Different dimensions. Different Rules.

SEO is now part of a much larger ecosystem, which means you need to show up in more places than just your website.

Youtube, Instagram, Reddit, Tiktok, relevant crossover industry websites – depending on where your audience is and where they are paying attention.

Consistent signals make it easier for AI search to understand  and trust your brand. that is why it’s really time to say “Bye fake plants” and “Hi real plants”.

No more performances.

The goal is no longer just to rank.

The goal is to become a trusted source that people talk about, recommend and remember.

And AI visibility then becomes a by-product of that trust. 

When you ask AI Search a question, the model breaks down the question that you wrote down into more conversational- style topics and goes out to hunt in the big, wide ecosystem of sources to find a good answer for you.

 Remember how I mentioned that the ecosystem has deepened in the intro? Because of this, and because AI search goes out and uses different sources to give you a direct answer – you need to show up in the places where it is looking for those real plants.

 When you type a prompt, AI agents break down this prompt into topics and then go out into the big ecosystem of sources in order to give you as direct and accurate an answer as possible. What happens in the background is that it is not actually just looking for one answer.

It generates a couple of related searches behind the scenes to better understand the topic, the context and who should be trusted on that topic. 

Let’s say you type in: 

“How can I succeed growing tomatoes if I live in an apartment and my balcony has a limited amount of sun”.

In the background, AI search performs a series of searches related to your query to give you the best answer.

In this example it could look something like: 

• Best shade-tolerant tomato varieties
• Tomato varieties for limited sunlight
• Growing compact cherry tomatoes in pots
• How much sun do tomatoes need
• Urban gardening tips for balconies

It looks at a variety of sources and finally compiles an answer so you can succeed in your growing-tomato journey 🙂

In short:

AI seeks content that aligns with the meaning of the query.

A weak brand in this context doesn’t mean a bad brand. It means a brand with a small footprint across the wider ecosystem.

If you don’t claim topic “ownership”, your brand will not show up as often as your competitors in AI search.

No consistency and no authority signals combined with no brand mentions outside of your website will result in a small footprint.

Backlinks still matter, but they are now part of a much larger trust ecosystem that also includes mentions, citations, recommendations and community discussions. 

Think of them as digital high-fives. They are signals that your authority exists beyond your own website.

Here is Why and How Weak Brands Disappear

Nobody Talks About Them

AI search doesn’t just scan your website (where you can write how personable, fantastic and experienced you are).

It wants to find podcasts, communities and relevant independent sites where your brand gets mentioned next to your important topics.

If you are the only one that is talking about yourself, that will not result in a “real plant” moment because AI has fewer signals suggesting that others trust you.

They Lack Digital Footprints

AI systems are trying to understand who you are, who you serve and what topics you are associated with. Weak brands have inconsistent and confusing messaging.

When AI search doesn’t “get you” i.e. who you serve, who you are (yep, I am referring to the real plants here again) and what you do – it will choose your competitors instead.

The Psychology Aspect

This is a big one and one I believe is often overlooked.

You can do all of the technical things right and “make it” in AI search.

But! If you don’t understand the customer journey and sprinkle a lot of human authenticity, the AI search visibility result will be worth next to nothing.

People don’t choose the best one; they choose the brand that feels the most aligned with them.

I’m all about getting the foundation right, and this is something that is ingrained in my system after +10 years in sales. 

So first things first means understanding how your audience discovers, evaluates and ultimately trusts a business in your industry.

Strong brands understand that the gap between who they are and how people perceive them should be as small as possible.

Understand User Behaviour

• What questions are they asking?
• Who do they trust?
• Where are they looking for answers?
• What influences their decisions?

Involve sales and customer support for this step! What questions do they get? These are real-world questions and similar conversational queries your audience is typing in AI search!

Look for patterns! 

Remember the tomato example?

It is a very conversational language compared to Google and traditional keywords.

Your content should target these long-tail, real-world “why” and “how” questions people have.

The goal for you is to be one of the  trusted sources that AI search pulls from and credits you when answering a question.

And for this to happen, you have to know what you are about and build your citation graph. 

This means you have to build a presence on external channels like Youtube, Tiktok, Instagram, Reddit (depending on where your target audience likes to hang out).

Social proof and community discussions! 

And you want to dominate topics. 

Instead of thinking about keywords, and that a blog article’s intent should match certain keyword  phrases, you want to focus on defining what topics are “yours” and be present and active where these conversations happen. 

The goal here is to build awareness. 

I am doing quite a fair bit of outreach at the moment. 

The goal is to appear as a guest on podcasts.

Before I started I mapped out what topics that would make sense not only for me but for my audience and came up with the following (again, it has to be genuine, one thing to keep in mind with AI search is that it can quickly feel like theatre and that we just want to create the next best custom GPT).

And instead of trying to dominate technical SEO, I mapped my authority across these core, human topics (it’s all about finding the differentiation points!).

These are the topics I want people, podcast hosts, journalists, AI search engines, and future clients to associate with Linksandmaria.

• Branding & Authenticity: Ditching lagom, embracing uncertainty, having too many lukewarm coffees, listening to Hard Rock Hallelujah by Lordi, and building a brand identity so real that it automatically stands out (plants!).
• Human-First Sales & Inbound Funnels: Relationship and heart-centered communication, minimal sales scripts, genuine and human connection, relationship based link building, holistic marketing.
• The AI & Human Hybrid: Finding the boundary where technology stops and human connection takes over – using automation for boring admin while keeping your “weirdness” for real relationships.
• The New Mom Reality & Leadership: Navigating the identity gap, running a high-energy business relaunch with a baby, and keeping a sales pipeline alive on minimal time.

Building authority today means showing up across channels, conversations and communities where your target audience is paying attention.

AI search has made the customer journey more complex, but also more interesting. 

Everything evolves, so do the concepts of how our trust process works, and at what stage we choose to take action.

The difference is that AI search has access to a much wider and deeper picture of your brand, that goes beyond your website. So it’s more important than ever to build that real brand. 

Creating those “real plant moments”.

With that being said, time for another lukewarm coffee for me:)