{"id":91023,"date":"2025-09-10T08:00:53","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T12:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businessesgrow.com\/?p=91023"},"modified":"2025-09-08T13:49:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T17:49:15","slug":"rewriting-the-rules-of-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businessesgrow.com\/2025\/09\/10\/rewriting-the-rules-of-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"Attention to Intention: How AI is Rewriting the Rules of Marketing and Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rewriting<\/p>\n

As a marketing educator, writer, and entrepreneur, I’m obsessed with understanding the impact of AI on marketing and sales.<\/p>\n

On the latest episode of The Marketing Companion, I was fortunate enough to speak with Sandy Carter<\/a>, who has a broad global view of the new realities.<\/p>\n

Sandy, currently leading a high-growth tech unicorn and author of the new book AI First, Human Always<\/a><\/strong> (yes, I had the honor of writing the forward!), brings a rare blend of hands-on leadership and futurist perspective.<\/p>\n

You can listen to this amazing show just by clicking here:<\/p>\n

Click here to enjoy The Marketing Companion Episode 323<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n

And here are a few of the highlights from our talk:<\/p>\n

From Counting Clicks to Decoding Intention<\/h2>\n

For years, marketers have focused on measuring attention, including views, clicks, impressions, and dwell time. We optimized content and spent ad dollars based on where eyeballs went, striving to interrupt or insert ourselves into the customer\u2019s stream of consciousness.<\/p>\n

Thanks to AI, that entire playbook is already getting upended. As Sandy pointed out, with advanced predictive tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity, customers are now going straight to an agent who can not only surface information but also\u00a0predict<\/em> their needs.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the revelation: AI moves us from being marketers of \u201cattention\u201d to marketers of \u201cintention.\u201d When someone asks an AI assistant for recommendations, they’re stating exactly what they want\u2014think \u201cGive me the best CRM for a startup with $X budget and these features\u201d\u2014and bypassing traditional marketing funnels entirely. The agent already knows how to filter, rank, and recommend based on actual needs, not just exposure or interrupted attention.<\/p>\n

The New Gatekeepers: How (and Where) AI Picks Its Winners<\/h2>\n

Naturally, our conversation turned to the practical question on every marketer’s mind: How do you become one of the five \u201crecommended\u201d brands that AI agents surface? When attention alone is no longer enough to get you into the consideration set, what signals matter?<\/p>\n

Sandy\u2019s real-world experiments and research laid it out:<\/p>\n

Wikipedia Is Back in Style<\/strong>: AI tools routinely use Wikipedia to validate and select which products or companies to recommend. If you haven\u2019t yet built or maintained a Wikipedia page for your business (or yourself!), you\u2019re likely invisible to these agents.<\/p>\n

Social Proof via Reddit<\/strong>: Surprisingly, Reddit threads and subreddits have become an influential social signal for AI. If your brand is being discussed positively in relevant Reddit communities, you\u2019re more likely to make the cut. But beware: unresolved issues or complaints, even from years ago, can hurt you if your brand doesn\u2019t participate actively and transparently.<\/p>\n

Rich, Fact-Based Content Wins<\/strong>: AI loves structured, fact-heavy lists and articles — \u201cfive reasons to choose X,\u201d \u201ctop ten features of Y\u201d — even more than traditional SEO tactics. This means your blog\u2019s FAQ pages, listicles, and data-driven content don\u2019t just help search engines, but are directly picked up by generative models when responding to user prompts.<\/p>\n

Authority Still Matters<\/strong>: Recent research (as discussed in a past episode with Andy Crestodina) shows AI privileges brand mentions in non-sales content, press articles, and academic references — pushing the importance of classic PR and media strategy back to the top.<\/p>\n

The message is clear: if your brand isn\u2019t showing up in these AI \u201csource\u201d locations, your odds of even being considered are catastrophically reduced.<\/p>\n

Brand: The Ultimate \u201cOverride\u201d in the Prompt Era<\/h2>\n

Yet, despite the surge of AI-powered decision-making, our conversation reaffirmed one crucial truth: brand still matters more than ever<\/em>. AI might present five options when a user states their intention — but which one do they pick?<\/p>\n

Often, the tie-breaker remains human: a personal recommendation, a powerful story, a reputation for exceptional service. I shared the story of my own Paris trip, where a friend recommended a gluten-free bakery that didn’t make it onto AI\u2019s list, but immediately became my top pick. That\u2019s the \u201cbrand override, ” an emotional shortcut humans still use to filter, select, and even instruct AI agents. Sandy reinforced this with her own experiences and evidence that many enterprise buyers, even after narrowing down their options via AI, still seek out word-of-mouth or social proof before making a commitment.<\/p>\n

Even more fascinating: How do you become the default choice<\/em> mentioned in AI user prompts? (\u201cBook my trip on Delta,\u201d \u201cResearch this with Salesforce,\u201d etc.) This is the new holy grail — being so well-branded that you bypass the recommendation filter altogether.<\/p>\n

Marketing to Machines (and Machine Influencers)<\/h2>\n

This doesn\u2019t mean we can coast on reputation. We\u2019re at the dawn of a future where, as Sandy observed, entire teams will be dedicated to \u201cmarketing to agents,\u201d not just to human customers. Walmart is already experimenting with this, building strategies to influence the agents (and even humanoid delivery robots!) that are quickly becoming intermediaries for everyday purchasing decisions.<\/p>\n

Imagine a robot delivering your pizza, choosing your drink, setting your table \u2026 Who is the true \u201cchooser\u201d in this experience: the human or the algorithmic assistant? Will P&G start marketing dishwasher soap to the pizza robot\u2019s parent company, or keep marketing to households? The lines are already blurring.<\/p>\n

The Next Generation: AI as Brand Builder (and Best Friend)<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s another layer: The next generation of buyers — raised on Roblox, TikTok, and personalized AI companions — are already developing affinities through digital worlds. Sandy\u2019s daughter knew to ask for Adidas after encountering it in-game, not through traditional ads or family habits. In many cases, the most influential \u201cfriend\u201d or recommender may be an AI personality.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not underestimate the psychological shift underway. As AI companions move from functional assistants to social confidantes, their product recommendations carry new emotional weight. In fact, social AI companions already outpace ChatGPT in certain engagement metrics. That\u2019s a transformational shift in the trust landscape\u2014one that marketers must start preparing for now.<\/p>\n

So, Where Do We Go from Here?<\/h2>\n

We\u2019re moving from a world of *interrupt and persuade* to one of *predict and facilitate*, with AI agents as both gatekeepers and guides. As marketers, the urgent priorities are:<\/p>\n