About the time we got SEO under control, AI showed up to change everything about search and brand discovery. “The right message, to the right person, at the right moment” is no longer an effective guiding principle for marketing. 

When AI grabs and consolidates your brand’s online information for a web search, it can only provide information from online sources. It cannot provide “emotional allure,” which provides meaning and visibility. Fast and free information doesn’t necessarily come with trust as we move from an information economy to a trust economy.

What gets your brand chosen is trust. According to Edelman’s 2025 Trust Barometer, trust is an equal factor with quality and price when making purchase decisions. The level of trust in social media has dropped to 42%, and there has been a 12% increase in the number of people who think business leaders lie intentionally. Consumers are becoming more adept at determining whether there is an actual human behind messages, and more unforgiving when there isn’t one.

Despite this, marketing budgets are still skewed toward information, with minimal investment in human signaling. Yet, it’s the human part that most impacts purchasing decisions. Consumers want to know that a specific person actually stands behind the messages your brand sends out.