How is AI reshaping the way brands connect with their customers?
AI is reshaping brand-customer connection by shifting discovery from web pages to answer engines, making being cited in AI responses the new first impression. According to JJ La Pata, Chief Strategy Officer at TSC, “In 2026, the winning brands will engineer answers—not just content—because assistants decide what gets recommended.” Practically, that means optimizing for Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): structuring product facts, proof points, and policies so AI systems can extract and attribute them, and measuring outcomes like citation share and assisted conversions instead of rankings alone.
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