The Future of Search Is Being Rewritten by LLMs

2 min read
24.7.2025

Search has long been a known quantity. For two decades, users typed keywords, scanned ranked links, clicked, and explored.

Marketers structured their strategies around that behaviour. Content was written to rank. Rankings drove traffic. Traffic fuelled revenue.

That model is now being disrupted—and quickly.

 

The rise of AI-native search

Large Language Models (LLMs) are transforming how people discover and consume information. Rather than directing users to websites, LLMs generate answers in place—pulling from multiple sources, often without attribution. These aren’t search results. They’re conclusions.

This is already reshaping how people interact with search:

  • AI summaries are replacing clicks. When an AI Overview appears in Google, the top organic result loses over 30% of its usual traffic (Ahrefs, 2024).

  • User behaviour is shifting. In certain cohorts, over 40% of discovery journeys now begin within generative AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Bing Copilot (Wall Street Journal, 2025).

These changes aren’t marginal. They are structural. And they’re happening faster than most businesses are prepared for.

 

What this means for your brand

Visibility no longer depends solely on rankings. You may be mentioned in hundreds of AI-generated summaries each day, yet see no clicks, no attribution, and no clear way to track it. Equally, your content may be omitted entirely—even if it ranks well in traditional search.

In this environment:

  • Clarity beats keyword density.

  • Structured content outperforms vague copy.

  • Brand authority is measured by presence in machine-generated answers, not just backlinks.

The search experience is fragmenting across platforms, and most traditional analytics tools can’t track what really matters anymore.

 

What forward-thinking companies are doing

The most adaptive teams are shifting from ranking-focused SEO to visibility-focused strategy. They're:

  1. Monitoring brand presence inside AI interfaces.
    Understanding where, when, and how their brand is appearing in generative summaries, not just in link-based results.

  2. Creating content that machines can interpret.
    Structuring information so that it is clear, unambiguous, and easy to summarise accurately.

  3. Measuring brand impact beyond clicks.
    Moving toward indicators like frequency of mention, narrative position, and topical authority across AI-generated responses.

This isn’t about abandoning search. It’s about understanding how it now works—and how your brand fits into that model.

 

How Project36 helps

At Project36, we help brands understand their visibility across AI-powered search. That includes:

  • Tracking brand mentions and summaries in LLM interfaces

  • Mapping how often your messaging appears in response to priority queries

  • Analysing the context and clarity of how your brand is interpreted by AI

  • Reporting insights that help you shape, strengthen, and future-proof your content

We don’t replace your SEO—we give it the intelligence layer it needs to stay effective in a transformed search landscape.

The mechanics of search have changed. So have the rules of visibility. If you're still optimising for clicks alone, you're measuring the wrong thing.

The brands that will win are those who understand where they show up, what gets said, and what gets missed. Project36 helps you see that picture clearly.

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