Val Laube, Director of Artificial Intelligence, Dragon Horse Agency

Naples, Florida-based Dragon Horse Agency is a pioneer in business marketing, being the first to introduce the concept of integrated business strategy within a comprehensive marketing platform known as DragonONE, and the first to deploy artificial intelligence, “AI,” with DragonIQ in 2016. The company employs experienced strategists, creative architects, and AI pilots and is headquartered in North Naples, Florida, with an additional satellite office in Santa Monica, California. Dragon Horse Agency takes great pride in its industry-leading innovative strategies delivering cutting-edge business and marketing solutions as “a fiduciary to brands ™.”

From Keywords to Conversations: The Shift to AI Answer Engines

For decades, search engine users typed short keywords and sifted through pages of results. Now, a massive shift is underway. AI-powered “answer engines” and conversational search interfaces are revolutionizing the way we find information online. Instead of providing ten blue links, these AI-driven tools deliver direct answers or engage in back-and-forth dialogue. Consumers no longer want to scroll through endless results – they expect AI to give a definitive answer, personalized and immediate.

Examples of this shift are everywhere. Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) now displays AI-generated answer summaries (often called AI Overviews) at the top of many search results. In fact, as of early 2025, about 13% of Google searches show an AI Overview at the top of the page, up from just 6.5% a few months prior. These summaries synthesize content from across the web into concise answers, providing links to the sources. Meanwhile, standalone AI search tools like ChatGPT, Bing Chat, and Perplexity allow users to ask questions in natural language and receive conversational answers with cited sources. Rather than entering terse keywords, users can pose detailed questions or follow-ups as if chatting with an expert. This evolution from keyword-based search to conversational search means the search experience is becoming more like an intuitive dialogue, rather than a database query.

Crucially, conversational AI can understand context and nuance. Traditional search engines matched keywords to web pages, but AI search uses natural language processing (NLP) to interpret the intent behind complex queries. For example, a user might ask, “What’s the best project management software for a remote design team, and why?” An AI answer engine can parse this complex question, break it down into subparts, and deliver a tailored answer (e.g., recommending top tools with reasons), rather than requiring the user to manually combine information from multiple sites. Follow-up questions are also supported – you can ask a question, get an answer, then ask a clarifying question in context, and the AI remembers the conversation. This creates a more natural and interactive search experience that feels less like querying a database and more like engaging in a dialogue with a knowledgeable assistant.

The rise of voice assistants and voice search has further accelerated this trend toward conversational interfaces. Digital assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant have trained users to ask questions out loud in complete sentences. By 2024, there will be more digital voice assistants in use globally than people, and by 2025, an estimated 75% of households will own at least one smart speaker. Voice search allows people to speak queries naturally and often receive spoken answers. It’s not identical to full conversational search – many voice queries still return a single spoken answer or action – but it shares the same spirit: natural language in, immediate answer out. As voice-capable devices proliferate, consumers are increasingly comfortable with conversational query-and-response interactions rather than old-school typing. Whether via voice or text chat, the expectation is clear: ask a question in plain language and get a helpful answer straightaway.

All of this represents a fundamental change in search behavior. Google’s data shows that people are now coming to search with longer, more complex questions than before, and multi-turn interactions are on the rise. In short, search has evolved from a task of finding information into a process of getting answers. For businesses and marketers, this shift from keyword-based search to AI-powered answer engines has profound implications. In the following sections, we’ll explore how these AI search tools are altering consumer behavior and what it means for SEO and brand visibility.

How AI Search Is Changing Consumer Behavior

AI-powered search isn’t just a shiny new interface – it’s actively changing how consumers search and what they do with the results. One significant change is reduced reliance on traditional search engine results pages (SERPs). When a detailed answer is served up directly by an AI, users have less need to scroll through a list of websites. We’re seeing the rise of the “zero-click” search, where the answer is obtained without ever clicking a result. This was already a trend with featured snippets on Google, but AI takes it further by aggregating information from multiple sources into a single, coherent response.

Evidence of shifting behavior is emerging in usage data. Following the release of ChatGPT, Google’s global search traffic declined by nearly 8% from 2023 to 2024. In other words, some queries that used to be directed to Google are now being asked of AI assistants. Alternative search platforms with AI capabilities saw traffic increases in that period, suggesting that users are experimenting with new AI search tools. This doesn’t mean Google is obsolete – far from it, with Google Search still holding approximately 89.7% of the global search market share – but it indicates a significant shift in where people seek answers. Google’s introduction of AI summaries (SGE) was a response to this shift, aiming to keep users satisfied by giving direct answers on Google’s platform.

Surveys confirm that many consumers have quickly embraced AI-based search in their daily lives. In a 2025 Adobe survey of U.S. internet users, a striking 77% of respondents reported using ChatGPT as a search engine. Nearly one in four (24%) now go to ChatGPT first when looking for information, before trying a traditional search engine. Younger generations lead this trend – for Gen Z, the figure was 28% who turn to ChatGPT before Google. This is a remarkable change in habit that has occurred in just a couple of years. The same survey found that three in ten people (30%) trust ChatGPT’s answers more than those from other search engines. Consumers cited benefits like the ability of AI to “summarize complex topics quickly” and require “fewer clicks” than a Google search. In essence, users appreciate that conversational AI can do the legwork of digesting information, saving them time.

Consumers are also discovering content and brands in new ways via AI. Instead of finding a brand’s website through a search listing, a user might encounter that brand as part of an AI-generated answer or recommendation. According to an Adobe survey, 36% of people reported that ChatGPT has helped them discover a new product or brand they were previously unaware of. This was especially true for younger users (47% of Gen Z in the survey). In practical terms, someone might ask ChatGPT for “the best noise-canceling headphones under $200” and receive an answer that describes a few models. This answer might introduce a consumer to a brand’s product without the consumer ever visiting a search results page or the brand’s website. It’s a new kind of AI word-of-mouth exposure.

