You’re likely not living under a rock, and so you’ve noticed: AI is changing the game. Search, how to rank, the funnel – everything.
Whatever you call it, the fact is: Search isn’t what it used to be. AI Overviews, zero-click results, LLM summaries – we’re in a new world of information gathering.
For serious marketers and strategists, a key part of marketing has always been positioning and messaging. Without this, it can be impossible for brands and products to break through, especially in the startup world.
So: how is AI impacting the ways companies’ messaging reaches the market, and how should companies adapt?
Search Is No Longer a Funnel Entry Point
Search used to be the moment of curiosity. A potential buyer would type a need or question into Google, land on your blog or product page, and step into your world.
This entry point is being rerouted.
With the rollout of AI-enhanced search (think: Google’s Search Generative Experience or Microsoft’s Copilot), the engine itself often delivers the summary, the comparison, or the answer – without a single click to your site. Cries in SEMRush.
That means:
- Your copy needs to be AI-readable as much as human-readable.
- The value of differentiated messaging just went up—generic claims are collapsed into generic summaries.
- Brand awareness and positioning now need to hit before the search query, not at the moment of it.
AI Levels the Playing Field on Execution – but NOT Positioning
Let’s be blunt: generative AI is making it easier than ever to produce serviceable content. Dozens of competitors can generate blog posts, landing pages, and social copy on the same topic – at speed and scale. They could take this very blog, and just ask an LLM to plagiarize it in new words! The horror!
But AI can’t define what matters. It can’t create your unique point of view. It can’t synthesize your product’s edge, your market insight, and your customer reality into a compelling strategic narrative.
In short: execution is being commoditized. Positioning isn’t.
If your messaging doesn’t stand for something specific and sharp, you’ll drown in the noise – even if you’re churning out content faster than ever.
AI Makes Narrative Drift Even More Dangerous
Here’s a new risk: with more people prompting AI tools across your organization – Sales, Marketing, Product, Support – you’re more likely to see message fragmentation creep in. Slightly different narratives, descriptions, and claims start to show up across assets and touchpoints.
That weakens your brand, confuses your buyer, and makes it harder to build familiarity and trust.
You need a clear, consistent core narrative to anchor all that AI-assisted content creation. Think of it as your “message spine”; the underlying structure that everything else builds on.
If you don’t define it clearly and document it well, ChatGPT will decide for you. And it’ll sound like everyone else.
Buyers Are Vetting You With AI Before You Ever Talk
Enterprise buyers are starting to use tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Claude to do early research. They’re asking:
- Who are the top vendors in this category?
- What are the pros and cons of [company x]?
- How does [company x] compare to [company y]?
This is the new pre-funnel. And it means your narrative – your differentiation, your proof points, your brand perception – needs to be discoverable and reinforced across third-party sources, not just your own channels.
That includes:
- Analyst reports
- G2 reviews
- Case studies
- Partner sites
- Community chatter
- Publicly crawlable assets
Messaging doesn’t live in a vacuum anymore. It lives in a system of signals. Make sure yours are aligned. Yes, it’s more work. But it’s essential!
Message Testing Just Got Easier (If You Know How to Use It)
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. AI isn’t a threat, or isn’t only a threat. It can also be a tool. You can now test, refine, and pressure-test your messaging much faster.
A few ways to do this well:
- Use LLMs to simulate how different buyer personas might react to your pitch.
- Feed in your positioning and ask for “objections” or blind spots you might be missing.
- Translate your messaging into different formats (email, sales scripts, landing pages) and see where it falls apart.
The key is to treat AI like a thinking partner, not a messaging author. It’s great for reframing and iterating. Just don’t let it do your thinking for you. Think of it like the best intern ever. But check the work, bring the seniority, and don’t delegate everything out of laziness.
Humans Still Decide What Matters
Here’s the core truth: messaging is still human work. It’s the process of deciding:
- What’s most important
- Who it’s for
- Why it matters
- And how to say it so it sticks
AI can help you write it better. But you still have to know what you’re trying to say, and why anyone in the market should give a crap.
That’s what positioning is. And that’s what the best companies will double down on, while everyone else drowns in prompt fatigue.
Remember…
If AI commoditizes execution, then messaging becomes your moat.
The companies that will win in the AI era are the ones that clarify what they stand for, say it sharply, and say it consistently: across every channel and touchpoint, human or machine.
There’s work to do! Let’s get after it.