Marketing has always been about connecting people to solutions. What has changed is the path they take to get there. Discovery has shifted from search bars to social feeds. Intent is signaled not in surveys but in behaviors tracked in real time. Conversion happens across multiple touch points, often before a customer even reaches a brand’s website.
Artificial intelligence is the connective force behind this change. It reads signals across platforms, compresses complex journeys into instant answers, and matches content formats to audience preferences. What emerges isn’t a traditional funnel but a new formula for relevance: AI x Audiences x Action.
This equation is more than a slogan. It’s a framework for rethinking how discovery, intent, and conversion now operate. Each element reshapes the customer journey, and together they define what loyalty, depth, and problem-solving look like in the AI era.
AI: The new answer engine
For years, search engines functioned as the default gateway to the internet. You “Googled it” to research, compare, and decide. That behavior has fractured. Now AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity have shifted expectations. People no longer want ten blue links. They want a single, confident answer that feels tailored to them.
This matters because AI isn’t neutral. It decides which brands get surfaced, which content is compressed, and which voices are trusted. The SEO playbook of producing endless keyword-stuffed blogs is losing relevance. Instead, brands must publish information that’s structured, authoritative, and genuinely useful when reduced into a two-sentence AI summary.
Generative AI has also collapsed the timeline. Where once a consumer compared dozens of options, now the shortlist is generated instantly. If your brand isn’t in the answer, it effectively doesn’t exist. The challenge isn’t to be visible everywhere but to be indispensable when the algorithm curates.
This is where depth is critical. Shallow, surface-level material will be discarded. AI favors content that can be compressed without losing its utility. Brands that demonstrate authority, nuance, and substance earn a place in the machine’s recommendations.
Audiences: Generations search differently
The way people “use the internet” is no longer uniform. This fragmentation is most visible across generations.
- Gen Z begins discovery on TikTok and Instagram. To them, social media is not just entertainment; it’s an answer engine. A TikTok tutorial doubles as product research. A trending sound can spark purchase intent.
- Millennials sit between. Some continue to “Google it,” but many rely on AI tools for efficiency and turn to social proof for validation. They value credibility but want speed.
- Gen X and Boomers still lean more heavily on search engines, yet adoption of voice assistants and AI chatbots is rising as interfaces become more intuitive.
This matters because audiences no longer follow a single funnel. Discovery is dictated by the starting point. For a 22-year-old, the path might begin with a short-form video. For a 42-year-old, it might begin with a chatbot query. The marketer’s job is to meet each group in its context rather than assuming a one-size-fits-all journey.
This is the loyalty play. If a brand is absent from the channel where discovery starts for a given audience, loyalty can’t form. Consistency across generations is less important than relevance within the platform each generation trusts.
Action: From answer to conversion
Discovery and intent happen faster than ever. That speed reshapes conversion.
AI shortens the middle of the funnel. Where a consumer once read reviews, compared prices, and visited multiple websites, now they might receive a three-product shortlist directly from an AI assistant.
In social channels, the line between content and commerce has blurred. TikTok Shop, Instagram Shop, and YouTube Shopping allow action without ever leaving the feed.
This compression raises the stakes. Brands no longer compete for impressions; they compete for inclusion in the first answer.
Once an AI tool suggests a single product, competitors may never enter the consideration set. Once a TikTok trend highlights one brand, others are invisible.
The new challenge isn’t to shout the loudest but to clarify positioning so unmistakably that when a consumer asks, “What solves this problem?” your brand feels like the natural answer. This is the problem-solution stage. Winning brands are those that articulate their utility clearly, prove it with credible evidence, and integrate into the consumer’s preferred channel of action.
Why this matters now
The shifts described in Stephanie’s opening letter aren’t temporary. Social media is entrenched as a search engine. AI platforms are becoming default answer engines. Generational differences in discovery behavior are accelerating.
In this environment, marketers must accept that the funnel has fractured. The three-part framework of AI x Audiences x Action is a way to navigate the complexity:
- AI sets the rules of discovery. It decides which content and brands surface when consumers ask questions.
- Audiences shape intent based on generational habits, trust signals, and cultural context.
- Action happens in compressed, cross-channel ways, often before a consumer ever lands on a traditional website.
Threaded through this equation are three trends that will define the near future:
- Loyalty requires presence at the point of discovery, not just the point of purchase.
- Depth is rewarded by AI, which favors substantive, problem-solving content.
- Problem-solution clarity is the differentiator when consumers move from answer to action in a single step.
Across generations, during the Research phase, third-party evaluations ranked highest at 46.2%, based on a survey carried out by The Influence Agency in August 2025. This was closely followed by transparent pricing and policies at 43.6%, along with verified creator insights at 42.3%. Respondents were asked what enhances their trust during the research phase.
From tools to strategy
It’s tempting to see AI as simply another item in the tech stack. That framing misses the point. AI isn’t a tool sitting beside the marketer; it’s the architecture that now structures the customer journey.
The real challenge is strategic: to understand how discovery, intent, and conversion operate when filtered through generational behaviors, mediated by algorithms, and compressed into instant answers. Marketers who cling to the idea of a predictable funnel will be left behind.
Those who embrace the new equation of AI x Audiences x Action will design journeys that feel personalized, seamless, and credible in real time.
The future of marketing isn’t about piling on more platforms. It’s about connecting insight, content, and context so they match the way people actually discover, decide, and act today. This shift goes beyond tools. It demands a rethinking of strategy itself.