Another behavioral change is that search is becoming more conversational and iterative. With AI chat interfaces, users often refine their queries by asking follow-up questions in the same session (instead of performing a brand new search from scratch). For example, one might start by asking, “How do I improve my credit score?” and, after an initial answer, follow up with, “What are some good credit monitoring services to use?” – the AI remembers the context. This means consumers are engaging longer with the search interface itself, treating it as an advisor. Google has noted that when people use its AI Overview feature, they often end up asking more questions in that session than they would in a traditional search, essentially because the AI invites deeper exploration. For marketers, this means user journeys might stay within an AI platform longer before clicking out to a website (if they click at all). The classic funnel of “search -> click link -> browse site” is getting disrupted; now it may be “ask AI multiple questions -> possibly get one recommended link or answer without a click.”

Voice search usage also ties into this behavioral shift. Speaking a query (to Siri/Alexa/etc) is inherently a one-answer interaction – the assistant typically gives you a single response, or acts, rather than reading a list of results. As more consumers use voice queries (and with billions of voice-enabled devices in circulation), they become accustomed to a single-answer paradigm. Even when they transition to text-based AI search, they carry that expectation that the first answer might be all they need. By 2025, an estimated 153 million Americans will use voice assistants (often for search), and 75% of households will have a smart speaker. This widespread adoption of voice interfaces reinforces the preference for direct answers and conversational engagement.

In summary, AI-powered search is making consumer search behavior more focused on finding answers, rather than exploring multiple sources. Users are placing trust in AI to curate and even interpret information on their behalf. They’re also expecting more personalization – if the first answer isn’t exactly correct, they ask the AI to clarify or tailor the response, rather than clicking around. For businesses, this is a double-edged sword: the opportunity is that your brand can become part of an AI-delivered answer (which is a powerful endorsement if you’re the chosen source), but the challenge is that you might not even get a chance to win over the customer if you’re not visible to the AI in the first place. It’s a new battlefield for attention, happening on the AI’s output screen rather than the traditional SERP.

AI Search by the Numbers: Growth and Impact

Striking data and third-party insights back the rapid rise of AI search. To put the trend in perspective, here are some key statistics illustrating the growth and impact of AI-powered search:

• Explosive User Adoption: ChatGPT, the poster child of AI answer engines, reached a massive user base in record time. By early 2025, ChatGPT surpassed 400 million weekly active users – a staggering adoption curve for a tool that only launched publicly at the end of 2022. A Pew Research study in late 2023 found that 34% of US adults had already used ChatGPT, and that number has only grown since. This indicates that a substantial portion of the population is experimenting with AI to meet their information needs.
• Generative AI as a Search Starting-Point: Research by marketing firms indicates that 10% (or more) of internet users now turn to generative AI first for specific searches. In other words, for perhaps one in ten queries, users are bypassing traditional search engines entirely in favor of tools like ChatGPT, Bing’s AI chat, or similar. This is a remarkable shift considering these tools were niche or non-existent just a couple of years ago. Among younger, digitally savvy users, the percentage is likely even higher.
• Google’s Response and Integration: Google remains the dominant search engine, but it has rapidly integrated AI to keep pace with changing user preferences. As noted, around 13-16% of Google searches now trigger an AI-generated overview at the top of the results, and this portion has been climbing each month. These AI summaries typically cite around five sources on average, condensing what might have been a dozen search results into a single composite answer. Notably, one study found that approximately 48% of the sources mentioned in Google’s AI overviews were not ranking on page 1 organically, suggesting that AI results can elevate websites that might otherwise be buried in the rankings, thereby changing the visibility game. Google reports that the introduction of AI results has been well-received; users who engage with the AI summaries tend to be more satisfied and even increase their search usage for complex queries.
• Impact on Search Volume and Market Share: As mentioned, Google’s web traffic saw a ~7.9% decline in the year after ChatGPT’s debut – a possible sign of users spending some of their search time with AI alternatives. Microsoft’s Bing (which integrated GPT-4 into its search in early 2023) has seen an uptick of interest, though it still holds a small market share (~4%). Niche AI search startups, such as Perplexity, and privacy-focused engines with AI features (e.g., Brave Search with its AI summarizer) also gained users following the generative AI wave. Still, Google commands the lion’s share of search, nearly 90% globally, meaning Google’s own AI advancements (SGE, “AI Mode”, etc.) could mainstream AI search for hundreds of millions of users simply by changing the default Google experience.
• Mobile, Voice, and Multimodal Searches: Over 1.5 billion people use Google Lens each month to search what they see – a form of multimodal AI search where a user can take a photo (or use the camera) and ask questions about the image. Google is pushing boundaries with features like “Search Live,” which lets users hold up their phone camera, talk to an AI about what’s on screen, and receive answers in real-time. This indicates a future where search queries aren’t just text or voice, but images and even real-time video feeds. The lines between “searching” and “seeing” are blurring, powered by AI’s ability to analyze visuals.
• Marketing and SEO Industry Response: Recognizing the AI search trend, marketers are pivoting their strategies. In Adobe’s 2025 survey, two-thirds of marketers and business owners said they plan to increase their focus on “AI visibility” – essentially, ensuring their brand shows up in AI-driven search results. Over 75% of surveyed marketers called it essential for their brand to appear in ChatGPT’s answers in 2025. This has given rise to a new discipline of Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) (more on that below). The SEO community has been quick to research how generative AI selects and presents information. Agencies and SEO platforms are now tracking metrics such as “share of voice in AI answers” (i.e., the frequency at which AI mentions a company) in addition to traditional SERP rankings.

