Scott Walldren is the Head of SEO at Acadia
Apple and Google announced a multi-year partnership this week that will use Google's Gemini models as the foundation for Apple's AI features, including a smarter Siri arriving later this year.
Most coverage focused on the tech angle: which AI company "won," what it means for OpenAI, or stock prices. That's the wrong lens.
Here's what actually matters: Google's AI now influences how customers discover brands across both major mobile platforms. When someone asks Siri for a hotel recommendation or searches Google for project management software, the same evaluation system decides which brands appear.
That changes where you should focus your marketing effort.
Where AI Discovery Actually Happens
Your customers use AI tools differently depending on what they're trying to do.
Early research (exploring ideas, learning about options) happens everywhere. ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity. People browse, compare, and gather information.
But when they're ready to decide? When they need a hotel tonight, want to buy running shoes, or need to choose accounting software? That happens overwhelmingly in Google-influenced environments. Google Search, Android phones, and now, through this partnership, iPhones too.
You can spend energy optimizing for every AI platform, spreading resources thin across a dozen different systems. Or you can recognize that most commercial discovery flows through one evaluation system and focus there first.
Why This Matters Now
Some brands are cutting the content that used to drive traffic. "What is" pages, explainers, and foundational copy about what they do and who they serve. The logic makes sense: if fewer people click through from AI-generated answers, why maintain content that doesn't generate leads?
Here's the problem with that logic.
AI systems still need to understand what your brand does, which problems you solve, and when you should be considered. When your own content is thin or missing, these systems rely on whatever else they can find: Reddit threads, competitor mentions, old forum posts, reviews.
Sometimes that works in your favor. Often it doesn't.
The bigger issue is control. When you're not clearly explaining what you do, someone else is defining you by default. And that definition now travels across the platforms where most of your customers are making decisions.
Reddit and The Loss of Narrative Control
Here's a concrete example of how this plays out.
Google and OpenAI both signed licensing deals with Reddit in 2024 (reportedly worth millions) because Reddit provides something valuable to AI systems: real human experience and opinion.
When someone searches for "best breakfast sandwich" or "reliable project management tools for small teams," AI systems often pull from Reddit discussions to support their recommendations. Not because Reddit is always right, but because it represents lived experience that helps validate an answer.
For brands, this creates a new dynamic. Conversations happening in spaces you don't control are now shaping the recommendations customers see. If your industry has active Reddit discussions, those threads are probably influencing how AI systems position your brand, whether you're participating or not.
Brand positioning becomes emergent rather than intentional when first-party clarity is missing. At that point, reputation is shaped by whoever talks the loudest, not who's most accurate.
How AI Systems Decide
AI-generated recommendations rarely rely on a single source. Your website, business profiles, third-party coverage, reviews, and Reddit discussions: all of these contribute context.
When signals align and tell a consistent story, systems act with confidence. Your brand appears in recommendations because multiple sources confirm the same positioning.
When signals conflict or information is sparse, systems hedge. You might not appear at all. Or you show up with qualified language ("some users report" or "one option to consider") instead of clear recommendation.
Consistency across these surfaces reduces ambiguity. Over time, it allows systems to understand when your brand belongs in a response.
The Work That Actually Matters
The fundamentals haven't changed. The same practices that made brands discoverable in traditional search still matter:
Clear content that explains what you offer and why it matters, written in language your customers actually use.
Consistent positioning across every place your brand appears: your website, business profiles, and how others describe you.
Third-party validation through reviews, mentions, and customer sentiment.
Technical foundations that help systems understand your content and how it relates to trusted sources.
Good SEO was always about making your brand easy to find and understand. That work doesn't become obsolete when discovery moves to AI systems. It becomes foundational because AI systems use these same signals to evaluate relevance and authority.
Why Good SEO Is Your Path to AI Discoverability
Here's what makes this moment actually manageable for mid-market brands:
You don't need a separate "AI optimization" strategy. You need to do the foundational marketing work that already matters and do it well.
The same content that helps you rank in Google Search is what AI systems reference when generating recommendations. The same clarity of positioning that builds brand authority traditionally is what helps AI understand when to recommend you.
This isn't about adopting new tactics or chasing AI features. It's about recognizing that work you should already be doing now has expanded ROI. It no longer just affects search rankings. It affects whether you appear in the AI-generated recommendations that increasingly shape how customers discover brands.
What Changes for Your Business
The delivery mechanism is evolving, but the fundamentals remain constant.
Traditional search sent traffic through clicks. AI discovery often works differently. Your brand gets cited or recommended within an answer, sometimes without sending direct traffic.
That creates a measurement challenge. Impressions may rise while click-through rates decline. You're being seen and considered, but the path to conversion looks different.
The brands that adapt recognize this isn't about optimizing for efficiency. It's about optimizing for authority. Positioning themselves as trusted sources that AI systems confidently reference when customers ask for guidance.
The Practical Reality
The Apple-Google partnership clarifies where AI discovery concentration already exists. It doesn't eliminate other platforms, but it does reveal where most commercial decisions actually happen.
For mid-market brands with limited resources, that's useful information. You can't optimize everywhere. You need to focus where the highest volume of high-intent discovery occurs, and that's overwhelmingly in Google-influenced environments.
Do that work well and you're likely improving visibility in other AI systems too, because the quality signals are similar across platforms. But try to optimize for every AI tool individually, and you'll spread resources too thin to succeed anywhere.
What This Means for You
The competitive advantage in this environment belongs to brands whose information holds together across the surfaces where they exist. Not because they chased AI tactics, but because their positioning remains coherent wherever it appears.
Marketing can amplify that clarity, but it can't manufacture it. If your product disappoints or your service creates friction, that signal travels through reviews, discussions, and customer sentiment faster than ever before. AI systems summarize consensus. They don't smooth over reality.
The work ahead isn't mysterious. Make sure your brand is easy to understand and difficult to misclassify. Ensure the fundamentals (clear positioning, consistent messaging, authoritative content) actually hold together across your website, business profiles, and how others describe you.
That was always the right approach. It just matters more now, because those fundamentals determine whether you exist in the discovery systems shaping billions of decisions every day.
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