What I Learned This Week at C3 2025: The New Rules of Visibility in AI Search

This week I had the privilege of speaking at the Conductor C3 Conference in New York , a gathering of some of the most forward-thinking minds in SEO, AEO, content, and AI.

I joined an incredible panel alongside leaders from the Boston Globe, Datadog, and Uberall to unpack a question on everyone’s mind:

How do brands win visibility in the era of AI search?

Here are a few reflections and lessons from the discussion.

1. Visibility is now about representation, not ranking

AI search has completely changed what it means to be visible.

Where traditional SEO was about ranking, AI search is about representation. The models behind ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s SGE are rewriting how brands are understood and described.

If your brand hasn’t defined itself clearly—with structured data, consistent language, and credible context—the AI will still describe you… just maybe not the way you want.

“If you don’t define your brand for AI, it will define you.”

2. Content must be structured for machines and meaningful for humans

At Sacha Goureau Consulting, we’re building “answer-ready” content: pages designed to be read, parsed, and cited by AI systems while still engaging real people.

That means using clear hierarchies, FAQs, definitions, and schema markup to make every page interpretable.

“We stopped writing for people and search engines—and started writing for the AI that connects them.”

It’s not about volume anymore. It’s about clarity, structure, and semantic precision.

3. The biggest pitfall: chasing traffic instead of trust

Too many brands still think visibility means publishing more.

But in AI search, authority doesn’t come from content volume—it comes from credibility.

Structured data, external citations, and consistent expertise signals build trustworthiness, which is what large language models actually prioritize.

“AI search doesn’t reward noise—it rewards credibility.”

4. Authority comes from connection, not content

One of the biggest mindset shifts is realizing that AI determines authority through relationships.

It’s looking at how your people, products, and expertise connect across the ecosystem—on your site, on LinkedIn, in Wikipedia, in trusted publications.

“In the era of AI search, authority comes from connection, not content.”

The web used to be about pages. Now it’s about networks of meaning.

5. Three things you can do tomorrow

1️⃣ Audit your brand story in AI.

Ask ChatGPT or Perplexity, “Who is [your brand]?” or “What are the best brands in [your category]?”

If you don’t appear—or the answer isn’t right—you’ve just found your first opportunity.

2️⃣ Add structured data.

Use FAQ, HowTo, and Product schema on key pages. Tools like Google’s Rich Results Test or Merkle’s Schema Generator make this simple.

3️⃣ Track AI visibility.

Start documenting where and how your brand shows up in AI-generated answers. Treat this as your new KPI for discoverability.

“If Google was the librarian, AI is now the storyteller—and your job is to make sure your brand is written into that story.”

6. Where it’s all heading

The biggest takeaway from C3?

SEO is evolving into Answer Engine Optimization (AEO).

We’re no longer optimizing for algorithms—we’re optimizing for understanding.

“The best brands won’t just show up in search—they’ll shape the answers people see.”