The CMA vs. Google: How Brands Can Prepare for a Search Shift

If you're a marketer in the UK, you've probably heard the news: the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has initiated an investigation into Google's search services. This is one of the first major moves under the CMA's new digital market powers, and it's a big deal.

Google dominates search in the UK – handling over 90% of search queries. Now, regulators want to know whether that dominance stifles competition and limits customer choice. Could Google's search results be favoring its own services? Are smaller players getting edged out? These are questions the CMA aims to answer.

Any challenge to Google's dominance is big news. But let's take a step back. This is happening against the backdrop of a much bigger search behavior shift.

Today, people are no longer confined to traditional search engines (like Google); instead, they're already turning to AI-driven experiences, social media platforms, marketplaces, and voice assistants. That means, no matter what regulators decide, brands need to rethink their search strategy today.

The debate over search engine dominance may soon be less relevant — no matter what the CMA decides. (Remember past concerns over Blockbuster's supremacy? It wasn't long before streaming services transformed media consumption, anyway.)

But, one thing is very clear: when it comes to search, it's no longer sufficient to focus on optimizing for a single platform. Instead, brands need to be visible, accurate, and authoritative across all channels where their customers might search. Here's how you can adapt.

1. Diversify your digital footprint

Google still matters — but it's just one piece of the puzzle. Your brand information needs to be consistent and up-to-date across all platforms where customers might search— be it Google, TikTok, Instagram, AI chatbots, or forums like Reddit. This consistency builds trust with both customers and algorithms/LLMs, boosting discoverability.

2. Leverage authentic reviews

The CMA's investigation isn't just about competition — it's also about trust, with a focus on fake reviews. Customers rely on real feedback to make decisions, and brands that prioritize authenticity will stand out.

• Encourage genuine reviews: Make it easy for happy customers to leave feedback on diverse platforms – think Google and beyond.

• Engage with reviews: Respond to both praise and criticism — it shows you're listening.

• Monitor for fraud: Use technology and oversight to detect and remove fake reviews.

3. Optimize for emerging platforms

It's not just about where your customers search today – but where they'll search tomorrow.

Stay ahead by identifying where your target audience spends their time online. Then, invest in creating content tailored for those platforms, whether it's short-form videos for social media or voice-search-friendly content for virtual assistants.

4. Organize and structure your data

The LLMs powering AI-driven search experiences — whether ChatGPT or Google's own AI Overviews — excel at generating nuanced, context-rich responses to queries. To be part of those responses, your brand's information needs to be structured in a way that AI can easily pull from.

You can do this by organizing your brand data in a knowledge graph. A knowledge graph is a single source of truth for all of your key information — such as locations, hours, services, and offerings. By using a knowledge graph, you help AI search connect the dots between disparate data points, allowing for more accurate and relevant responses.

The CMA's investigation could lead to changes in how Google operates — but brands can't afford to wait and see. The real shift is already happening, driven by customer behavior.

Brands that proactively embrace a multi-channel, trust-first approach to digital presence and search strategies, will be the ones that thrive – no matter what regulators decide.