The Honest, Super-Serious, Complete and Total Truth About AI Search (for now)
With all of the advances in AI technology over the past few years, AI search has been an inevitability that would eventually hit the mainstream. After all, if this tech is so good at answering life’s deepest questions (mostly accurately,) it has to be useful for searching the web, right? (Spoiler alert: kinda’, sorta’.)
Is 2026 the Year of AI Search? (Maybe)
Although AI search has been a thing to one degree or another for a while now, it’s only really come into its own over the past 12 months. 2025 saw more people using LLMs as search engines more often, and this has led many business owners in the Charlotte Metro region to ask, “Should I be optimizing my content marketing strategy for AI?”
While we’d love to give a simple “yes” or “no” answer to that question, we’ve got another answer: “It depends.”
LLMs are useful for a lot of things…as long as you know how to watch out for hallucinations.
LLMs are Useful (to a Point)
CCM Founder Andrew Rusnak recently recorded a video in which he discusses AI search and the ways in which buyers are using this technology. Although LLMs offer great capabilities in the way of remixing training data to present pseudo-intelligence, on their own, they can’t access real-time data. This presents a problem for real-time search results if AI tech can’t actively see dynamic data.
Why RAG Matters
This is where RAG comes in. RAG stands for Retrieval-Augmented Generation.
Through the use of RAG, AI chatbots can extend beyond their foundational training data to incorporate new data in real-time. This is partially what facilitates AI search in the first place, and it’s also what provides users with the ability to see updated information on specialized subjects, products, services, and events.
AI agents (think of these as autonomous chatbots that you can send on a mission) also come into the mix here since agentic AI can incorporate new training data into its processing as it carries out predefined tasks.
Although AI search is being used more than in the past, Google still dominates online searches as a whole.
Traditional Search is Still King (for Now)
While both RAG and agentic AI hold promise for the future of AI search, traditional searches using Google and other search engines still reign based on our research and research completed by others in the marketing space. It’s believed that AI search accounts for only a few percent of all searches currently, and in many cases, AI search results correlate with top results in traditional search.
Another Reason Why Ranking in Google Search is Still Vital
This means that ranking highly in Google results typically means more visibility in LLM results. This may have something to do with the aforementioned RAG, but it may also mean that businesses with higher rankings in traditional search are also taking steps to gain visibility in AI search.
As a side note, we’d like to point out that we’re counting “searches” as dedicated efforts to gain specific knowledge about something on the web. We’re not counting general conversations, people asking for advice, and other uses of LLM technologies. Those interactions would account for a LOT more usage of AI chatbots, but those are not counted as online searches for the purpose of this discussion.
Although some large retailers employ AI systems in their checkout processes, research data shows that AI is not being used very often for transactional searches.
People Aren’t Buying Through LLMs
While information and research about brands, products, and services account for a growing part of LLM usage compared to just a year ago, current data shows that transactional searches only account for around 1% or so of AI usage. In simple terms, this shows that people are not using AI search to buy goods and services.
Even if an AI shows a summary for a product, only about 1.7% of users are actually ready to click “buy” right then and there. Most are still in the consideration stage and are sifting through middle-of-funnel content.
People Use AI Search to Research & Compare
Buyers are, however, using AI search to compare services, learn about new companies, and research pros and cons of products. And THIS is where the real meat lies within a modern content marketing strategy.
Brand visibility remains a top priority in AI search as even getting a mention in results can start off the chain reaction that ultimately leads to a purchase.
Still, trust in AI remains a sticking point (and for good reason; hallucinations have been discovered to be a feature, not a bug.) 85% of users in a Pew Research Study (July 2025) admitted they double-check an AI's product recommendation on a traditional search engine or a trusted review site before actually buying.
While we’d love to give Charlotte-area business owners specifics, AI search data is not being made available from companies like OpenAI and Google.
