For at least a year now, Google isn’t your only search tool. You probably spend as much time, or even more, in ChatGPT or Claude. Yet, Google seeks your continued loyalty. It presents you with the ‘AI Overview’ and its own AI tool, Gemini. The AI-fication of search has shaken the world of digital marketing; decades-old rules are being rewritten.
For brands, ranking first on Google means only so much. The new battleground for eyeballs and mindspace is the AI chat window. Brands are scrambling for visibility inside AI-generated responses.
The urgency in their approach is justified: users across OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Anthropic’s Claude have swelled to a billion according to some estimates. In step with this change, Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) has become the new buzzword in digital marketing.
Google has already started expanding brand opportunities within AI Overviews and AI Mode, and its Ads support documentation now explains how ads can appear in AI Overviews.
OpenAI has started testing ads in ChatGPT for users in the US and forecasts that its ad revenues could reach $2.5 billion in 2026 and $100 billion in 2030. Meanwhile, Perplexity has tested sponsored follow-up questions and video-style ad placements around AI answers.
Experts believe the monetisation efforts among AI-search companies will intensify over the next 6-12 months, with ad bids pricing expected to be 5-10 times higher than traditional advertising suites offered by Google and Meta.
