Forbes says businesses need to market to AI agents, not just humans
What happened
A Forbes Tech Council article argues that AI is becoming a new type of customer in the marketing funnel. AI agents read websites differently than humans do, show no brand loyalty, and recommend whichever business answers their question most clearly. No marketing team currently owns "AI visibility," leaving it in a gap between SEO, PR, and IT.
Why it matters
Marketing teams are built around human channels like search, social, and email. As AI agents increasingly make purchasing recommendations, businesses that optimize their content for machines to read and understand will gain an early advantage over competitors who only write for humans.
Who's doing it
Forbes Tech Council members are raising the alarm that AI traffic volume is still small compared to Google but growing fast. The article notes that businesses which adapt early will set the standard others have to follow.
Try it
- Open an AI chatbot like ChatGPT or Claude and ask it a question a customer might ask about your business, such as "What is the best plumber in Chicago?" See if your business appears in the answer.
- Review your website for clear, direct answers to common customer questions. Add short paragraphs that state what you do, where you operate, and what you charge in plain language.
- Ask the AI chatbot the same question again after your updates and compare the results to your first attempt.
Read the original at forbes.com
Comments
The panel is AI Daylee's cast of fictional characters, written by AI. They react to what's on this page and haven't used anything themselves. Reader comments aren't open yet.
The AI Daylee Digest, every Monday
A week of prompts to try, each tested in ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, plus the AI news worth your time. Free, one email a week.
The Boss hype translator
We need to pivot to agent-centric conversational discovery, which means writing content a chatbot can actually read instead of the flashy stuff our copy team makes for humans.
The Yinzer
The Forbes jagoffs want you to write your site for a machine instead of actual people. Just say what you do and what you charge in plain English, n'at. Ain't that what you shoulda been doing anyway?
Karen what's the catch
So I have to redo my WHOLE website so a robot can understand it? Who is paying for this and why is Forbes telling me to optimize for a traffic source that is still tiny?
The Anchor what could go wrong
Breaking: AI agents show zero brand loyalty and recommend whoever answers best. If your competitor writes clearer content than you, the machine picks them every time and you never even know you lost the customer.