Overall, the data paints a clear picture: AI-driven search is not a minor sideshow – it has become a core part of how people find information, and it’s reshaping the digital landscape. Usage is growing rapidly, and user satisfaction with AI answers is high. Both tech giants and startups are investing heavily to win this new search paradigm. For businesses, these numbers serve as a wake-up call to adapt their search strategies for an AI-centric world.

Optimizing for AI-Driven Search: AEO and E-E-A-T Strategies

With search evolving, businesses must adjust their SEO strategies to remain visible and relevant. The goal is no longer just to rank on page one of Google, but to be featured in the answer that an AI-powered engine provides. This new approach is often referred to as Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) – the practice of optimizing your content so that AI search tools can readily find, understand, and include it in their answers. In essence, instead of optimizing purely for a search engine algorithm, you’re optimizing for the answer algorithms of large language models and AI summary systems.

What is AEO, exactly? It’s an evolution of SEO that recognizes how AI systems work. Traditional SEO is about improving your ranking in search engine results. AEO is about increasing your brand’s visibility in AI-generated responses, many of which have no explicit rankings or even clickable links. For example, if someone asks an AI, “What’s the best project management software for small businesses?”, an AEO-optimized company would have content that the AI deems worthy of mentioning in its one-paragraph answer. As one guide put it, brands must evolve from search engine optimization to answer engine optimization to remain visible when AI engines synthesize the web’s information into a single authoritative answer. That means providing the kind of content that AI loves to quote and users find trustworthy.

Here are some key strategies for optimizing your content for AI-driven search (AEO), along with how they relate to the familiar SEO best practices:

• Provide Direct, Concise Answers: Ensure your site features content that directly answers common questions in your domain. This could be in the form of FAQ pages, how-to guides, or Q&A-style articles. AI systems often scan for a straight answer to the user’s query. If, for example, you sell insurance and your blog answers “What does home insurance typically cover?” in a concise paragraph, an AI may quote or summarize that. Structuring content in a question-and-answer format helps both traditional search snippets and AI parsers. The content should be well-structured (using headings and bullet points) so AI can easily digest it.
• Focus on E-E-A-T – Quality and Trust are Paramount: E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness. This concept, stemming from Google’s search quality guidelines, is arguably even more critical in the age of AI search. AI models draw from vast training data and will prefer content that seems authoritative and accurate (and Google’s AI results certainly consider source quality). To demonstrate E-E-A-T:
  • Highlight the experience behind your content – for instance, include authors’ credentials or first-hand insights (“Our CEO shares 10 years of experience in cybersecurity”).
  • Show expertise by covering topics in depth, citing credible sources, and keeping information up to date.
  • Build authority through backlinks, mentions, and by publishing on reputable platforms. If your brand is frequently mentioned in industry discussions, AI is more likely to recognize it as a trusted source.
  • Foster trust with honest, factual content. Avoid hyperbole or unfounded claims. AI systems, and indeed Google’s algorithms, are designed to prioritize accuracy and reliability. In practical terms, that might mean double-checking facts in your content and providing references. (Some AI, like Bing Chat and Perplexity, directly cite sources – you want to be the source that gets mentioned, and that won’t happen if your content is dubious.)

Remember that content quality, depth, and expertise are shared pillars of both traditional SEO and AEO. By focusing on E-E-A-T, you not only improve your chances with AI but also future-proof your SEO as algorithms continue prioritizing quality.

• Use Structured Data and Schema Markup: Just as you would mark up your content for rich results in Google (using FAQ schema, HowTo schema, etc.), it’s wise to use structured data to help AI understand your content context. AI answer engines often rely on structured data to pull quick facts (for example, voice assistants using schema to answer a spoken query about store hours). Implementing schemas like FAQPage, HowTo, Product, etc., can make your content more digestible to AI. Additionally, structured data provides context that can enhance trust (e.g., identifying an author as a consistent entity across the web). Google’s AI results are still drawing from the indexed web, so traditional SEO steps, such as schema, proper metadata, and a clean site structure, indirectly aid AEO.
• Optimize for Conversational Queries: Consider the phrasing people use when speaking or asking full questions, and naturally incorporate those into your content. These are often long-tail, conversational keywords. For instance, a traditional keyword might be “best running shoes 2025”; a conversational query might be, “What are the best running shoes for marathons in 2025?” You should include both types in your content. Tools like Google’s People Also Ask or community forums can reveal natural language questions consumers are asking. Including question-and-answer sections in your content with exactly those phrasings can position you as a match for the AI’s needs. Essentially, you want to anticipate the questions and answer them in your copy.
• Format Content for Snippets and Voice: AI answers often resemble an expanded featured snippet. Continue to optimize for featured snippets by using clear and succinct paragraphs that directly answer a question immediately after it is posed. Use lists or tables for step-by-step or data-driven answers, and ensure the answer can be understood out of context. For voice search, keep sentences brief and to the point, since they might be read aloud. Google’s voice answers often come from content that reads in a conversational, natural tone, rather than being overly formal or stuffed with keywords. Including a summary section or a “In a nutshell, …” line for key topics might help an AI grab the summary. According to SEO experts, content written in a conversational, snippet-friendly style is more likely to be extracted by AI engines.
• Leverage Multi-Modal Content (Images, Video) and Alt Text: AI models don’t just read text; they can also analyze images and even video transcripts. Ensure your images have descriptive alt text (valid for both accessibility and AI context). Consider creating short video explainers for key topics – YouTube videos might get referenced by AI or appear in AI-driven carousels. Google’s generative search is increasingly blending images and text in answers for issues like shopping. By providing high-quality visuals (with proper metadata), you increase your content’s chances of being featured in those rich AI results. For example, if you have a product, using Google’s 3D image schema (so that it can appear in interactive results) could be beneficial – Google noted that interactive 3D results get 50% more engagement than static ones.
• Monitor and Adapt: Start tracking how and when your brand appears in AI contexts. This might include manually querying ChatGPT/Bing for industry questions to see if you’re mentioned, or using emerging tools that attempt to measure “LLM visibility.” If you find AI is citing competitors and you are not, analyze why – do they have more thorough content on specific subtopics? Do others more frequently reference them? This is new territory, but it’s wise to monitor your share of voice in AI answers much like you’d track search rankings. Also, keep an eye on Google’s Search Console (which now may report on AI overview traffic or similar, as those features roll out) to see if your content is being used in SGE.

