Radio And Brand Advertising May Benefit From The Rise Of AI Search.

In its first year of existence, Google’s AI Overviews has had a significant impact on search clicks, whether organic or paid, with rates down across the board year-over-year. The difference? AI quickly answers consumers’ questions, vs. Google simply displaying a list of potential links.

A report in Westwood One’s blog notes an observation from Marketing Leadership Institute founder Thomas Barta that over the past year, due to AI Overviews, “search traffic is down sharply, and maintaining it now costs significantly more than it did two years ago.”

Indeed, click-through rates have plunged, showing double-digit declines, according to a report from Seer Interactive. As a result, Barta says, “Strong brands and direct customer relationships will decide the winners. If customers look for your brand instead of the category, you have already won half the battle. The takeaway is blunt. If people already know your name, AI search helps you. If they do not, it buries you.”

The rise of AI Overviews makes a stronger case for top-of-funnel advertising, so brands can “be known before they’re needed,” Cumulus Media/Westwood One Audio Active Group Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard says. “In a world where you can’t reliably pay platforms to send customers your way, a strong brand will remain the best insurance policy. Strong brands are not built on clicks but on memories.”

Research shows that when it comes to branding in an AI search world, advertisers have their work cut out for them. Quantilope finds that for many local ad categories, the leading brand among consumers is “Don’t know.”

“For categories like roofing, plumbers and chiropractors, consumers are unable to name one business,” Bouvard says. “In a category where the number one brand is ‘don’t know,’ there is a great opportunity to drive awareness for your business.”

Additionally, Cumulus’ own study across 14 U.S. markets found that while most consumers can name auto brands, few can name specific dealerships.

How will AI search impact the ad process? According to Neurons Inc founder and CEO Thomas Zeoga Ramsey, the upper funnel will become the only funnel. “Brand spend as a percent of media budgets will grow as lower funnel marketing becomes unnecessary,” he explains. “When AI agents do the research and make the purchase, conversion ads will no longer have humans to persuade. Brand memory is built upstream, or not at all.”

As Bouvard notes, with advertisers no longer able to rely on Google to send traffic, now more than ever brands need to be “easy to mind and easy to find.”