Our search behaviour has evolved from search and click to ask and receive.
People aren’t sifting through pages of results anymore. They’re turning to AI systems like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity for direct answers and recommendations.
Traditional search has changed, too. Google now surfaces AI-generated summaries – the “AI Overview” – on top of results, folding information from multiple sources into a single synthesized answer. This shift wasn’t immediate, but it has accelerated quickly. The Capgemini Research Institute found that 58% of consumers now prefer generative-AI recommendations to traditional search results.
In this new environment, visibility isn’t about ranking #1 on Google. It’s about being the source an AI system trusts enough to cite in its answer. We’ve entered a zero-click discovery economy, where buyers get what they need without ever leaving the results page.
If your brand isn’t included in the answer, you’re invisible to the consumer making the decision.
AI is already telling your brand story
That story may not be the one you hope it will be. AI systems summarize patterns quickly – including negative ones. They can surface trends in complaints, inconsistencies, or trust gaps that cause hesitation and cost you revenue.
As Frank Cooper III, CMO of Visa, puts it: “AI will amplify both credibility and risk… making trust the most critical differentiator in a B-to-AI world.”
How to shape the narrative
So, how do you influence the narrative?
This is where Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) comes in. If SEO was about helping your site show up in search results, AEO is about ensuring your brand appears in AI-generated answers.
Consumers are no longer navigating 10 blue links; they’re interacting with a single synthesized response. Whether your brand appears in that response depends on several factors. We call these the 3Rs:
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Relevance: High-authority sentiment provides the context AI needs to match your business to the right user intent.
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Ranking: Consistent, quality human signals on high-domain sites establish the credibility required to be the top-cited answer.
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Recency: AI systems prioritize constantly refreshing, real-time data to ensure answers are current
Strong online reputation signals – shared consistently across third-party sources – give AI confidence in your brand. These add up to visibility in AI search.
The Trustpilot advantage
Trustpilot naturally strengthens all the signals AI looks for.
With 330 million+ reviews and a domain authority of 93, Trustpilot is one of the most authoritative sources of consumer experience data on the web (the Ranking factor). 190,000 new reviews are written every single day, providing exactly the kind of freshness AI systems reward (offering Recency).
Our reviews, ratings, and TrustScores are structured so both search engines and answer engines can easily read, interpret, and cite them. This verified, high-quality data gives AI systems the confidence they need to represent your brand accurately – and favorably (Relevance).
Trustpilot therefore becomes a foundation of a successful AEO strategy.
Your AI visibility action plan
AEO isn’t a vague future trend. It’s affecting how your brand appears in AI Overviews and generative results right now. Every day you delay creates more room for AI systems to fill the gaps themselves.
Here’s how to take control:
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1. Optimize your Trustpilot profile
Ensure your profile is complete, accurate, and up to date. AI tools use this information as authoritative reference material when forming answers. -
2. Maintain momentum with reviews
Fresh content matters. Businesses that automate review collection have 105% more reviews than those that don’t – creating a stronger, more reliable data signal for AI. -
3. Actively engage on your profile
Reply to reviews publicly, both positive and negative. AI interprets visible engagement as transparency, accountability, and reliability – all of which strengthen trust signals.
The bottom line
You’re already investing heavily in being discovered – through ads, marketing, PR, and brand building. For a fraction of that effort, Trustpilot helps ensure that when buyers turn to AI systems for advice, your brand is not just mentioned, but recommended.
This is the new battleground for visibility. Trust is the differentiator. And Trustpilot gives you the structured, verifiable credibility that AI systems rely on to choose your brand.