AI Search Is Disrupting Everything. Here’s What B2B Marketing Leaders Should Do First.
Generative AI didn’t just change search. It changed how every buyer, seller, and system finds information about you and your competitors. And for B2B marketing leaders, that means one urgent question:
If AI agents—not people—are discovering your brand, are you even being found?
Welcome to the age of Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)—a shift where context, structure, and discoverability for machines are a new frontier of marketing strategy.
Most CMOs have spent a decade mastering SEO and human-centric experiences: optimizing for people and keywords, designing funnels, and fighting for organic traffic. But in the next era, AI is a critical audience. The agents are the intermediaries. And the brands that adapt their data, not just their content, will leap ahead.
This article will explore the options B2B marketing leaders should consider as they prioritize this new opportunity.
1. AEO Is Not SEO—But It Builds on the Same Fundamentals
Lucidworks’ Zero-Click Internet report says it best: “GEO is not SEO.” Generative and Answer Engine Optimization demand a new vocabulary—but the underlying principles of discoverability, relevance, and structure remain the same.
Traditional SEO rewarded keyword density and backlinks. AEO rewards clarity, freshness, and structure. AI engines like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Grok, Claud, and Perplexity don’t crawl pages like Google—they ingest structured data, parse context, and synthesize answers.
To be visible in that synthesis, your data must be machine-readable and context-rich. AEO isn’t an abandonment of SEO—it’s an evolution. You’re not writing for a search box anymore; you’re feeding an ecosystem of agents, APIs, and retrieval models that need structured, contextual data to serve meaningful, factual answers.
| AEO Optimization Table: From SEO to AI-Ready Content | Why It Matters | Example / Action |
|---|---|---|
| Schema markup for FAQs, reviews, and specs | Helps AI understand relationships between entities | Use JSON-LD for product attributes, pricing, and availability |
| Conversational headers (question-based) | Mirrors how users and LLMs phrase queries | “Which analytics platform integrates with Salesforce?” |
| Fresh, structured data | Keeps your information current in AI-generated answers | Update inventory, pricing, and release notes regularly |
| Exposed data (not buried in PDFs) | AI agents can’t parse hidden content | Convert PDFs to HTML pages with clear headings |
| API-friendly architecture | Enables retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) | Publish REST APIs for product info and documentation |
| Use your own search data | Reveals what AI (and users) are trying to find | Analyze internal search queries for content gaps |
2. The “Zero-Click Internet” Is Already Here
Lucidworks’ Zero-Click Internet survey of 500+ digital leaders found that 70% believe AI discoverability will be critical within two years, and 85% say their content strategy must shift to support AI-driven discovery.
That’s not theoretical. Perplexity.ai and ChatGPT are already diverting millions of queries that never reach Google. Gartner estimates that by 2027, 30% of search traffic will be captured by AI chat interfaces rather than traditional search engines.
But don’t panic. “Zero-click” doesn’t mean “zero search.” It means the interface is changing—from web browsers to AI agents. And those agents still rely on traditional search infrastructure, including vector databases, APIs, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).
The takeaway: The best AI experiences still start with the best search index and data access fundamentals, because when your site and documentation data are structured correctly, they support both AEO and SEO. As the Lucidworks 2025 AI Benchmark Report reminds us:
“The smartest AI strategy is to shore up the basics first.”
3. Data Structured for AI Is a Competitive Advantage
AI engines are voracious—but picky. They can’t use what they can’t parse.
That’s why data structured for AI—vector-ready, API-accessible, and conversationally tagged—is the new marketing edge. It’s the foundation for both better discoverability and better experiences.
SEO structured for humans optimizes for human discovery. AEO, structured for AI, optimizes for machine retrieval and synthesis.
This means B2B marketers must collaborate across teams—marketing, product, and IT—to ensure that product specs, pricing, documentation, and support content are consistent, accessible, and versioned.
As Daoud Abdel Hadi from Lucidworks’ Zero-Click Internet survey put it:
“Perhaps the next evolution is an AI-assisted interface like Tony Stark and his AI Jarvis.”