Importantly, AEO isn’t a total departure from SEO – it builds on the same fundamentals. A site that is technically sound, fast, and mobile-friendly still has an advantage (since AI can’t see your content if it’s not crawlable). Backlinks and brand mentions still matter because they build authority. Good user experience still counts (if an AI result provides a link and users click through to a poor site, that doesn’t help you). Think of AEO as the next chapter of SEO – you still need to do everything you did for SEO, plus actively shape your content and strategy for the AI answer landscape.

One new concept to be aware of is “prompt optimization” or prompt engineering for search. This refers to structuring your content (or even providing metadata hints) so that it aligns with how AI models might be prompted. For instance, some companies are experimenting with special files (like LLM.txt) that give instructions to AI crawlers on how to use their content. While this is cutting-edge and not standardized, the general idea is to consider the questions people will ask, not just the keywords they will type. Suppose you align your content with the actual natural language questions (and even incorporate those questions verbatim on your pages). In that case, you increase the likelihood that an AI will pick it up to answer a similar question.

In summary, to optimize for AI-driven search engines, you should offer high-quality, trustworthy content that answers questions directly and succinctly, use structured formats and schema to make that content machine-friendly, and ensure your brand’s authority signals (E-E-A-T) are strong across the web. By doing so, you position your business to be the trusted answer when consumers ask their digital assistants or AI tools about your field.

The Future of Search: Voice, Multimodal, and Hyper-Personalized Experiences

What will search look like in the next few years as AI capabilities continue to advance? All signs point toward an even more integrated, intelligent, and personalized search experience. Here are a few key projections and emerging trends for the future of AI-driven search and SEO:

• Voice Search Becomes Ubiquitous and Conversational: Voice queries are expected to increase in volume as more users become comfortable interacting with their devices. We’re nearing a world where virtually every smartphone and household device is voice-enabled. By the end of 2025, experts project that over 8 billion voice assistants will be in use globally, roughly equivalent to one per person on the planet. As voice AI improves at understanding natural language and intent, voice search will transition from simple commands (“Call Mom” or “What’s the weather?”) to more complex questions and transactions. This means SEO will increasingly overlap with voice UX design – content may need to be optimized to sound good when read aloud and to satisfy spoken follow-up questions. Also, expect more voice-driven commerce (voice ordering of products, etc.), which will require brands to have a presence in voice assistant ecosystems. For SEO, securing those voice answer slots (e.g., being the answer the assistant provides) will be a highly coveted prize.
• Multimodal Search – Beyond Text to Image, Audio, and Video: AI is enabling search to break free from the text box. Visual search is a prime area of growth: consumers can point their phone camera at an object or scene and ask questions about it. Google Lens already processes billions of such searches, and new AI-powered features allow real-time visual Q&A. For example, you might scan a recipe card and ask Google to clarify a cooking instruction, or take a photo of a plant and ask how to care for it. In the future, we’ll see multimodal queries where users combine text, voice, and image inputs (e.g., saying “Find something similar to this dress” while showing a picture). Search engines will increasingly incorporate AR (augmented reality) for “search what you see” functionality. Businesses will need to optimize not just web pages, but images (with good metadata), videos (with transcripts and SEO), and even 3D models of products. Being discoverable in these new modalities will be part of SEO. Google’s introduction of features like “Circle to Search” – where users can circle something on their screen (an image or text) to search for it – is an example of making search more visual and seamless. The bottom line: search will happen everywhere, in various forms – scanning product labels, listening to a song, and asking “who is the artist?”, etc. – and AI will be the engine making sense of all those inputs.
• Real-Time Personalization and Contextual Results: AI’s ability to personalize on the fly means search results will become highly tailored to each individual’s context. We’re already seeing early signs of this trend. Google announced that its new AI search “Mode” will soon offer personalized suggestions based on your past searches and even data from other apps (like Gmail, with user permission). This could mean your search for “best restaurants” yields different answers than someone else’s search, because the AI knows your preferences (e.g., you’re a vegetarian and love jazz music, so it shows a vegetarian bistro with live music that you’ve never been to but matches your tastes). Soon, we can expect search AI to incorporate location, past behavior, calendar events, purchase history, and more – all in real-time – to serve uniquely relevant results. For instance, if you have a flight tomorrow, asking “What should I pack?” might prompt the AI to check your destination’s weather and your airline’s baggage rules automatically in forming its answer. For marketers, this hyper-personalization means the average ranking position may matter less than ensuring your content is aligned with specific audience segments or contexts. It will be about being the correct answer for the right person at the right moment. Techniques like using dynamic content (content that adapts to user segments) and leveraging customer data for search (in advertising, for example) will grow. Privacy considerations will be crucial here – users might need to opt in for these personalized AI features, and trust in how data is used will be paramount.
• Proactive and Agentive Search: Instead of waiting for us to ask, future search AIs might become proactive assistants. Imagine an AI that knows you have a meeting across town and proactively suggests the best time to leave based on traffic, or an AI that, upon detecting you’ve been researching “how to get a mortgage,” offers to pull your credit score and pre-fill some applications (with permission). Google teased “agentic capabilities” in its AI mode – essentially letting the AI not only answer questions but help complete tasks. For example, Google’s demo showed an AI that could find concert tickets across multiple sites and even navigate through purchasing steps for you. This is search blending into action – the AI doesn’t just tell you where to buy something, it helps you do it. Voice assistants already do some of this (e.g., “order my usual pizza”), but with advanced AI, expect a much wider range of tasks. The implication for businesses: your transaction flows and integrations may need to accommodate AI agents. If you’re an e-commerce site, perhaps ensure your site can interface with AI assistants that want to place an order (API-driven commerce). From an SEO/content perspective, providing structured, AI-accessible data (such as inventory feeds and appointment booking APIs) will become part of being “searchable.” It also means the metrics of success may change – instead of just clicks, you might measure how many AI-driven completions or referrals you got.
• Continued Evolution of SEO and Advertising Models: As AI search becomes mainstream, SEO will entwine with other marketing disciplines. For example, content marketing will need to consider not just attracting human readers but also being synthesized by AI. PR and thought leadership might play a role in AEO (if your brand is cited in authoritative publications, AI may pick that up as a sign of credibility). On the advertising side, search ads will adapt – Google has already started experimenting with ads in the AI snapshot results. Marketers will likely be able to sponsor an AI answer or ensure their product is suggested (clearly labeled as ads). This could be a new avenue: Answer Ads. It will be essential to monitor how platforms like Google and Bing incorporate paid placements into AI answers, allowing you to strategize accordingly (e.g., bidding to be one of the sources an AI cites or recommending your product). The notion of what it means to “rank #1” could shift if the first thing a user sees is an AI box with aggregated info. Success might be measured in visibility within AI results (brand mentions, links, product integration) as much as in classic SEO rankings.

