AI and the New Customer Journey
AI is becoming part of everyday decision-making far more quickly than many expected.
New research from Sensu Insight shows how consumers and business leaders are already using AI to research, compare and choose products, services and suppliers. The findings point to a major shift in how organisations are discovered, understood and considered.
Brands are no longer competing only for clicks, search rankings or campaign attention. They are increasingly competing to be included in the options AI tools surface, summarise and recommend.
Key findings
AI is already shaping decisions
31% of consumers now use AI tools when researching products and services, rising to 49% among those aged 25 to 44. In business, 74% of professionals use AI in their role.
Its influence is strongest early
Among business decision-makers, 32% say AI has the greatest influence when identifying possible solutions, while 28% say it matters most when comparing options. Only 5% say AI has the greatest influence at the final decision stage.
AI is shaping what gets considered
36% of consumers say AI-generated answers influence their decisions at least sometimes, while 18% say they have chosen a product, service or brand based on an AI-generated recommendation.
This creates a new visibility challenge
AI tools compress complex markets into smaller sets of named options. Organisations with a clear, consistent and credible public profile are more likely to be surfaced and considered. Those with weak or unclear profiles risk being overlooked before a customer reaches their website.
Understand how your brand appears in AI-led discovery
Sensu Insight helps organisations understand how they are represented across media, search, digital content, social conversation and AI-generated answers.
Our work combines survey research, stakeholder insight, social listening, reputation analysis and AI visibility tracking to show how brands are discovered, described and considered.
Contact Sensu Insight to discuss AI brand profile tracking and GEO measurement.
AI is changing the customer journey by influencing how people research, compare and shortlist brands before they visit a website or speak to a sales team. It plays a particularly important role early in the decision process.
Marketing to machines means making sure the information AI tools can find about an organisation is clear, credible, current and consistent. It is not about manipulating AI, but improving the public information environment AI systems draw from.
AI visibility matters because AI-generated answers can shape which brands people consider. If a brand is absent, unclear or inaccurately described, it may be overlooked before the customer reaches its owned channels.
Generative Engine Optimisation, or GEO, is the process of understanding and improving how organisations appear in AI-generated answers. It combines search visibility, content quality, reputation evidence and AI output tracking.
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