Not Google Anymore: Now Brands Are Competing to Win ChatGPT’s Favor

In the new battlefield of marketing, AI decides what you buy

Let’s start with a story from one afternoon. Arijit, a student at the University of Dhaka, just got his paycheck and decided to buy a new laptop. Previously, he might have gone to Google and typed, “Best laptops under $1,000.” But this time, he did something different—he asked ChatGPT, “What are some good laptops under $1,000?”

Within seconds, he received suggestions—specific models recommended based on RAM, processor, battery life, and brand reputation. And Arijit? He bought one of the recommended choices right away, without browsing websites, watching YouTube videos, or reading blogs.

“I thought, what’s the point of reading so many reviews? ChatGPT already knows everything,” Arijit says with a laugh.

This scene isn’t just about Arijit—it’s redefining global marketing strategies and customer behavior.

The New Battlefield: Winning Over AIs, Not Just People

Now, brands are not only thinking about people like us, but also about AI models like ChatGPT, Alexa, or Gemini. In a report published in MIT Technology Review, Scott J. Mulligan wrote, “The center of marketing is now ‘share of model’—that is, how visible and positively represented a brand is in large language models.”

According to data analysts, the quality of content, the clarity of product descriptions, and the consistency of brand messaging—all these now determine which products or brands get recommended by AI.

“It used to be all about Google ranking, now it’s the chatbot’s favorite,” says marketing consultant Tanvir Ahmed. “Those brands that can understand and cater to AI’s preferences will appear on customers’ screens first.”

Popular Dhaka-based skincare brand ‘GlowBD’ is now tailoring every product description to suit AI—so that their name shows up in chatbot recommendations.

The New Name for SEO: LLM Optimization

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, has long been the backbone of digital marketing. But now it’s being replaced by LLMO—Large Language Model Optimization. (LLM stands for Large Language Model, like ChatGPT, which reads massive amounts of data to decide which products are best). The goal is not just to rank in search engines, but to understand how AIs like ChatGPT think and present your brand accordingly.

Research shows that when AI answers a question, it scans thousands of online content sources, averages out multiple references, and then presents the information that is most reliable, relevant, and clear.

This is the challenge: brands must present themselves online in a way that helps AI identify what category of product it is, what features it has, and why it might be the right choice for consumers.

People vs Machines: Who Should We Please First?

This is not just a technological shift, but a psychological one as well. Once, customer reviews, blogs, or YouTubers’ opinions guided our purchases. Now, AI is stepping into that role.

Rumana Khan, an online entrepreneur from Dhaka, says, “Now, when we write product descriptions, we think—not about a person, but about whether ChatGPT can read, understand, and recommend it to others.”

Recognizing the importance of this change, many brands are now creating their own AI-friendly content development teams. Some companies are even using AI as a ‘test user’ to check if their content is being recognized properly by the models.

“In Bangladesh, ignoring AI will mean losing future customers,” says digital marketing trainer Hasan Imam.

The Market of the Future: The Model’s Opinion, Not Human Preference

Experts say that in the coming days, ‘share of model’ will become such a crucial metric that it may even surpass market share in importance.

Tech expert Elon Musk once said, “AI is the most powerful tool humanity has created. But like all tools, its influence depends on who’s wielding it.”

Today, that ‘wielding’ is done by ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, Meta’s LLaMA, and others.

Final Words: Be Prepared—Competitors Are No Longer Just Humans

Now, brands face a new challenge—their products not only need to be good, but must also be ‘trustworthy,’ ‘comprehensive,’ and ‘relevant’ in the eyes of AI.

Brands that sense the winds of change earliest and adapt will become tomorrow’s ‘AI-favorite brands.’

Perhaps that’s why the laptop Arijit bought today will become popular in the future—for the simple reason that ChatGPT once warmly told him, “Buy this one.”