In summary, the future of search is shaping up to be conversational, multimodal, personalized, and far more interactive. For consumers, searching will feel more like talking to an ever-present guide that knows you and can assist you. For businesses, it presents exciting opportunities to engage customers in new ways, but also demands agility in adopting new optimization techniques and technologies. Those who stay ahead of these trends (for example, by optimizing for voice search now, or implementing schema for images, or providing data feeds for AI assistants) will be the ones to capture the next generation of search visibility.

Adapting and Thriving: How Agencies Like Dragon Horse Help Brands Embrace AI

Navigating the fast-changing AI search landscape can be daunting. Many businesses are asking: How do we practically implement these AI-driven SEO strategies? How can we ensure our brand remains visible when algorithms and interfaces are evolving at such a rapid pace? This is where partnering with experienced agencies can make all the difference. Agencies at the forefront of digital marketing – like Dragon Horse Agency – are already helping brands adapt through AI-powered strategies, prompt engineering, and integrated marketing approaches.

Dragon Horse Agency, in particular, has been a pioneer in blending business strategy with advanced marketing technology. The agency was among the first to introduce an integrated strategy platform (DragonONE) and to implement artificial intelligence in marketing operations with its in-house AI engine (DragonIQ, launched in 2016). This early adoption means Dragon Horse has nearly a decade of experience in what many companies are only just starting to explore. The team includes not just marketers, but “creative architects” and “AI pilots” – specialists who steer AI tools to achieve marketing goals. In practical terms, this means they understand both the art and science of using AI for business growth.

One key service area is prompt engineering and AI content strategy. As discussed, obtaining high-quality outputs from AI (whether it’s a content-generating AI or a search answer engine) often depends on crafting the correct inputs or content structure. Dragon Horse focuses on developing effective prompts and content guidelines so that AI tools produce on-brand, accurate, and engaging content for their clients. For example, suppose a brand wants to utilize AI to generate product descriptions or blog posts. In that case, the agency will create detailed prompts and templates to ensure the AI accurately captures the brand’s voice and factual details. The result is consistent brand messaging across AI-generated outputs, which is crucial when AI is used to automate content creation. Prompt engineering can also extend to how a brand’s information is retrieved by AI search engines – by structuring site content and metadata in a way that “prompts” the AI to pull the brand’s info when relevant.

Agencies like Dragon Horse also help businesses implement the best practices for AI-era SEO (AEO) comprehensively. This involves a mix of technical SEO, content marketing, and PR. For instance:

• They might conduct an AEO audit to identify the questions consumers are asking in the space and determine if the brand’s content effectively answers those questions (and how it currently performs in AI results).
• They then develop a content plan to fill gaps, such as creating a robust FAQ resource or interactive tools that an AI might reference.
• On the technical side, they ensure the website is AI-accessible – fast, structured, data-rich – so that search engines and AI crawlers can easily consume it. This could include adding schema markup, optimizing for voice query load times, or even publishing content in formats like Google’s Dataset Search or others, if relevant (to feed the AI with reliable data).
• Because brand authority and trust are so vital (E-E-A-T), the agency may also assist in developing a broader digital PR and thought leadership strategy, including getting the brand featured in reputable publications, encouraging satisfied customers to leave positive reviews, and expanding the brand’s expert presence on platforms such as LinkedIn or industry forums. All of this feeds into how AI perceives the brand’s authority.

Another critical aspect is the integration of AI across marketing channels. Dragon Horse’s philosophy of an integrated marketing platform (DragonONE) means they don’t view SEO or AI visibility in a silo. They connect it with paid ads, social media, email marketing, and other marketing channels. For example, insights from AI search (like what questions people frequently ask) can inform social media content or PPC ad copy that addresses those questions. They leverage AI analytics and predictive modeling to understand customer behavior, segment audiences, and personalize campaigns. The benefit for clients is a cohesive strategy where all pieces reinforce each other – the content that ranks in search also provides material for an AI chatbot on the website, the customer service chatbot informs what goes into the FAQ page, and so on.