We Don’t Have the Data (yet)
It’s also worth noting, as Andrew points out in our video above, that we don’t have access to all the data we need in order to zero in on AI search visibility. While we can glean some data about performance in AI search, companies like Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic have not made detailed analytics data available.
One Search, Two Different People, Two Different Results
Beyond that, there’s the issue of personalization. Traditional search engines “rank” content based on a number of factors. With LLMs, there is no rank, and there is no index. Instead, output is based on training data as well as the context of previous conversions with individual users. These outputs are personalized to the perceived tastes and experiences inferred therein.
This means that two people can search for the exact same phrase and receive two entirely different results. LLMs will analyze not only their own training datasets, but also their ongoing conversation with a user as well as RAG features.
As a result, analysis is next to impossible when it comes to determining what specifically triggers specific visibility in AI search results.
A Practical Example of How Personalization Can Affect AI Search
For example, two people might search for “local mechanic near me". In traditional search, the algorithm would examine the user’s geolocation data and then show the top ranked local mechanic options from its index.
In AI search, an LLM may search Google results, training data for local mechanic shops in the area, and more. But the biggest issue is once again personalization.
For this particular search, suppose one user had a previous conversation with the LLM about Honda cars and problems with brakes, while the other has never had a discussion about automobiles at all. An LLM might return a search result for a Honda dealer to the first searcher while showing different results entirely to the second.
A Search Everywhere Optimization approach can boost visibility in traditional search as well as AI search.
Why “Search Everywhere Optimization” Beats “Search Engine Optimization”
At Charlotte Content Marketing, we still rely on traditional SEO best practices because, believe it or not, those same practices make up 99% of GEO (Generative Engine Optimization.) GEO is the modern, fancy way of saying “optimizing for AI search. The difference in our approach is that we’re not just focused on your website because AI doesn’t just focus on your website.
Instead, we develop comprehensive, holistic strategies that rely on interconnected entities to train LLMs and create an online presence that provides a robust search experience across the web. Essentially, we’re providing both the foundational training data to AI search platforms, but we’re also concentrating on the RAG aspect by continually updating key elements of your brand’s digital footprint.
What This Means for Charlotte-Area Businesses
With a Search EVERYWHERE Optimization approach, businesses are not only able to reach more customers in more places across the web, but they’re also able to ensure LLMs and AI search platforms can gain a more robust understanding of the experience of working with a brand.
By producing content for podcasts, video sharing sites, social media, and owned media like websites, all with cohesive messaging and a focus on features, benefits, and outcomes, LLMs can create a stronger case for showing these brands in AI search results.
Although backlinks from relevant, high-trust sources are still an incredibly valuable currency for visibility on the web, consistency is a very close second. If your podcast says one thing or has a specific focus and your website and social media head off in different directions, this can cause LLMs to display low trust, and therefore, lower visibility.
AI is slated to play a bigger role in content marketing as time goes on, but how this affects transactional searches on the web remains to be seen.
So, What’s in Store for the Future of AI Search?
As for where AI search is headed, we estimate that 2026 will see a greater usage of AI search by the general public. We’re not, however, confident that AI search will take over searches made with commercial or transactional intent.
Systems may be developed by large brands like Amazon to incorporate AI more deeply into the buying experience, but the use of AI to actually search for and buy something still seems a ways off. For now, we encourage Charlotte-area business owners to employ a Search EVERYWHERE Optimization strategy like the ones developed by Charlotte Content Marketing.
This approach keeps businesses front and center in traditional search while presenting greater opportunities to appear in AI search results. At Charlotte Content Marketing, we’ll continue to monitor changes as always, and we encourage you to follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube to keep up with the latest.
Start Building the Right Foundation for AI Search With Charlotte Content Marketing
To get ahead of the curve and the competition for AI search in Charlotte and beyond, contact Charlotte Content Marketing. Our Search EVERYWHERE Optimization approach ensures our clients receive personalized solutions that attract the right customers, convert more leads, and build strong online foundations.
Call CCM today at (704) 323-6762, or use the contact form below to secure your brand’s future!
