According to industry analyst Jeremiah Owyang, the vision of a personal AI, as envisioned by Bill Gates, is on the horizon. This future will not only disrupt traditional search engine optimization (SEO) and e-commerce, but it will also require marketers and creators to adapt and optimize for AI. Owyang argues that the traditional advertising model of driving traffic to a website will no longer sustain itself. Instead, AI agents and foundational models will capture ad dollars as advertisers pay to have their messages included in generated responses. Marketers and creators must therefore think beyond search engines and consider how to be discovered within the AI itself.
As more consumers rely on AI tools like GPT (generative pre-trained transformer) models for information, web crawling may no longer be efficient enough. Owyang predicts that consumers will increasingly stay within GPT tools rather than visiting marketing or news sites. This shift poses a challenge for businesses that want to be found online. The data schemas within AI are too diverse, making it difficult for chatbots to retrieve relevant data. To overcome this challenge, Owyang suggests that marketers and creators should embrace the idea of having their content ingested by AI models. Just as they optimize their content for search engines, they should now optimize for AI agents to increase their chances of being discovered.
Building Relationships with AI Influencers
Owyang points out that marketers have been disrupted repeatedly over the past few decades. From the influence of Google search on SEO to the inclusion of influencers in their strategies, marketers have constantly adapted to new paradigms. AI is just another influencer that marketers need to cater to. Owyang recommends feeding information to AI models to create a relationship with them. He suggests creating a special API that can be adjusted by foundational models. In fact, he envisions a future where companies reduce the centralization of their websites and offer an API instead. By building autonomous agents, marketers can efficiently influence AI agents and improve their chances of being discovered by consumers.
Investments in Personal AI Agents
During an interview with Bill Gates, he stressed the importance of developing a personal AI agent to disrupt SEO. Gates, along with other tech giants like Nvidia, Microsoft, Reid Hoffman, and Eric Schmidt, invested in Inflection AI, contributing to a $1.3 billion funding round. Inflection AI recently launched Pi, a chatbot designed to be empathetic, useful, and safe. Compared to other AI models like OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Microsoft’s Bing, Pi takes a more personal and emotional approach. Owyang envisions a future where every brand has its own autonomous agent that can interact with buyer-side agents, negotiating preferences and making decisions on behalf of consumers.
AI Engine Optimization, unlike traditional SEO, focuses on feeding real-time information to foundational models. Owyang suggests creating an API that can provide this real-time feed of information. However, the standard API protocol for this purpose has not yet emerged. Marketers also need to train their own branded AI using their corporate API. This branded AI can interact with consumers and buyer-side agents, either on a website or an app. Owyang emphasizes the need for marketers to prepare themselves for this seismic shift and be ready to shape not only human decision-making but also AI behaviors.
Preparing for the Future
According to Owyang, numerous corporate and government leaders are already exploring the possibilities of building their own large language models (LLMs) that can interact with customers and their AI agents. The future of AI is not only limited to major tech companies; soon, companies like Walmart, Macy’s, or even the New York Times could have their own LLMs. Marketers must be proactive in adapting to this shifting landscape and always be ready to influence both human decision-making and AI behaviors.
The rise of personal AI agents presents both disruption and opportunity for marketers and creators. Adapting to AI Engine Optimization, building relationships with AI influencers, and preparing for the future are vital to staying ahead in the ever-changing marketing landscape. By embracing this new paradigm, marketers can position themselves for success in the era of AI.
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