The new visibility crisis: When AI, not search, decides what consumers see

Heather Horton, main image, founder of Female Founders London and founder and CEO of Ecrubox, an e-commerce strategy, marketing and development agency, observes a shift in how consumers discover products today. “More people are turning to AI-powered assistants for recommendations, research and guidance before visiting a brand’s website,” she says. In Horton’s view, this evolution introduces new considerations for businesses that have traditionally focused most of their attention on conventional search visibility. As consumer behavior evolves, the path to purchase appears to be becoming more condensed. A journey that once involved multiple searches, several websites and extensive comparison shopping may now begin with a single question posed to an AI assistant. According to Horton, this increasingly positions AI as an early touchpoint in product discovery, particularly for consumers seeking quick recommendations, curated options or answers tailored to specific needs. Her experience advising e-commerce brands has led her to view this transition as a story about how people prefer to gather information and make decisions. AI-powered searches: crunching the numbers This shift seems to be gaining momentum. According to an industry report on AI-powered search, roughly half of consumers now use AI-assisted search tools, and a growing share of buying decisions may be influenced . The report also notes that AI is increasingly playing a role throughout the consumer decision journey, from early research to purchase consideration. For brands, this introduces an important distinction. “Traditional search visibility is still valuable, but AI-generated recommendations often draw from a much broader collection of signals,” Horton states. She notes that customer reviews, community conversations, editorial coverage, industry commentary and independent third-party mentions can all contribute to how a brand is represented when an AI system generates an answer. “A strong website and good search rankings aren’t always enough. If a company’s overall digital footprint is limited, AI recommendation systems may still struggle to highlight it,” she adds. The importance of brand reputation online This is one reason Horton believes brand reputation across the wider internet is becoming increasingly significant. She notes that when consumers ask opinion-based questions, AI systems frequently synthesise information from public discussions and shared experiences. As a result, visibility is often influenced a brand, not solely . “Brands earn attention through the stories people share about them,” Horton says. “The digital conversation has become part of the customer experience, and every authentic interaction contributes to that narrative.” Through Ecrubox’s work with consumer and direct-to-consumer brands, Horton has observed that many organisations still devote substantial resources to traditional search rankings while spending comparatively little time evaluating how AI systems describe their products.