Want to Be Found in AI Search? Focus Where AI Looks with Johnny Hughes

AI isn’t just changing how people search, it’s changing who gets seen. Platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude now act as the first stop for answers, but each one pulls from different sources. If you’re not showing up where these systems look, you’re invisible.

Here’s what matters most:

1. Reddit is the new SEO

Reddit went from $12M in licensing revenue to $81M in a year. Why? Because AI models are using its community-driven, structured content to answer questions. If your brand isn’t participating there, with authentic, useful content, you’re missing a major signal AI trusts.

2. Big media drives authority

Citations from The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Reuters, and Bloomberg act as trust anchors. LLMs reward brands that show up in these outlets. PR and thought leadership aren’t optional, they’re AI visibility levers.

3. Structured, answer-ready content wins

Schema markup, FAQs, and short, authoritative explainers make it easier for AI to parse and cite your brand. In AI search, quality beats quantity every time.

Why it matters

AI citations are the new digital shelf. When someone asks an AI for “the best [your category],” the answer they get shapes their decision (before they ever visit a site). If you’re not cited, you’re out of the conversation.

Ready to see where you stand? We help brands get discovered where AI is looking. Talk to us about AIO — or read my full piece in Entrepreneur for the full playbook.