Crucially, agencies help cut through the hype and focus on practical, actionable steps. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by AI jargon, whether it’s “multimodal embeddings” or “LLM fine-tuning.” A good agency will translate these into concrete tactics for your business. For example, prompt engineering might sound abstract. Still, in practice, it could mean setting up an AI chatbot on your site with carefully crafted prompts, so that it accurately and effectively answers customer queries, essentially serving as an AI concierge that improves the user experience. Or it might mean training your internal team on how to ask the right questions of analytics AI tools to gain better insights (since even tools like Google Analytics are incorporating AI querying). Dragon Horse emphasizes education and partnership, often working to empower client teams with knowledge of AI tools while providing expert oversight. As the Co-CEO of Dragon Horse Agency, P. Blake Renda, noted, leveraging AI in marketing is no longer optional but “essential for businesses seeking to remain competitive”. Agencies can accelerate this leveraging process by providing the expertise and technical skills needed to deploy AI effectively.

Lastly, agencies provide a future-forward perspective and continuous adaptation. The algorithms and platforms are continually changing – what works for AI search today might shift next quarter with a new update. Agencies like Dragon Horse keep a pulse on updates (such as Google’s latest AI algorithm changes or new AI tools on the market) and proactively adjust their clients’ strategies. They can also run experiments – for instance, testing how different content formats perform in Bing’s AI chat vs. Google’s SGE – and use those learnings to guide all their clients. In essence, they act as navigators in the fast-moving AI space, ensuring brands don’t fall behind due to a lack of time or specialized knowledge.

The takeaway for businesses: You don’t have to tackle AI-powered SEO and marketing alone. By partnering with experts who understand both the technology and the strategic marketing landscape, you can adopt AI in a smart and effective manner. Whether it’s getting your content featured in an AI answer, using AI to personalize your customer outreach, or building an AI-driven analytics dashboard to inform decisions, an experienced agency can design and implement the solution that fits your unique goals.

Embrace the AI Search Revolution

The rise of AI-powered search is reshaping how consumers discover information and how brands achieve visibility. We’ve transitioned from a world where optimizing for a set of keywords was sufficient to one where optimizing for answers, conversations, and AI interactions is crucial. Consumers in 2025 expect search to be fast, personalized, and almost human-like in its ability to understand questions, and businesses must adjust their digital strategies accordingly. Those who do will find new opportunities to connect, such as appearing as the trusted answer in a chatbot’s response, engaging users through voice-activated content, or leveraging AI insights to fine-tune their marketing.

The implications span across SEO, content marketing, user experience, and technology integration. It can feel complex, but the path is clear: focus on high-quality, authoritative content and embrace the new tools and techniques that AI offers. That means ensuring your brand demonstrates expertise and trust (so that AI “chooses” you), structuring your information so that algorithms can easily parse it, and staying agile as search platforms evolve.

If all this sounds overwhelming, remember that you don’t have to navigate it alone. Dragon Horse Agency is here to help businesses like yours thrive in this new era of AI-driven search. We combine cutting-edge AI strategies with proven marketing fundamentals, acting as a fiduciary to your brand in a rapidly changing digital landscape. Whether it’s implementing Answer Engine Optimization, crafting AI-ready content, or developing an integrated marketing plan through our DragonONE platform, our team of strategists and AI experts will ensure your brand not only adapts but also leads the way.

Ready to harness AI for your marketing success? Contact Dragon Horse Agency today to discover how our custom AI-powered marketing strategies can elevate your brand’s visibility and growth. Let’s transform the way your customers find you in this new search frontier – and make sure that when the world turns to AI for answers, your brand is front and center.

Contact Dragon Horse Agency today at info@dragonhorseagency.com to engage our award-winning expertise and begin optimizing and strengthening your competitive brand and business!

The post The Rise of AI-Powered Search in 2025: How Answer Engines Are Changing SEO and Consumer Behavior first appeared on Dragon Horse Ad Agency.

Just take a look at these impressive LinkedIn statistics:

• More conversions happen on LinkedIn than other social media channels – According to a study by HubSpot, LinkedIn drives 277% more conversions than Twitter or Facebook.
• LinkedIn is Hot for Recruiting and Job Seekers – According to LinkedIn’s stats, four people are hired every minute via LinkedIn.
• Engagement and Networking Activity is On the Rise – Pandemic-era networking demanded a different tack in 2020, resulting in more content posts (60% higher) and more conversations via Linked in messaging (up 55%) over 2019.
• High-Quality Audience – According to Hootsuite, people on LinkedIn tend to have higher incomes and typically have attained higher education. Americans making $75,000 or more are the majority of users, and 50% of college graduates use LinkedIn, by far the largest group.

LinkedIn Learning 2025: Six Brand New Features for Improving Your Personal Profile

If you’re a casual user on LinkedIn, you may not be aware of some of the more recent bells and whistles the social networking platform has added. Many of the latest features are designed to help create a more robust professional profile for individuals. Here are a few to check out and test for your own LinkedIn profile:

• Expanded Headline – This is the first bit of info most people see about you, so it’s a critical piece of real estate on the LinkedIn profile. Although it’s called a headline, it’s more of a concise description of you and the skills or services you offer. Initially capped at 120 characters, the LinkedIn headline section has been expanded 80% to 220 characters, giving you just a bit more space to add details about your subject matter expertise, top skills, or best product offerings.

Where to find it:  Profile Header on Desktop or Mobile
Click on: Profile Edit icon

• New Featured Section – The best way to raise your profile on any social platform is by contributing. Now, LinkedIn is making it easier for others to see your contributions and for you to manage those as well. With the introduction of the featured section, now your best posts have a home. And better yet, you can determine which posts to include in your featured section. Available content types include posts, articles, links or media added by you. Consider curating this area either weekly or monthly depending on how often you post.