If your data doesn’t represent you, AI will fill in the blanks—sometimes inaccurately. 31% of leaders in the Lucidworks survey said their top concern is brand misrepresentation in AI-generated responses. The only antidote is structured truth.
4. Pick an AI That Improves Experience, Not Just Metrics
Lucidworks’ 2025 AI Benchmark Report found that most AI agents in production are still “entry-level”—analytical or logical systems that pull or feed data. Only 6% of organizations use agents with true transactional or physical capabilities.
That’s why B2B marketers should start small and focus on experience.
As Lucidworks CEO Mike Sinoway explained:
“Instead of selling an AI tool to do all of your go-to-market planning, you had to have an agent that did interactive Q&A with online shoppers, or an agent that did technical spec interrogation.”
For marketing leaders, that means prioritizing AI use cases that improve user experience today:
- Conversational Product Discovery: Embed intelligent on-site agents (like those built with Lucidworks AI Agent / App Studio) to guide buyers through complex decisions.
- Smart Search and Support: Surface documentation, product specs, or ROI data directly in conversational interfaces.
- AI-Driven Personalization: Use vector-based search or intent models to deliver more relevant content in real time.
The lesson: Small, experience-driven AI wins compound faster than big, unproven orchestration bets.
“Sometimes the smartest AI strategy is to shore up the basics first.” — Mike Sinoway, CEO, Lucidworks
5. Build the Bridge Between Human and Machine Discovery
We’re standing between two eras: human-centric discovery and machine-mediated discovery. Your website, content, and campaigns must speak both languages.
A Simple, Practical Roadmap
- Audit for structure, not just tone: Use schema markup, FAQs, and question-based headers.
- Mine your internal search: Identify what customers (and AI) are asking that you’re not answering.
- Expose your data via APIs: Agents can’t retrieve what they can’t access. Ensure your data is available in the required formats and also in data streams.
- Test agent experiences now: Deploy an AI assistant on your product or support pages.
- Track AEO visibility: Monitor mentions and citations in AI-generated responses.
Or as the Zero-Click Internet playbook puts it:
“Be everywhere. Be a marketer.”
6. Why the Next Marketing Edge Is Built on Search
After years of declaring “search is dead,” we’ve come full circle. AI’s success depends on search more than ever.
Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), vector search, and semantic relevance all rely on the same principles Lucidworks has built its platform around: structured indexes, context-aware retrieval, and intelligent ranking.
The best AI experiences start with the best search fundamentals. Your search infrastructure is now your brand’s AI foundation.
7. The ROI Reckoning Is Coming
Every hype cycle ends with the same question: What’s the ROI?
Sinoway warns:
“Eventually, someone says, what’s the payback on this stuff?”
The ROI of AI isn’t in novelty—it’s in measurable improvements: higher engagement, faster answers, lower bounce rates, better conversions. That’s why Lucidworks advocates a “small wins first” approach.
Start where user experience pain is high and measurable—then scale.
8. Keep the Hype in Check—but Keep Moving
There’s never a dull moment in marketing technology. But amid the noise, one principle endures: execution wins markets.
AI hype may dominate headlines, but execution and structure are the best way to proceed.
Mike Sinoway sums it up best:
“Never a dull moment when it comes to AI and how fast it’s changing. The trick is to keep moving forward—even if it feels like you’re paddling like a duck under the water.”
So keep paddling. Start with the fundamentals. Structure your data for both humans and machines. And remember: the next great marketing leap isn’t just about being found—it’s about being understood.
Key Takeaways for B2B Marketing Leaders to Tackle AEO
| Priority | Action | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Focus on fundamentals first | Build strong search indexes, clean metadata, and structured data | The best AI experiences start with the best search infrastructure |
| Structure data for AI, not just humans | Add schema, APIs, and question-based headers | AI agents need retrievable, contextual information to cite your brand |
| Start small and user-focused | Deploy AI agents for discovery or support before scaling | Experience-led wins prove ROI and improve data quality |
| Mine your internal data | Use search logs and tickets to identify real customer questions | These insights fuel better AEO content and FAQ strategy |
| Measure and evolve | Track AEO visibility and conversational search metrics | Optimize for agent-driven discovery before competitors do |