Search is changing fast. The way people find information and how brands show up is being shaped by artificial intelligence. In 2025, more people are getting answers from platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity AI, Google AI Overviews, and Bing Copilot. This means that classic search tactics are no longer enough. Growing Search, an SEO agency, works directly in both traditional and AI-driven search spaces. The company specializes in helping brands control how they are seen and cited in this new environment.
How Search is Changing
The old SEO playbook focused on site rankings and blue links in Google. Now, search results often display instant, AI-generated answers at the top. According to recent data, about 40% of Google search results have an AI-generated overview. Each of these overviews includes an average of five cited sources. People get full answers without having to leave Google or visit the websites behind those answers. Back in 2024, 60% of searches on Google ended without a click. People found what they needed straight on the results page.
AI-powered platforms go beyond offering lists of links. They give direct answers and summaries. OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Perplexity AI each serve millions of users every month. By mid-2025, Perplexity had reached over 60 million active users, and OpenAI’s tool fields hundreds of millions of queries monthly. Google’s AI Overviews now reach users in North America, Europe, and Asia. This new behavior means fewer users click through to brand websites and more rely on these summaries.
The New Rules for Visibility
Being high in traditional rankings is no longer the only goal. In the world of ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, and similar tools, the way information is cited has changed. AI tools look for trustworthy, up-to-date, and well-structured sources. The average AI-generated overview in Google now references four to six different websites. Brands that are not cited in these AI overviews could lose audience attention, no matter their classic rankings.
The methods used by AI search platforms to select their sources are different from past algorithms. Credibility, fresh content, and authority all matter. Content structure is also a key factor. Pages with strong headings, marked-up data, and complete topical coverage are favored by the large language models that power AI answers. Brands that build clear source attribution and timely updates into their content are more likely to be included in the answers AI provides to users.
What Growing Search Does
Growing Search is focused on helping brands manage their position in both old and new search environments. The agency’s work covers audits, keyword research, content planning, and building links. It also monitors brand presence, citation frequency, and tone in AI-driven content.
StakeView, a tool developed by Growing Search, allows clients to see their share of traffic and mentions versus their competitors, both in classic search and in AI-generated results. This tool makes it possible to spot how often a brand appears in the answers being produced by AI-powered tools.
Another system, BrandLens, tracks every instance of a brand being cited in AI responses. It measures the sentiment (positive, neutral, or negative) attached to each mention, as well as the perceived authority of the mention. This information guides content updates and helps brands act quickly if negative sentiment starts to appear in the AI summaries seen by users.
The agency does all of its work in-house. There is no outsourcing or handoff to outside vendors. This allows for more control over content quality, authority signals, and real-time adjustments.
AI-Based Metrics for Brand Performance
The move to AI-driven answers demands new metrics. Traditional reporting focused on search rank and organic traffic. In contrast, AI search optimization relies on a different set of measurements. These include:
- How frequently a brand is cited as a source in AI-generated answers
- The tone and sentiment of those brand mentions
- How the brand’s share-of-voice in overviews compares to competitors
- The range and quality of sources feeding the AI models that produce answers
- Changes in authority signals as AI tools retrain on current web data
StakeView and BrandLens are designed to help brands keep up with these metrics. Growing Search clients can access regular reports showing not only web ranking positions, but also details on mention frequency and authority in AI search results.
Why This Matters for Brands
As more searches get resolved through AI-generated summaries, fewer users are clicking through to brand websites. Companies that do not get cited by these AI tools lose reach, even if their regular rankings look strong.
Recent industry analysis shows that brands that monitor their AI presence, update their content, and adjust to new authority signals see benefits. Some brands have reported increases of up to 25% in AI-driven brand mentions, compared to firms using old SEO approaches (industry-wide analysis, Q2 2025). Brands that use audit tools like StakeView and BrandLens have seen organic traffic increase by 15–20%, mostly through new user groups discovering them in AI summaries and zero-click results.
These results are not limited to one sector. Companies in software services, healthcare, and e-commerce are all investing resources in this area. Case studies from the first half of 2025 show some firms getting a 30% increase in combined organic and AI-driven leads after they made AI-powered citation a focus.
What Makes a Site “AI-Optimized”
Getting cited in AI answers requires more than good keywords. AI models, like those used by Google and ChatGPT, scan content for credibility, source clarity, and topical strength. Industry leaders say that sites with structured content, up-to-date information, and well-marked entities are indexed and cited more often.
Some effective steps include:
- Keeping content current with accurate authorship and sources
- Using schema tagging and semantic markup so AI models can read content more easily
- Linking related topics internally to signal subject expertise
- Tracking and reacting to AI sentiment reports
- Running regular audits of AI tool outputs to see where content and authority can improve
Most of these actions feed into both traditional SEO results and AI summary citations at once.
How Growing Search Runs In-House Solutions
The agency does not rely on outside contractors for any core services. Teams inside Growing Search handle:
- SEO audits for site structure and content issues
- Keyword and entity research for topic authority
- Content planning with AI model parsing in mind
- Ongoing monitoring of brand mentions and sentiment in AI-generated answers
- Link building tuned to improve both traditional and AI authority signals
This approach gives more direct control over updates, fixes, and strategy. It also means that all tools and reports are built for accuracy and tailored to the needs of each client.
AI Analytics Tools Are Now Core for Brands
Tools like BrandLens are now being widely used by large companies and brands. These platforms measure real-time mentions and sentiment as they appear in AI engines. They give a live view of a brand’s share of voice compared to competitors and track how content updates affect AI-driven presence. The analytics guide everything from public relations efforts to updates in service offerings.
Platform data is now used to balance PR strategy with technical content planning. Reports give marketing teams a way to measure sentiment, catch negative mentions early, and set content priorities based on what real users are seeing in AI summaries.
Shifts in Best Practices
AI search outputs have pushed updates to best practices:
- Content must be well-structured and refreshed often, with sources and authors shown
- Semantic markup (like schema) allows AI models to “understand” topics faster and cite them more
- Topic clusters, instead of single high-traffic keywords, help define expertise
- Monitoring AI sentiment is a must; this allows brands to make fast fixes in case of negative coverage through AI tools
Brands that fail to adapt run the risk of fading from consumer view as fewer people are clicking traditional search links.
Where the Industry is Headed
Industry data shows that both traditional and AI-focused optimization are needed. High search rankings still affect the chance of getting cited by AI, while well-marked content helps in both worlds. Companies that track AI model behavior and mention trends can make faster, data-backed decisions.
Double-digit gains in AI-sourced brand visibility have been reported in B2B and B2C sectors. Healthcare, software, and commerce brands have seen blended increases in leads and improved control over their brand’s online reputation. Collecting live data, running frequent audits, and reacting quickly are now core skills for any brand wanting to compete.
Conclusion
Search has expanded. AI-driven tools and conversational platforms now serve millions of users with instant answers. For brands, the old tactics of chasing blue links in Google are not enough. Growing Search is focused on helping brands keep control over their presence in traditional search and in the results produced by AI tools. The agency’s in-house systems and analytics give clients a way to measure, monitor, and act on their visibility in both search spaces. The future of search belongs to those who can keep up with both traditional ranking and AI-powered answers.
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