By Swapnil Patel, Co-President at Attention Arc
The Next Media Battleground
For decades, media has started with one question: Who are the people we're trying to reach? To answer it, we work to understand what motivates them. What problems are they trying to solve? What influences their decisions? Where can we reach them with the right message, at the right moment, in the right context? Everything else, the strategy, media plan and creative, follows.
That's still true. But the path between brands and people is beginning to change.
Think about shopping for auto insurance. Maybe your premium went up, you bought a new car or, thanks to the direct mail pieces we all get, you finally decided it was time to see if there's a better deal elsewhere. Chances are, you already have a handful of insurance brands in mind, in part because you've seen or heard their advertising countless times. You might search for providers, visit a few websites and get some quotes. That's when the decision becomes more tangible. How much could you actually save? How does the coverage compare? And is the difference enough to make you switch from a brand you know and trust to one you may know less about?
Now imagine bringing an AI assistant into that process. You give it some basic information about your cars, drivers, current coverage and what matters most to you. It can research the options, compare coverage and prices, look at reviews and help narrow the field. You still make the decision, but you may no longer participate directly in every step that leads to it.
And there's a much broader shift happening underneath that behavior. For the first time, automated traffic now accounts for more than half of internet traffic. That doesn't mean AI agents are making half of people's decisions, but it does mean the internet is increasingly being navigated by machines as well as people. At the same time, nearly half of online shoppers used AI to research their most recent purchase, while companies like OpenAI, Google, Visa and Mastercard are building the infrastructure for AI to do more than answer questions.
This makes things really interesting for media. Years of advertising may have helped put three or four insurance brands in my head before I ever decided to shop, but what happens when an AI assistant evaluates a much broader set of insurers and only puts three in front of me? What does reach mean then? Where did consideration happen? And what made those three brands make the cut?
That's also why the conversation around answer engine optimization and generative engine optimization is worth paying attention to. Brands need to make sure the signals that establish credibility with people, from authoritative content and third-party reviews to clear, accurate information, are also accessible to the systems increasingly helping them make decisions. That doesn't make building awareness, credibility and preference with people less important. It adds another dimension to it.
At Attention Arc, we talk a lot about media starting and ending with people. I don't think AI changes that. Behind every agent is still a person with goals, preferences and constraints. But increasingly, all of us as marketers will need to understand how those human needs and preferences translate through the systems helping people make decisions. And get smarter about what happens in between.