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.