Buyers increasingly ask an AI assistant before they open a search engine or a brand's website. In a Digitalk feature, digital marketing specialists describe how this is reshaping the path to purchase. For website owners the takeaway is practical: ranking in Google is no longer enough. AI systems also need to understand correctly who you are and what you offer.
How customer behaviour is changing
- According to Kristiyan Velev of DigiMentals, in the early research stage buyers often narrow their choice to 1-3 options recommended by AI.
- Lili Grozeva of Saltanat Labs cites a Semrush and Datos study of real ChatGPT conversations showing an average of eight messages per conversation.
- People haven't abandoned Google. Both kinds of search are used side by side and complement each other.
Where AI gets brands wrong
Grozeva points to problems we also see in practice:
- the brand is placed in the wrong product category;
- discontinued product lines are presented as current;
- after a rebrand, the new name isn't connected to the brand's earlier history.
What you can do on your website
- Clear positioning. One statement of what you do and who you do it for, repeated consistently on your website, your social profiles and your Google Business Profile.
- Structured content. Lists, tables and short answers to specific questions. Velev recommends this kind of content too.
- Structured data. Schema markup for your organisation, services, products and authors helps machines connect the information.
- Freshness. Remove or redirect pages for products you no longer offer.
- Consistent naming. After a rebrand, keep a clear link between the old name and the new one.
How quickly changes show up
Velev notes that changes in how you are positioned in AI recommendations can appear within one to several weeks, while classic SEO takes months. That is their observation, not a guarantee, but it shows how much well-organised content matters.
Ad targeting is being automated as well. Georgi Kandev of Netpeak Bulgaria points out that Google, Facebook and TikTok already use AI to choose audiences, which reduces the need to define them by hand.
If you want your website to be understood correctly by both search engines and AI assistants, see our approach to SEO. Related: ChatGPT ads are now available in Bulgaria.
Source: Digitalk: AI is reshaping digital marketing (in Bulgarian). This article is an independent analysis by Penkov Studio.
