbook. Instead of optimising for keywords, we must optimise for answers. You must rethink how content is structured, semantically tagged, and contextually served to voice assistants, generative AI models, and zero-click platforms. This means investing in structured data, schema markup, and a laser-sharp focus on entity-based content modelling.”
A critical step, Nishith advises, is to “own the question space.” This means thinking from the user's perspective rather than the marketers. Instead of assuming consumers will ask explicitly about a brand or its offerings, Nishith notes that “the majority of users have an information need, and that's the sweet spot.” Marketers should thus shift the narrative from brand-centric to user-centric, highlighting benefits and purposeful information tailored to the consumer's intent.
“Change your AEO narrative from ‘About your Brand’ to ‘Benefits and Purpose for the User.”
Additionally, Nishith stresses, “If your content isn’t built to answer, it’s built to be ignored.”
To effectively compete in this new landscape, marketers should regularly audit their content for clarity and relevance in question-and-answer formats. Tools like AlsoAsked or AnswerThePublic can be valuable to uncover and identify latent semantic queries relevant to industry-specific topics. Accordingly, structure FAQ’s and responses in concise, scannable formats (bullet points, tables, or step-by-step guides) to align with answer engines' preference for snippet-ready content.
To ensure comprehensive coverage, marketers should also map audience intent across all stages of the consumer journey, aligning content closely with conversational queries. Nishith recommends prioritising conversational phrases such as 'how', 'why' and 'when', rather than limiting oneself to just 'what'. By integrating FAQ schema, leveraging knowledge graph relationships and employing natural language generation (NLG), businesses can efficiently scale authoritative answers that AI tools trust and value.
Finally, Nishith emphasises the importance of adopting a conversational tone. He points out that voice search and AI assistants prioritise natural language and suggests claiming your knowledge graph real estate with structured data (Schema markup) to reinforce entity-based authority.
By proactively embracing these strategies, marketers can successfully navigate and thrive in the evolving landscape of AI-assisted consumer discovery.
