Australia and New Zealand’s largest influencer marketing business, Social Soup, unveiled new insights at its “New Frontiers in AI and Social Search” masterclass event yesterday, highlighting how AI and social platforms are significantly outperforming traditional search when it comes to consumer discovery and brand visibility.
The masterclass brought together three experts across social, AI, content and brand strategy – Founder and CEO of Social Soup, Sharyn Smith; Co-founder and Chief Business Officer of Brandlight, Uri Gafni; and Founder and CEO of Content Rebels, Sarah Spence – to outline trends which are changing the way consumers are influenced by brands.
The masterclass underlined just how quickly consumer discovery is shifting. Generative AI (Gen AI) is a powerful driver of decision making, with almost six in 10 consumers already using platforms like ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity for product or service recommendations.
When these platforms are used, they have a conversion rate 4.4 times greater than organic search according to research from Semrush.
Sixty per cent of global searches are now ending without a click, with brands risking becoming invisible if they are not showing up in AI-generated results. Social platforms have now evolved into discovery engines, with 40% of Gen Z saying they now prefer TikTok or Instagram over Google when searching for brands or products.
Social Soup’s Sharyn Smith said: “We’re now well into a new era where brand visibility extends far beyond search. Brands need to do the work to understand how they show up in AI and social search. Consumers are asking more complex questions in these spaces, and what matters most is the answers they get come from trusted and authentic sources.
“For marketers, this means investing in content and influencer strategies that feed human communities and AI models with the right signals. There is a growing need for brands to build trust signals through authentic content, optimise for AI discovery using natural language and keywords, and invest in volume and diversity of content to help how AI platforms actually describe their brand.”
Brandlight’s Uri Gafni discussed how leading US business are setting up centres of excellence and bringing together their public relations, social, influence, content, SEO and commerce teams to create a unified strategy. By connecting the dots across these disciplines, the companies are ensuring every touchpoint feeds into how AI and social platforms present the brand, building consistency, trust and – most importantly – visibility across the entire consumer journey.
Uri said: “We’re now living in a world where decisions are being shaped inside AI chats and search summaries long before anyone reaches a website. This creates a measurement and attribution challenge, but it also opens up new opportunities for brands that start monitoring, tracking and actively influencing their AI visibility today.”
Content Rebels’ Sarah Spence said: “It feels like a full-time job just keeping up with the speed of AI search, but the fundamentals haven’t disappeared. What’s really changing is the way humans search. That’s why brands need to evolve from traditional SEO to GEO [generative engine optimisation] – making sure that their owned content is as comprehensive and discoverable in AI summaries as it is in Google rankings. This is the next evolution, and it’s an exciting one.”
Sharyn said: “This next stage of influence is a natural evolution for us as a business, and we’re proud to provide masterclasses like the one yesterday to help clients and brands navigate the ever-changing social and digital landscape.”