Where to find it: Profile Header on Desktop OR Mobile
Click on: Add section button

• Name Pronunciation & Pronouns – Although we still have a long way to go, there’s more diversity in the workplace than ever before. Those different cultural backgrounds sometimes make it hard to know how to pronounce a connection’s name. LinkedIn cleverly added a new feature that aims to assist. Anyone visiting your profile on desktop or mobile can hear your pronunciation audio snippet by clicking on the sound icon; however, you can record it only via LinkedIn’s mobile app. When recording, you get about 10 seconds to enunciate your name clearly and may have enough time to add a mnemonic device like “rhymes with …” to eliminate any confusion. Speaking of eliminating confusion, LinkedIn has also added a pronoun section to the profile so you can be clear about your preferences in that regard as well.

Where to find it: Mobile App, View Profile function
Click on: Edit Profile icon, then “+add name pronunciation”

• Instant Video or Schedule a Video Meeting via Messenger – Let’s say you get a hold of that super-valuable contact inside your top target company using LinkedIn’s messaging feature. Now, you can take that conversation quickly into a face-to-face chat right from that window or set a future meeting using the links. You can choose to use LinkedIn’s embedded video platform or opt for other integrated platforms, such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom.

Where to find it: Messenger Chat Window
Click on: Video icon

• Personal LinkedIn Video Intro – If a picture is worth a thousand words, a personalized video is priceless. This short-form video gives you 30 seconds to pack in your top skills, services, or products, and most importantly, how you may help the prospective client or employer. When a video is available for someone’s profile, you’ll see a green dot and a short 2-3 second preview when you mouse over their profile pic. Click on the profile picture, and you’ll see and hear the full video. This spot gives you an opportunity to show your personality and subject matter expertise. However, we recommend that you think carefully about what your top goals are and keep your audience in mind. A recruiter from an HR department will look for different information than an IT lead in the market for new software. Like the name pronunciation feature, the video is visible on both desktop and mobile, but you can only record it on mobile using a smartphone.

Where to find it: Mobile App, View Profile function
Click on: Plus symbol by your profile photo, select “Add cover story”

• Creator Mode – Depending on your goals for using LinkedIn, it may make sense to turn on the newly available Creator Mode. This mode makes your LinkedIn profile behave a little more like Twitter. Additionally, the function is designed to make your content’s discoverability more likely, in both the news feed and your profile itself. In Creator mode, your default call to action button changes from “Connect” to “Follow,” and the order of your profile sections shift. Typically, your “about” section comes next. However, Creator mode moves that down to make room for the new “Featured” section and brings “Activity” up higher. This mode is best suited for showcasing original content. So if you write a blog or post frequently to support your business or personal brand, this may be a great option. Note: The jury is still out regarding if this is the best option for those who would prefer to build connections, such as a job seeker or sales executive. However, you CAN have the best of both worlds by changing the default call to action back to “connect” (rather than follow) while still in Creator mode.

Where to find it:  Your Dashboard on your profile page
Click on: “Creator Mode: Off”, follow prompts to set it to “On”

Relatively New Features on LinkedIn for Your Company Page

In addition to your personal profile, there are a few excellent features available for Company Pages on LinkedIn. Some of these have been available for the past year or so, but very few company pages are taking advantage of them. If you’re actively recruiting or have businesses as clients, consider tapping these options to increase your visibility and engagement.

• Polls – This feature is also newly available for personal profiles, but the use case is so much stronger for company pages on LinkedIn. For either use case, the LinkedIn algorithm favors poll questions, making them a great tool to get your or your business noticed. People are looking to participate and “be seen” on the social networking platform, and poll questions make it easy for them to do so. Using them for your business also gives you insights into how potential clients think about certain aspects of your industry, and has the potential to draw more prospects out of their shells.

How to Deploy: Start a new post update and look for the bar graph icon in the editing window.

• Events – Being able to set up events at the personal level was available as early as 2019, but this functionality became available for company pages last year. From webinars to trade shows, and new product launches to podcasts, now you can make sure all your company’s deeper engagement opportunities are front and center on your page.

How to Deploy: From your company page, click on Admin Tools and select “create an event.”

• LinkedIn Live Video – Having this option available allows your company to create far more awareness than a typical post for big news, important announcements or marquis-level original content. On LinkedIn, live video tends to get seven times the reactions and 24 times (2400%!!) more comments than regular video.

How to Deploy: LinkedIn highly recommends thinking through live video carefully and using third-party broadcast tools and steaming services. See next steps and LinkedIn Live Video best practices.

• View Page Followers – This helpful analytics and prospecting tool gives you a look at who’s following your page. This lets you determine if your content attracts the right audience. If the followers are not in the right roles, you can adjust your company’s posts to attract the decision-makers you want. Once you have the audience right, you can, of course, start using this list to prospect and find others in similar roles to invite to follow your page.

How to Access: From your company page (logged in as an admin), click on Analytics and then “Followers.”

Dragon Horse Can Help You Scale Your Linked In Strategy

LinkedIn users have increased nearly 30% since 2019, so now is the time to establish yourself on the premier social network for business. Whether you’re looking for a larger corporate presence with a thoughtful strategy or need some help positioning your personal brand, Dragon Horse Agency is here for you. We are content marketing experts who also know a thing or two about paid social. We can help you craft your LinkedIn content strategy and then amplify it with the right audience.

Let’s talk social! Contact us today to get started.

The post Networking in 2025: 10 New LinkedIn Features You Should be Using for Yourself and Your Company first appeared on Dragon Horse Ad Agency.

Machine learning and artificial intelligence software are driving all kinds of enhancements across the digital marketing landscape. These systems are tapping information garnered from customer support dialogue, surveys, online communities, forms, chatbots and chat threads to better understand what customers and clients want, and now, machines are primarily responsible for deciphering this information and learning subtle behavior tendencies.

As a result, new digital marketing trends are focused more on building trust via testimonials, clear concise information, the overall mobile experience and personalization. If a potential client goes to your site and doesn’t find what you advertised, they will immediately move on.  Having the relevant information that ties directly to your advertising initiatives is critical.

