Big wins are still happening - and still matter - but real momentum is coming from what is being labelled the ‘Minorstone’: a small, measurable improvement. The brands winning in 2026 aren’t just building noise but are building trust through 1% intentional changes.
Here are 5 essential, customer-centric actions that simultaneously improve your AI visibility.
You’re no longer just marketing to buyers. You’re marketing to buyers and bots. Humans with emotion, context, and budgets on one side. Machines making split-second recommendations on the other. That’s a lot to hold. And most marketers are feeling it.
The good news: your best Customer Experience strategy is now also your best Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) strategy.
AI search, answer engines, and autonomous agents are not just looking for keywords. They’re looking for brands they can trust and safely recommend.
Here’s where to start:
1. Achieve crystal-clear brand clarity & consistency
Find and fix legacy content. Standardize your brand name, category, product descriptions, and core value proposition across every digital touchpoint: your website, LinkedIn, social profiles, and third-party listings. Content governance isn’t busywork anymore. It’s brand hygiene.
If AI can't restate you correctly, you're either invisible or mis-introduced at scale.
Why AI loves it
AI systems are literal. They thrive on certainty and consistency. Conflicting data across your web footprint creates contradictions that lower an AI model’s confidence in you. When AI can’t easily verify who you are and what you do, it doesn’t debate it. It simply stops citing you. Make its job easier.
2. Use “answer-first” content
Restructure your most important pages (FAQs, product guides, about us) to lead with short, direct answers. Put a clear definition or TL;DR in the first 100 words, then support it with detail. Use schema markup, bullet points, and tables. FAQs and resource pages are gold.
Why AI loves it
AI models prioritize extraction-ready content. If a model has to wade through a long narrative to find a key fact, it will cite a competitor who gets to the point faster. Structured data like FAQ or Product Schema is a love letter to clarity. It helps AI parse your content accurately and confidently.
3. Prove authority & trust
Trust isn’t what you say. It’s what others are willing to say for you.
Earn high-authority mentions from reputable sources. Secure strong customer reviews. Publish content with clear authorship and visible expertise. Most importantly, remove friction across the customer journey so good experiences actually turn into proof.
Why AI loves it
AI is programmed to avoid hallucination. It prioritizes brands that are safe, credible, and consistently accurate. It looks for validation from third-party experts and real user experiences to make sure it doesn’t embarrass itself by quoting an unreliable source. The stronger your proof of expertise, the more likely AI is to favour you.
It’s more important than ever that your customer journey is frictionless.
Great experiences = great reviews and AI recommendations.
4. Maximize off-site mentions
If the conversation is happening without you, AI will still listen. Just not to you.
Actively participate in forums, industry Q&A sites, social platforms, podcasts, and real conversations. Treat high-traffic third-party platforms as essential content channels, not optional extras.
Why AI loves it
AI models don’t just skim websites. They integrate patterns from real conversations and real behaviour. Strong, consistent third-party mentions on platforms like Reddit, Quora, and LinkedIn signal genuine human relevance and satisfaction.
AI trusts what humans trust.
5. Build an agent-ready customer journey
If an AI agent has to infer, guess, or dig to understand your offer, it will choose a clearer alternative.
Get your journey mapping in order. Make key information easy to find, easy to understand, and easy to act on. Pricing, availability, inclusions, next steps. Build conversion paths that remove friction instead of hiding information.
Why AI loves it
AI isn’t just generating text. It’s becoming an agent that acts on the user’s behalf (for example: “What’s the best price for X?”). Expose key business data such as pricing, availability, and services in structured forms (like clean tables or APIs) so agents can compare and act instantly.
Ensure key business data is clear, consistent, and accessible wherever decisions are being made.
Because AI recommendation is just decision-making at speed
2026 discovery won't reward the loudest brand. It will reward the brand that AI can explain correctly, literally, and quickly. It will reward the brand most trusted by humans and the journey with the least friction. The brands that get the little things right won't just be visible. They'll be the ones AI recommends first.
On Wednesday, February 25, we’re hosting a breakfast panel on exactly this: how modern marketers are navigating visibility, trust, and decision-making in a world where buyers aren’t the only ones choosing anymore. Join Nevam founder Britt Fox in conversation with Ben Cooper (Global head of AI, R/GA), Ruth Haffenden (CMO, Flying Tiger) and Ben King (Founder, Aviato / ex-Google) on building for a dual-audience future. Register to secure your seat.
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