As more of us ask ChatGPT what to buy instead of Googling it, the rules of being discovered online are changing fast. We dig into how Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity are quietly becoming the new front door to retail. When an AI gives a single recommendation instead of a page of links, how does it choose who to trust?

Chris Donnelly, founder of Searchable, an agentic AI platform that helps businesses understand how they are being read, ranked, and recommended by LLMs, gives an insight.

How significant is this shift from traditional search to AI search?

It is massive. It’s arguably the biggest shift in marketing since Google itself emerged. We are moving from a world where we optimized for humans—trying to catch their eye on a search results page—to a world where we are optimizing for the platforms that talk to humans. The "front door" to the internet is evolving rapidly from a browser where you scroll through blue links to an AI assistant that gives you a direct answer.

You’ve mentioned that AI models are "picking winners." How does that actually work compared to the old Google rankings?

In traditional SEO, you’re fighting for a spot on a list. If you’re third or fourth, you still get clicks. In this new "Agentic Web," the AI acts as a filter. If you ask ChatGPT for a recommendation—say, "What’s the best running shoe for flat feet?"—it doesn’t give you ten links; it often gives you one definitive answer or a very short shortlist. It’s a "zero-click" environment. The AI decides who to trust based on its training data and real-time retrieval, effectively picking a winner and leaving everyone else invisible.

How does a brand ensure they are the one picked? What is "Generative Engine Optimisation" (GEO)?

GEO is the new SEO. It’s about understanding how LLMs "read" your brand. These models crave high-quality, structured data. They don’t just look for keywords; they look for authority, trust, and clear context. We often say you need to "feed the robot." This means ensuring your product data, your content, and your entire digital footprint are structured in a way that makes it easy for an AI to ingest and understand. If the AI understands you better than your competitor, you’re more likely to be the recommended solution.

Can smaller brands still compete in this environment, or will the big players dominate?

Surprisingly, this levels the playing field in many ways. In the old world, big budgets could buy your way to the top of search ads. In the AI world, trust is the currency. A smaller, niche brand that has incredibly authoritative content and very clear, structured data can "teach" the AI that it is the best expert in that specific area. We’ve seen smaller brands outperform giants simply because they optimized their content for the machine better. They are more agile in adopting these GEO strategies.

We are right in the middle of the Christmas shopping season. What impact is this having on how people buy gifts?

It’s already happening. I’ll give you a personal example: I recently asked ChatGPT where to buy a present for my wife. I gave it some parameters, and it recommended a store I had never heard of. I went there and bought the gift. That is a sale that never would have happened through traditional search because I wouldn’t have known to look for them.

And the metrics back this up. We are seeing that traffic coming from AI search—where the user has already received a recommendation—converts at a much higher rate. Traditional organic search might convert at around 2.5%, but we’re seeing AI search traffic convert at over 14% in some cases. The intent is so much higher because the "search" and "decision" phases have already been handled by the AI.

What does your platform Searchable actually do for companies facing this change?

Searchable is what we call an "agentic" AI platform. Think of it as a command center for LLMs. We help brands track their "Share of Voice" on these new platforms. You can’t just Google yourself anymore to see where you rank. Our tool monitors how your brand appears across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity. We show you whether you are being recommended, ignored, or even hallucinated (misrepresented). Then, we provide the tools to fix it—helping you optimize your content so you become the answer the AI chooses.

What does the future of search look like over the next few years?

We are moving toward the "Agentic Web". Soon, AI won’t just recommend products; it will buy them for you. You’ll have AI agents making purchase decisions on your behalf based on your preferences. For retailers, this means you aren’t just selling to a person anymore; you’re selling to their AI agent. If you aren’t "readable" and trusted by that agent, you effectively don’t exist. It’s a complete paradigm shift, and the brands that start optimizing for it now are the ones that will win.

***The full interview can be heard on The Standard’s ***Tech & Science Daily podcast.

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