For years, marketers have been told that success online comes down to clicks, website traffic and search rankings. Businesses have invested heavily in search engine optimization, paid search campaigns and other tactics designed to capture consumers at the exact moment they’re ready to buy.
But a new report from Pierre Bouvard, Chief Insights Officer for Cumulus Media | Westwood One’s Audio Active Group, suggests the digital landscape is changing rapidly. The report argues that Google’s growing use of AI-generated search results is dramatically reducing the number of clicks sent to websites, forcing marketers to rethink long-held assumptions about how consumers discover businesses.
Drawing on research from firms including Seer Interactive, Neurons and Marketing Leadership Institute founder Thomas Barta, the report contends that the era of relying on search engines as a dependable source of customer traffic may be coming to an end. As AI increasingly answers questions directly rather than directing users to websites, businesses that depend heavily on search traffic could find themselves competing for a shrinking pool of clicks. As Thomas Zoega Ramsey put it, AI is shifting search from acting like a librarian to acting more like a concierge.
The findings reinforce something Cache Valley Media Group marketing consultants have emphasized for years: the most effective marketing strategy is often to become known and trusted long before a customer needs your product or service. Or, as we frequently tell clients, be known and loved before being needed and sought.
In fact, the central conclusion of the report is remarkably similar. The businesses most likely to thrive in an AI-driven world won’t necessarily be those with the best search rankings. They’ll be the businesses consumers already know by name, remember first and trust most. As the report bluntly states, “If people already know your name, AI search helps you. If they do not, it buries you.”
When searching for something, the first place you turn to is the archives of your mind, not Google or even AI agents or language learning models like Chat GPT, Grok, Gemini or others. Wouldn’t it be better for your business if potential clients asked “what is the phone number for (your business) plumbing” rather than “recommend a plumber for me”? With the first prompt, your business’s name already has top of mind awareness. With the second, your business’s discovery is at the whim of an AI bot.
What’s especially striking is that Pierre Bouvard and the researchers are arguing that this is no longer just good marketing—it’s becoming a necessity as AI changes how consumers discover businesses. When Google provides answers directly through AI Overviews, fewer people click links. When AI assistants begin recommending businesses, consumers may never even see a list of competitors.
That means the businesses most likely to win are the ones consumers already remember.
The report provides a case study about Steve’s Pest Control in Missouri which illustrates this beautifully. For decades, Steve’s invested consistently in radio advertising, building familiarity and trust long before consumers had a pest problem. The result wasn’t just awareness—it was category dominance, with stronger unaided brand awareness than major national competitors.
For Northern Utah businesses, that’s the same principle behind many successful campaigns we’ve seen across Cache Valley. The businesses that advertise consistently on KVNU, KIX 96.7, Q92.9, Utah’s VFX, KOOL 103.9, 106.9 The FAN, 95.9 KLZX, Cache Valley Daily and other CVMG properties often aren’t trying to generate an immediate sale from every ad. They’re creating mental availability. They’re making sure that when someone suddenly needs a roofer, HVAC contractor, attorney, pest control company, auto dealer, financial advisor, or restaurant, that business is already top-of-mind.
Another section I love is the finding that in many local categories, the leading “brand” is actually:
“Don’t know.”
That’s an enormous opportunity for local advertisers.
Most local businesses don’t need 100% market awareness. They simply need to become more memorable than competitors who are essentially invisible. If consumers can’t name a local chiropractor, plumber, roofing company, or furniture store, a consistent branding campaign can create a huge competitive advantage.
The report also reinforces a truth that many business owners struggle to accept:
“Advertising creates memories and memories generate sales.”
Too often, marketing is judged solely by immediate clicks, form fills, or website visits. But people don’t wake up every day needing a new roof, a pest control service, a bank loan, or a replacement furnace. Effective advertising builds memory structures long before the purchase decision occurs.
That’s why the phrase from Jeremy Bullmore cited in the report remains so powerful:
“Easy to mind and easy to find.”
In the AI era, being easy to find may increasingly depend on first being easy to remember.
For a Cache Valley business, that means investing in long-term brand building through trusted local media, local personalities, community involvement, local news, high school sports, events, radio, digital products, and social media—not just chasing short-term clicks.
Because when the moment of need finally arrives, the business that comes to mind first is often the business that gets the sale. And that’s exactly what it means to be known and loved before being needed and sought.
