If AI Can’t Find You, Neither Will Your Customers

The way we search for information on the internet is changing faster than we realize. Once, searching for information meant opening Google, typing in keywords, and then picking the best choice from the links displayed before us. Even just a few years ago, this was a routine—a habit as natural as looking for news in the pages of a newspaper. But in the world of technology, nothing remains static. Now, a new medium is challenging Google’s undisputed dominance—artificial intelligence-based conversational assistants, or AI assistants.

Many of us now ask questions directly to ChatGPT, or speak to a smart speaker in the corner of our home, saying, “Alexa, tell me which brand of smartwatch is best.” This shift isn’t just a technological advancement; it’s a change in habit—where users are losing patience with wading through hundreds of links. They want direct, concise, and relevant answers.

Statistics published in June 2025 paint a clear picture of the scale of this change. In that month alone, AI platforms funneled about 1.13 billion visits to the top thousand websites. Compared to the previous year, this number jumped by 357%. Of this, ChatGPT alone contributed more than 80%. In other words, a vast new share of online traffic is now coming from a source that isn’t Google, but rather conversational AI.

The most dramatic changes are happening in news and media sites. In just one year, their AI-driven traffic grew by 770%. This means that now, when a reader looks for news, they might ask ChatGPT directly, “What are today’s top science headlines?” instead of using Google’s search bar. And if ChatGPT doesn’t know your site’s name in its answers, you effectively become invisible to that reader.

Here lies the real shift—AI assistants don’t compile website lists at random. Behind them are complex algorithms and learning processes. They scan online content, check for relevance, and decide which sources are most helpful. While your site might appear even as the hundredth result in Google, AI offers only a handful of answers. If you’re not on that shortlist, you’re essentially out of the competition.

This has given birth to a new marketing metric—Share of Model. Simply put, it measures how present and positively positioned your brand or content is within large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Llama. Think of it as a contemporary equivalent to Google’s SEO ranking. For example, if someone asks ChatGPT, “What’s the best online science platform in Bangladesh?”—and your platform appears as an answer, it means you are ‘within the model’s awareness.’ If not, no matter how much you boost your Facebook posts or optimize for SEO, your presence in this new AI-driven era will simply not exist.

In Bangladesh, we still aren’t treating this change with enough importance. Here, most businesses and media houses remain focused on SEO, Facebook ads, and YouTube campaigns. But the Google-centric era is steadily giving way to a time when building a ‘relationship’ with AI assistants will be key. This relationship isn’t just about having your website’s URL in ChatGPT; it’s about being present in a way that the model suggests your name in response to relevant questions.

A major misconception needs to be dispelled here. Many believe that AI models learn everything from the internet, so there’s nothing extra to be done. But in reality, it’s not that simple. These models’ learning is limited to their training data and update frequency. Often, they don’t get new information unless it is provided by trusted sources or is available online in a way the model can access. So, no matter how high-quality your content may be, if it doesn’t reach the AI, it’s as if it vanishes into darkness.

The question then arises—how can you ensure AI knows about you? The answer lies in a mix of technology and strategy. Your content must be clear, data-driven, and relevant. Your website needs a technical structure that AI can easily read and understand. Internationally, many organizations now use Structured Data and Schema Markup so that AI and search engines can clearly recognize content types. Citing sources, including research-based information, and offering comparative analyses also boost content credibility.

This creates an even more complex challenge for media organizations. They’re still battling for Google rankings, social media algorithms, and fluctuating ad revenues. Now comes the AI-driven content referral system. If they can’t adapt quickly to these changes, they’ll lose their audience to a world where AI assistants are the primary gatekeepers.

Does this signal the end of Google? Not quite—at least, not yet. Google still maintains a massive user base and its influence on the search engine market is immense. But people’s habits for seeking information are changing rapidly, and the speed of this change is far greater than before. Just as search engines like Yahoo or Altavista disappeared in the face of Google’s dominance, in the future, AI assistants may become the primary gatekeepers of information discovery.

There’s also an important social aspect here. In Bangladesh, digital businesses, online education, e-commerce, even news media—all are now part of a global competition. Your reader or customer might be in Uttara, Dhaka, but at the same time, they can access content from London, New York, or Sydney just as easily. To survive in this competition, quality content isn’t enough; you also need the right technological strategies to deliver that content. Being present within AI models is now becoming central to that strategy.

If we ignore this new reality, the consequences will be harsh. You could be publishing hundreds of new articles every day, spending thousands on ads, yet when a potential reader asks ChatGPT something, your content’s name never comes up. It’s like standing in a crowded marketplace, but no customer stops in front of your shop—because they don’t even know you exist.

To avoid this, preparation must begin now. This isn’t just the responsibility of the tech team; editors, marketing specialists, content creators—all need to understand that AI-driven traffic is now an essential part of the digital landscape. Tomorrow’s customers or readers won’t search through a clutter of links—they’ll want instant, concise, and accurate answers. If your name isn’t among those answers, you’re out of the competition.

So, our question isn’t “What’s our rank on Google?” anymore. Instead, it should be, “Does ChatGPT recognize us?” Or, “Will Gemini mention our name?” The answer to these questions will determine who leads and who disappears in the coming decade. In this new struggle for digital survival, Share of Model isn’t just a metric—it’s proof of a brand’s existence.

Those organizations or platforms that take this change seriously and prepare today won’t just survive—they’ll thrive. But for those who think, “There’s still time,” that time may never return.