The Future of Paid Search in an AI World

Paid search isn’t broken…but it’s definitely changing. In this episode of The Visibility Brief, Yext SVP of Marketing Rebecca Colwell is joined by CEO Mike Walrath for a conversation about the rising cost of paid search — and why AI is forcing marketers to rethink not just tactics, but the entire structure of marketing and measurement. 

Cost-per-click (CPCs) are climbing, clicks are disappearing, and nearly 70% of searches no longer result in a website visit. So what happens when the click (the foundation of modern digital marketing) stops being the most important metric? Are paid ads in AI platforms the next evolution, or a replay of search’s earliest monetization debates?

Mike draws on his experience building and monetizing one of the web’s first major ad exchanges to explore where AI advertising is headed next, how new models like Gemini and OpenAI are testing monetization,  and what marketers must prepare for as paid and organic blur inside AI-driven discovery.

The episode breaks down:

• Why paid search feels more expensive (and less effective) than ever
• How AI is rewriting the funnel — and what that means for performance
• What early AI ad models tell us (and don’t)
• Why ads and organic visibility are starting to blur
• What marketers should really be tracking when clicks aren’t the goal
• The hidden opportunity for marketers inside all the noise

If you’re a marketing leader navigating rising paid costs, shrinking clicks, and uncertainty about how AI will monetize discovery, this episode will help you reframe the problem – and see why this moment may be one of the biggest opportunities marketers have ever had.