As an advertiser, your business needs a strong presence that helps you stand out among your competitors. Your marketing strategy needs to evolve to account for some of the latest platforms and tactics, such as changes in Google pay-per-click advertising, new SEO trends, emerging social media tactics and recognition that your marketing creative matters.

In an industry that’s always evolving, you may be wondering: “What are the latest digital marketing trends for 2022?”

Is Keyword Advertising Dead?

Well, not exactly. New marketing trends are rapidly changing; however, at the moment Google keyword advertising is still the bread and butter for many advertisers. Having said that, machine learning and results oriented algorithms are getting much smarter about finding your target audience on both the Google and Bing advertising platforms.

This means that some of your legacy search engine marketing (SEM) campaigns, keywords and ads are no longer using the best solutions available. New responsive search ads, dynamic search ads and other algorithm based tactics are designed to allow the machines to do their thing and deliver results.

This does not mean you should march out and convert everything immediately. However you should start testing the new capabilities soon. Google will be sunsetting traditional Extended Search Ads later this year, starting in June 2022.

Pull quote: Did you know that Google pay-per-click ads can have images, such as logos, headshots and merchandise?

Recent Trends for SEO & Web Design: You Are What You EAT

So many changes are happening in the world of search engine optimization (SEO) world. Google has multiple algorithm changes per day. Google has close to 6 billion searches each day. SEO is part data driven and part hypothesis. In most cases, there is way more content online than the search that coincides. So, how do you stand out and measure up?

Today, the search algorithms from Google and Bing are looking for EAT, also known as Expertise, Authority and Trust. People want helpful advice and education on how to handle or do something. By using these tactics and then showing how your products or services help, they feel they can trust you more. An example of this is if your organization sells organic baby products, you might include a page that explains the benefits of organic products and how to shop or evaluate organic claims on product labels. Tying your brand to expertise, subject matter authority and trust is everything.

The focus on EAT extends into local search rankings as well. In fact, actively managing your Google Business Profile (GBP), formerly known as Google My Business (GMB), is one of the most important tools any local business has for being discovered online. While your website is table stakes, your GMB account actually has a great deal of influence on how visible your brand is on Google search results, so it’s absolutely vital that you spend some time and effort setting up and optimizing your Google My Business profile.

Recent Trends in Social Media Marketing

Influencer marketing is continuing to gain traction. People want to trust the brands they do business with or buy from and influence marketing is more trusted than traditional methods. This can also work on numerous levels. For example, Health guru and fat loss expert, Thomas DeLauer has a dedicated and substantial following. Thrive Market sponsors his channel and he touts products for other companies based on peer-reviewed studies and research.  If you sell supplements or a keto product, someone like Thomas is your winning lottery ticket.

Another tactic that is picking up steam for business to business marketing is LinkedIn. Whether you use LinkedIn to build your brand, post articles or for job search, it is here to stay. LinkedIn is now one of the top social media sites, and well-respected. Some of the top digital trends for 2022 on LinkedIn are optimizing new styles of searching through the help of chatbots to include audio and imaging are helping reach new customers.  This tactic also branches out for an alternative to face to face meetings. By offering your customers a new way of communicating with you or your brand, you will have greater depth and breadth of scope and influence.

Of course, TikTok is a social media phenomenon that is also ripe for expanding awareness for your brand. No longer a stronghold for just the youngsters, TikTok is where hobbyists of all types share videos about their passions. Let the advertising algorithm find the right hobbies that match your business offering and, violà, your target audience is found.

Other Digital Advertising Trends

Digital advertising trends and ideas are constantly changing. And while Geofencing isn’t brand new, its ability to reach clients is exponential.

Geofencing is a location-based GPS technology software to translate a defined geographic area, such as a building, art festival, hospital or mall, into GPS coordinates. The software then sets a virtual barrier around the area you’ve defined. When a trackable device enters the barrier, the geofence software senses this and permits a response action, such as serving up an ad to the device or registering the date and time. Geofencing location based mobile advertising tactics has grown significantly in recent years.

Breathe New Life into Tired Creative 

Creative matters and understanding when it’s time for new creative is essential to your brand. Don’t be cookie cutter—stand out. In saying that, you still need consistency, but you need to stand out above the noise.  A good way to check your creative isn’t in a rut or if you need to make a few tweaks is to look at a bigger brand.  For example, if you own an online life coaching business, check out your mentor’s creative assets and see if you’re on track i.e., Tony Robbins or Brooke Castillo.

Another example is interactive digital communication. With avatars and chatbots available on the majority of sites, your creative needs to compete. Do your interactive features hold the clients interest?  That’s where tracking and understanding your clients’ needs is of the utmost importance.

Turn to Dragon Horse Agency for Current Digital Trends and Your Advertising Needs 

A fresh, new digital advertising campaign can add a dose of energy and excitement to an existing marketing strategy to escalate your business to new levels. A competitive message delivered to the right clients at the right time is powerful.

As technology and trends change, our advertising efforts do as well. Some of the tried and true methods are constantly going to remain your constant, while other trends are going to need an upgrade or complete overhaul. It can be challenging to try and stay on top of these efforts alone. A good team is imperative to your success.

Dragon Horse Agency can expertly guide you through the digital marketing process and manage your campaigns from content to execution. We’ll also provide you with thorough reporting and analysis.

Let’s take your marketing to a new level with digital marketing efforts that are on trend and evolving. Contact us today at (239) 325-5088 for more information.

The post Spring Refresh: Digital Marketing Trends for 2022 first appeared on Dragon Horse Ad Agency.

The post The Importance of Your Google Business Profile (GBP) Listing and How to Get Started first appeared on Dragon Horse Ad Agency.

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The post Good Geofencing Makes Good Marketing: How Geofencing Advertising Can Help You Target Your Audience and Eliminate Waste in Your Digital Marketing Campaigns first appeared on Dragon Horse Ad Agency.