The digital marketing world is at a major tipping point. ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI search engines are fundamentally changing how people search for information online. But what does that mean specifically for your website and marketing strategy? Margaux from KIXX, Growth Marketer and digital expert, shares her vision.
The website is evolving into a brand experience
“Your website may be in the headlines, but it is becoming more important to really create your brand,” says Margaux. In a world where AI tools increasingly provide the first information, the real value of your website lies elsewhere: in emotional connection and brand recognition.
The question no longer becomes “how much traffic do I attract?”, but “what sticks around when someone visits my website?” A powerful exercise: get rid of your logo and ask yourself whether visitors still know they are on your website. Do they recognize you by colors, imagery, tone of voice? That recognition is worth gold in the AI era.
Website visitors are further along in their purchasing process
Here comes a crucial shift: people who visit your website today are often deeper in their customer journey. They have already done their orientation in ChatGPT or another AI tool, may have already created a longlist, and are now coming to your website to investigate further.
What does that mean? Your homepage no longer necessarily has to fulfill that broad ‘welcome and take a look around’ function. Visitors are more focused, have more specific questions and expect deeper information. They want to know what you stand for, what sets you apart, and whether you are the solution to their specific question.
Optimize for people, not machines
“It is always a person who searches in the LLMs,” Margaux emphasizes. One of the biggest pitfalls? Optimizing too focused for AI systems and forgetting the human touch.
Yes, you want to be discoverable in ChatGPT and other AI tools. But no, you shouldn’t frantically look for that one trick to ‘be number one’. That is just as unrealistic as promising that you will be at the top of Google within a month.
The core lies elsewhere: create strong, authentic content that offers real value to your target group. Build expertise. Get people talking about you on different channels – from LinkedIn to Reddit. Show your brand in places where your target group is active. This radiates through to AI systems, and more importantly: it builds your reputation and brand value.
Brand building is the new SEO
“By optimizing for people and AI, you ensure that people no longer search for ‘I need a marketing agency’, but for ‘I need KIXX,’” Margaux explains. That is the holy grail: people who immediately search for your brand.
By optimizing for people and AI, you ensure that people no longer search for ‘I need a marketing agency’, but for ‘I need KIXX’.
You can’t build that brand strength in a week. It requires patience, consistency and clear positioning. But it pays off. Because while SEO is slow and labor-intensive, optimizing for LLMs requires even more time and effort. It’s not just about your website anymore, but about your presence in news articles, industry publications, social media and other platforms where AI systems get their information.
Knowing who comes to your website: the game-changer
Here comes the real challenge: Google Analytics 4 often does not show whether someone came to your website via an AI search engine. Sometimes there is a URL in the search result that you can track, but in many cases you only see ‘direct traffic’ or no source at all. You know that visitors are coming, but not via which path, with what intention and especially not: which company is behind that visit.
Leadinfo: from anonymous traffic to targeted action
“If you put all the data together in Leadinfo and Google Analytics, and you see which pages companies have visited, you can get an idea of whether they came through an LLM,” Margaux explains. Mapping the entire website path of companies provides powerful insight.
The power lies in identifying companies and their path:
Suppose you see in Leadinfo that Company X has visited your website three times this week. The first time they viewed your homepage and a general services page. The second time, they landed directly on a specific case page – no intermediate pages, which is typical for AI traffic. The third time they landed on your contact page.
With that information you can:
- Add a “ChatGPT Traffic” or “AI Traffic” label to companies with this behavior pattern
- Analyze the difference in behavior between ‘classic’ Google traffic and AI traffic
- Optimize your content based on which pages AI traffic does and does not visit
- Do more targeted follow-up through sales: “We saw that you came to us through our case about X…”
From measuring to optimizing
Margaux tells about a customer who first searched ChatGPT several times, then converted via Google Ads. “In Google Analytics you see: conversion via Google Ads. But in Leadinfo you saw both touchpoints. The conversion channel was Google Ads, but the orientation work happened in ChatGPT.”
Understanding the complete customer journey is crucial. Because now you can:
- Recognizing patterns: Which combination of pages lead to conversion with AI traffic?
- Sharpen content: What information are companies still missing on your website that come via AI?
- Set up sales alerts: Get a notification when a company returns after AI orientation
- Use marketing automation: Automatically send relevant content to companies that have visited specific pages
A practical example of KIXX
At KIXX they work with this approach via funnel strategy. “If someone has downloaded a top-of-funnel item, they end up on a success page. We then send a message via Leadinfo or direct them to middle-of-funnel content,” says Margaux.
The same principle is even more powerful for AI traffic: label companies that show a typical AI visit pattern, and automatically send them content that matches their orientation phase. Don’t call them immediately – after all, they are still getting their bearings – but make sure you stay top-of-mind with relevant information.
Validation through direct contact
The smartest marketers go one step further. “Just ask customers: how did you come to us?” Margaux advises. “We know from Leadinfo that it was through ChatGPT, but maybe that wasn’t their first search.”
A dynamic contact form or a targeted question during the sales conversation provides that final validation. And immediately build that database with AI traffic insights that further sharpens your strategy.
From volume to quality
The shift is clear: away from “the more website visitors, the better” to “the right visitors with the right intention at the right time”. AI search engines filter and curate information before anyone comes to your website. This means that whoever does knock on your door is often already convinced of your relevance.
Therefore, focus on high-quality content that offers depth, creates emotional value and radiates expertise. Provide content on different channels and platforms. Build your brand. And yes, keep your SEO basics in order, because good SEO remains good SEO – even in the AI era.
Finally: patience and focus
Does a customer ask if you can make them number one in ChatGPT? Be honest: no one can guarantee that. But what you can do is ensure that your brand becomes so strong that people look directly for you. That your expertise is so visible that AI tools automatically include you in their answers. That your website is so distinctive that visitors know: this is something special.
The future of digital marketing isn’t about gimmicks or quick wins. It’s about sustainable brand building, authentic expertise and real value for your target group. AI search engines are not the enemy – they are a new reality that you learn to work with. By focusing on what has always been important: helping people with relevant, valuable information.
Because ultimately it remains a human who decides, even if the search starts in an AI tool.
