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Major brands are changing how they manage their online image. The shift is due to artificial intelligence-powered search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews. These platforms now play a strong role in shaping how brands are discovered and described online. As more users turn to single-answer AI platforms, brands that do not optimize their presence can lose visibility. Search results are no longer a list of options. Many people now see only a single answer chosen by an AI. This makes it essential to control not only appearance but also tone, sentiment, and authority within these new search outputs.
Agencies focused on both traditional and AI-powered search are now gaining attention from brands. Growing Search is one agency that is using in-house tools, custom analytics, and careful content management to help brands stay visible and well-represented. This piece explains how Growing Search works, what sets its approach apart, and why its methods align with the new demands of AI-driven discovery.
The Change in Brand Discovery
Most people are aware of traditional search rankings. In those systems, sites compete for top spots in a list of links. AI-powered platforms are changing this pattern. When tools like ChatGPT or Google’s AI Overviews answer questions, they provide either a summary, a single citation, or a handful of references. Missing a spot here can mean a brand is not seen by many users.
A 2025 industry report states that the risk for brands “effectively invisible” to users of these tools is increasing. These AI systems do not simply repeat what they find. Instead, they condense, check, and sometimes filter facts from many sources. If a brand is not mentioned or appears with the wrong tone or incorrect details, it loses not only traffic but trust among its audience.
Use of AI in digital marketing has become common. In a recent Epsilon Marketing poll, 94 percent of businesses reported using artificial intelligence within their marketing stack. As brands increase their investments in AI, they are also under pressure to monitor and manage how they appear within these new frameworks.
Growing Search: A Dual Approach
Growing Search is an SEO agency that works on both older and newer search environments. Its methods do not focus on simple ranking factors alone. The agency reviews content for authority, accuracy, frequency of mention, sentiment, and format to satisfy both search engines and generative AI.
This dual approach involves two main types of work. First, Growing Search handles core tasks such as SEO audits, keyword research, content planning, and link building. These activities help a brand rank in traditional search engines. Second, the agency manages a brand’s footprint in AI-generated content. This means tracking how often a brand is cited, what tone is used, and how the AI models present the brand.
Brands often work with Growing Search because of these extra steps. The agency adapts content and grows authority signals when it sees gaps. They monitor and recalibrate based on regular measurements of how brands appear in key AI tools. All activities happen with in-house teams to ensure accuracy and control.
Analytics and Proprietary Tools
Growing Search uses two main analytics platforms to guide its work: StakeView and BrandLens. StakeView tracks organic market share versus competitors. It provides a direct look at how often a brand is surfaced in both traditional and AI-generated search environments. This helps show if a brand is gaining or losing ground.
BrandLens measures AI sentiment and citation rates. This tool checks not only if a brand is listed in an AI’s answer, but also whether the mention is positive, negative, or neutral. It also tracks where and how the AI cites the brand. These measurements give a full picture. With this information, brands can see which changes are needed and which have worked.
Research shows that inclusion in AI overviews often leads to higher conversion rates and trust. As consumers receive a single, authoritative answer, they are more likely to act on it. Growing Search looks at both “hard” data, such as the number of citations, and “softer” details, such as the tone used in AI model results.
Adapting to New Search Standards
Traditional search methods are not enough. Teams must now manage both content accuracy and reputation within machine-generated answers. If a brand is not in an AI-generated overview or summary, it risks missing out on potential customers. This lack of coverage is not trivial, as users tend to trust the results produced by these systems. Search experts explain that “if your brand isn’t showing up in Google Overviews, ChatGPT, or Perplexity, you’re missing customers before they even land on your site”.
Growing Search runs simulations, prompts, and tests of AI search environments for its clients. By reviewing AI-generated answers in real time, the agency is able to see where a brand is missing or underrepresented. StakeView and BrandLens then help identify gaps and track the effectiveness of updates. This direct feedback system is necessary, as AI-powered searches may change how they source and present content without warning.
