AI Search Right Now: What Marketing Leaders Need To Act On

As AI platforms reshape the search landscape, many marketers are falling back on an old, unreliable playbook: chasing individual keyword ranks. In this second episode of The Search Signal, Michael Transon explains why a single snapshot of an AI search response is just noise—and why you need to update your tracking strategy. He breaks down how platforms like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Perplexity source their information differently, gives a hands-on blueprint for auditing your brand visibility, and shares the tactical levers required to earn a compounding share of voice.

What you'll hear:

• Why tracking AI like traditional keyword ranking fails, and why a sustainable approach means measuring a collective share of voice percentage instead.
• The distinct ways Perplexity, Copilot, and ChatGPT index and source their answers, and why performance on one engine doesn’t translate to another.
• How to conduct a rigorous manual audit in incognito mode to establish an accurate baseline and map out your competitors' visibility.
• The differences between citation rate and mention rate, and the unique, high-intent roles they play in the conversion process.
• The three pillars for moving the needle on your presence: digital PR outreach, structured entity signals, and answer-first commercial page optimizations.

All sources referenced in this episode are linked below.

Sources

• The Search Signal, Episode 1: https://victorious.com/podcast/ai-search-right-now/
  Ahrefs, "AI Overviews vs. AI Mode" https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-overviews-study/
• SparkToro, "Search Happens Everywhere," https://sparktoro.com/blog/new-research-search-happens-everywhere-an-analysis-of-41-websites-with-significant-search-activity/
• Google, "Optimizing Your Website for Generative AI Features on Google Search," https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-overviews
• iPullRank, "Google Algorithm Leak Analysis," https://ipullrank.com/google-algo-leak
• The Growth Memo, "Users Behave Differently in AI Overviews," https://www.growth-memo.com/p/users-behave-differently-in-ai-overviews
• Adobe, "AI-Referred Traffic Conversion Analysis," https://business.adobe.com/blog/the-latest/adobe-digital-insights-ai-traffic-grows-significantly-during-2024-holiday-shopping-season
• SISTRIX, "Position One Click-Through Rate Data, March 2026," https://www.sistrix.com/blog/

Complete list of resources at: https://victorious.com/podcast/ai-search-right-now/