1/7 Onboarding - What is AI Search? Why is it relevant?
In this lesson (4-min read + video): the shift from Google to AI answers, and what "winning" now looks like for your brand.
Video link: https://www.loom.com/share/3917ec486a714cb6a0f7280a61fef832
Key concepts
Answer engines — ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews / AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini, and Copilot: engines that answer a question directly instead of returning ten blue links.
Brand visibility — how often your brand is named in those AI answers. It's your new #1 metric, in place of clicks and rankings.
Citations — the third-party sources an engine pulls in while answering. They heavily shape which brands get mentioned, which makes them your main short-term lever.
Quick reference
The core shift. People increasingly get their answer without clicking. If the AI doesn't mention you, you've lost the customer before they ever reach your site.
The 3-step cycle Otterly runs on. Research prompts → Monitor daily → Analyze & optimize.
What to measure. Brand visibility first, citations second. Traffic, clicks, and rankings still matter, but they're no longer the headline.
Rule of thumb. You can only improve what you measure — so monitoring comes before optimizing.