Future-proof your marketing strategy with Google’s AI rivals

When you go to look something up, you tend to google it, right? You’re not alone, as around 90 per cent of internet users turn to Google for search.

However, if you asked that same question to someone who is under the age of 28 — and therefore part of Gen Z — they might give you a different answer. Three years ago they may have favoured TikTok as their go-to search engine. If you’re using that social media app, it is easy to search there for things like restaurant recommendations or targeted advice. I’m absolutely guilty of this, preferring TikTok when I search because the content is more dynamic and there are people on there who I trust and can turn to when I have questions.

Now Google’s dominance is under threat yet again, but this time at the hands of ChatGPT and other AI-related services. Google searches on Apple devices declined for the first time ever, Bloomberg reported recently, as more people use AI to answer their burning questions.

As consumer preferences shift, it’s especially important for start-ups to show up where their customers are actively looking for problems they can solve… and increasingly, that’s on engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity. Companies big and small are experimenting, adapting how they optimise being found by consumers in the emerging era of AI.

Hootsuite, a social media management platform that had revenues of $350 million last year, from around 18 million customers, was an early believer in the rise of AI-first search and its importance to start-ups. Zak Ramdani, Hootsuite’s director of search and paid media, told me they have “experimented with AI tools to anticipate the rise of zero-click searches and AI-driven overviews”, adding that ChatGPT and other generative AI tools “aggregate review sentiment from popular review platforms, so we’re laser focused on ensuring our review-management program amplifies the positive sentiment of our customer base”.

Leveraging reviews is also on the radar of Dana Kim, the founder of Highlight, an in-home product testing start-up that’s raised over $30 million in venture capital. She says all start-ups should try to do this as part of their efforts to stand out in customer searches.

“Consumers are always on the hunt for product information they can trust, so it only makes sense that when platforms prioritise the authentic voices of real consumers, they’ll win more users,” she tells me. “That doesn’t mean platforms like ChatGPT or TikTok will completely replace Google and Meta. The best companies stay agile to respond to shifting consumer behaviours and deliver better product experiences. Google’s most recent algorithm updates are a perfect example: they’re incorporating AI summaries for search results, and including top results from user-first platforms like Reddit and TikTok.”

Hootsuite and Highlight, founded by Dana Kim, have leveraged reviews to improve their search appearances on ChatGPT as it rivals Google

Kim underlined the simple fact that the best search strategies are informed by knowing who your customers are and what technology they are using.

I think AI has become the new frontier for every entrepreneur looking to have an edge on their competition, and if you’re new to this world, just put yourself in the shoes of your users. Go to ChatGPT and ask similar questions your users would ask, understand the core criteria for your category, and then optimise the things that matter, like investing in building an engaged community of customers and incentivising positive product reviews, as Hootsuite does.

After my conversation with Ramdani, I went to ChatGPT to see what I could decipher for myself, asking ChatGPT for its recommendations for the “Top five social media management tools”. Hootsuite came in the top five, and after further probing on what influenced ChatGPT’s ranking, user reviews from platforms like G2 and Capterra, which are focused on business software, and the more generalist Reddit, did in fact influence Hootsuite’s placement.

Google isn’t about to be usurped anytime soon. But I also wouldn’t bet against ChatGPT and its peers. The smart thing to do is future proof your internet marketing strategy for a new era of search.

Meagan Loyst is the founder of Gen Z VCs, a community of Gen Z founders and investors with 30,000 members from 80 countries; she is also head of social media at ClassDojo, an education technology firm