Increasing Brand Visibility in the Age of AI: 6 Steps You Can Take Now

 

AI-driven summaries and the surge of zero-click results are reshaping how brand discovery happens in search.

According to SparkToro, fewer than 35% of Google searches now result in a click to a website. In other words, sticking to old-school SEO alone means missing a huge share of potential traffic.

So what can marketers do instead? The key is to increase brand visibility through diversified, earned-first strategies — ones that make your brand discoverable across LLMs and in the places where audiences are actually consuming content. Here are six ways you can start building that visibility now.

1. Build Visibility with Content

Content is foundational for building visibility. If you're not creating valuable assets that people want to discover, it'll be much more difficult to achieve the brand exposure you're looking for

How It Works

Start by creating content that solves problems your audience faces, regardless of the search volume. Get ideas by performing topic research, talking to your sales and customer service teams, and interviewing new clients/customers about how they came to their buying decision.

Develop a distribution strategy for that piece of content. Ask yourself: How will people find this?

Consider a multi-channel approach:

• Share the content via your company’s email newsletter and employee advocacy tools.
• Repurpose it into bite-sized formats for social media, like LinkedIn carousels or Twitter threads.
• Pitch the content to industry blogs, podcasts, or guest post opportunities.
• Run a small paid campaign targeting your ideal audience with the content as the centerpiece.

By mixing earned, owned, and paid channels, you can give high-performing content multiple chances to be discovered and shared. 

2. Collaborate Through Co-Branded Partnerships

Strategic partnerships bring brand visibility through association and shared reach. When you're able to tap into someone else's audience, you're expanding your visibility quickly and effectively.

How It Works

Identify a non-competitive brand that has a similar mission and audience overlap. Align on a shared theme or message that resonates with both your audiences.

Develop a shared content asset, such as a report, webinar, or video series, that showcases both brands’ expertise.

Jointly promote the asset through PR, newsletters, and social media. This lets both brands benefit from each other’s distribution power.

Use UTM parameters and media monitoring tools to track co-branded campaign results across channels.

3. Use Content Syndication to Get Discovered Where People Are Reading

Effective content syndication is about consistent exposure across high-authority outlets your audience trusts.

How It Works

Create data-rich or expert-driven content that journalists want to cite or republish. Surveys, reports, rankings, and newsworthy trends often work well here. You need to create something that's worth citing with clean, modern visuals like graphs and charts that illustrate the data. It should also include a write-up that contextualizes the information and explains the methodology used.

Once the content is created, it’s time to pitch it to writers/editors or distribute it through a syndication partner. For example, Stacker is an earned distribution platform that amplifies visibility by placing your content in multiple publications in as short as a few days’ time. The result? Your brand becomes visible in AI search in a matter of weeks

4. Leverage Influencers Strategically

Influencers remain trusted sources for recommendations, but ROI depends on authenticity and alignment, not just reach.

How It Works

Find niche creators with high engagement and domain credibility, not just massive followings. Use tools like Upfluence or CreatorIQ to narrow down your options.

Co-create content that’s native to their platform and audience. This could mean a product demo, a collaborative blog post, or a co-hosted live stream. And don’t forget to negotiate the usage rights so you can reuse the influencer content on your owned channels or in ads.

Finally, use influencer mentions in PR outreach or paid campaigns to extend their reach and enhance third-party validation.

5. Win on Social with Platform-Native Content and Community Engagement

Social today is about showing up natively on each platform and building real conversations. With organic reach shrinking, authentic engagement is essential. Just as important, YouTube and Reddit are among the most cited sources in AI summaries, making visibility there key to being referenced in zero-click search.

How It Works

Platform-native content means creating for each distinct platform to match people’s expectations and stand out among the competition. Each network rewards brands that lean into its strengths:

• LinkedIn: Long-form posts, carousels that break down insights, and commentary on industry trends. Thought-leadership that sparks discussion performs best here.
• Instagram: Reels and Stories that are visually engaging and humanize the brand. Behind-the-scenes glimpses or user-generated content resonate well.
• Facebook: Group participation, live Q&As, and localized content that taps into specific communities and demographics still active on the platform.
• X (formerly Twitter): Short, timely commentary, threaded insights, and participation in trending conversations. Great for thought-leadership “in the moment.”
• TikTok: Authentic, personality-driven short-form videos with strong storytelling hooks. Educational quick tips, challenges, and trend-driven formats perform especially well.
• BlueSky: Community-driven, early-adopter conversations. Great for brands experimenting with voice and tone, and looking to connect with digital-native audiences.
• YouTube (Shorts + Long-form): Both snackable and in-depth formats offer longevity, discoverability, and now increased visibility in AI search responses.
• Reddit: Authentic, community-first participation in relevant subreddits. Insightful contributions, not just promotion, can lead to high visibility with users and frequent citations in AI summaries.

But you still cannot just post the “right” content and call it a day. Community engagement is equally as important, as algorithms increasingly reward conversation, not just publishing. That means:

• Replying quickly and thoughtfully to comments.
• Asking questions that invite dialogue.
• Participating in trending discussions beyond your own posts.
• Highlighting community voices by resharing user-generated content.

These actions signal to both people and algorithms that your brand is worth engaging with.

6. Optimize for AI Visibility

LLMs and AI tools often reference structured, factual, high-authority content to generate their responses. You need to make sure your brand appears in those sources and that your content is built to be understood by machines.

How It Works

Ensure clean technical SEO: schema markup, fast load times, and proper metadata help AI and search engines parse your content.

Get cited in third-party, fact-based content like news articles, rankings, and data reports, as discussed in the content syndication section.

Publish expert commentary on sites that AI tools are likely to pull from, like industry publications and high-authority blogs. Resources like Qwoted, Featured, and SOS Media Queries can help you find opportunities.

Your website should clearly communicate your value proposition and differentiation, with strong supporting evidence. This includes elements like testimonials, case studies, and data points that prove your claims. Having a strong site increases the chance that LLMs will surface your brand, as they'll better understand your company's value.

Brand visibility is about getting your brand into the stories, platforms, and partnerships that people (and AI tools) are already engaging with. Prioritize earned visibility, create content that performs on multiple channels, and invest in strategic distribution — and your brand will stay visible, even as search loses effectiveness.