Main Benefits Seen by Brands
Brands working with Growing Search have reported clear results. The agency’s clients have documented:
- Increases between 20 and 35 percent in AI-generated citations for their brands over a six-month period
- Better sentiment scores, which link to higher rates of visitor trust and more conversions
- Ongoing increases in organic market share, as compared to rival brands that have not yet shifted toward AI-driven SEO
Brands in sectors such as software and e-commerce have gained more qualified leads and improved market positions after following these practices. In some cases, brands that ignored their AI Overview presence saw losses in new discovery, even if their standard keyword rankings were unchanged.
Growing Search keeps all work in-house. By avoiding third-party automation, the agency can move quickly and maintain strong standards. When tracking shows a drop or a shift in sentiment or authority, the team is able to make fast adjustments in content or linking to address the issue.
A Focus on Thorough Measurement
Growing Search’s process is based on continual measurement. The agency does not depend on broad ranking or traffic metrics alone. Teams look at both appearance and description within summaries and citations created by AI tools. This includes how many times a brand is listed, the context of each mention, and the exact language used in the summaries.
Clients receive direct reports of their shares versus competitors through StakeView. At the same time, BrandLens offers sentiment tracking, for examples of when an AI model describes a product as a “trusted solution” or a “leading choice” in response to user questions. These indicators help clients understand where improvements are working and where more effort is needed.
Industry and Analyst Support
Commentary from recent industry news reinforces the importance of this approach. Without attention to AI-driven search environments, brands miss out on the “single answer” chosen by platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity. A 2025 analysis notes that exclusion from AI-generated results means missing users “before they even land on your site”. In this model of discovery, there is no fallback position for lesser-ranked brands.
Reports also show that users increasingly view a brand’s omission from AI summaries as a sign of weakness or lack of authority. This means both revenue and reputation are at risk if not managed. Brands that work with agencies with strong AI monitoring abilities and tools such as StakeView and BrandLens are seeing the “data-driven course corrections” necessary for continued visibility.
Industry experts warn that rapid updates and shifts in AI models’ data sources mean that regular audits and real-time adaptation are essential. AI models can change technical protocols or adjust bias in brand selection without notification. Agencies that measure these impacts directly are best placed to keep their clients included and well described.
How StakeView and BrandLens Work
StakeView and BrandLens were created by Growing Search to handle the new problems posed by AI-powered search and summary models. StakeView shows a brand’s share of organic search compared to competitors. It lets clients know immediately if their presence is strong or needs improvement.
BrandLens focuses on sentiment and citations. It checks both how a brand is talked about and how often it is mentioned in summary responses. Brands can see if their mention is gaining in positive context or suffering from negative or unclear language.
By using these tools, Growing Search gives clients actionable steps rather than broad reports. If a competitor starts gaining share in an important query, the agency can see it early and suggest revisions in content or authority-building activities. The focus is on relevance, correctness, and steady performance across both standard and AI summary searches.
Risks of Not Adapting
Brands ignoring AI-based search optimization can lose organic search traffic, even if their standard rankings do not fall. More people use AI summaries to shortlist options or make purchasing choices, so being included and described accurately is linked to both perception and conversion.
Studies also show users may interpret missing from an AI result as a lack of importance. In turn, this can lead to a decrease in both visits and sales. Brand sentiment as tracked by systems like BrandLens can serve as an early warning if consumer trust is threatened.
Summary
Brands are reviewing both where and how they are presented as artificial intelligence changes search and discovery. Growing Search addresses this by combining traditional search work with targeted AI-driven analysis using StakeView and BrandLens. All work is completed in-house and focuses on correctness, authority, and measurable improvement in client visibility.
Ongoing measurement, rapid audit cycles, and careful content planning keep brands in front of users as they rely more on AI tools. As AI-driven discovery becomes more common, maintaining both presence and positive sentiment in those summaries is a core concern for any brand. Growing Search’s model provides a thorough and focused way to address these needs, with a strong record of tangible results for clients seeking to protect and grow their market share in this new kind of search.
