Your AI Tool Won't Fix How Buyers Discover You
The TL:DR Version:
Buyers now discover solutions via AI, peers, and communities before visiting your website
Optimizing for speed (more AI tools) doesn't help if you're optimizing the wrong motion
Shift from "inbound" (waiting for buyers) to "discovery" (showing up where they research)
Ask: Where is my ICP discovering solutions? Am I there?
We've all been here.
Pipeline is down. The pressure is on. And the fastest solution feels like buying another tool.
Meanwhile, the team is still implementing the last three tools. The integrations are half-broken. No one's trained. But we're already excited about the next shiny thing.
I get it. There's real pressure right now to "do more with AI". More personalization, more outreach, more content, more productivity.
And yes, AI can help you work faster. But it can’t help build pipeline if you’re still building for the way buyers discovered products in 2019.
Speed doesn't matter if you're optimizing for the wrong thing.
Most teams are using AI to do more of what's already not working. More emails. More ads. More content that goes to the same places buyers stopped looking two years ago.
But the buyer journey has fundamentally changed.
Your buyers aren't starting on your website anymore.
They're asking ChatGPT: "What are the best [your category] tools for [their use case]?"
They're searching in ways that bypass your SEO strategy entirely. They're getting recommendations from AI before they ever see your brand.
It’s become crucial to show up in all the ways buyers discover products.
Here's what this means:
Before you add another AI tool to your stack, ask a different question:
Not "How do we do more?" but "How do we show up where buyers are actually discovering solutions?"
A few things to consider:
1. Are you creating content that AI will surface?
AI models prioritize clear, authoritative, specific content. Vague positioning and generic "thought leadership" don't cut it. If a buyer asks an AI tool for recommendations in your space, does your content give the AI something concrete to reference?
2. Are you building authority in the new search era?
This isn't just SEO anymore. It's about being referable, the kind of company that gets mentioned when someone asks their network, or an AI, "Who should I talk to about this?"
That comes from having a clear POV, showing up consistently, and teaching instead of selling.
3. Are you designed for discovery before the website visit?
Most demand engines assume the buyer journey starts on your website. But if buyers are 70% through their decision before they ever visit you, your strategy needs to start upstream.
Where are they researching? Reddit? LinkedIn? Peer communities? AI tools? Are you showing up there?
4. Does your ICP even know you exist in the places they're looking?
You can have perfect targeting and great content, but if it's only living on your blog or behind a form, buyers will never find it. You need to be where they're already searching: not waiting for them to come to you.
The shift:
We've spent a decade optimizing inbound - getting people to come to us.
Now we need to optimize for discovery marketing - showing up where people are already looking, before they know they need us.
AI tools can help with this. But only if you're clear on what you're building and who you're building it for.
Buying another tool won't fix a strategy that's designed for a buyer journey that doesn't exist anymore.
So before you add the next AI-powered tool, ask yourself:
Where is our ICP actually discovering solutions like ours, and are we showing up there with real value?
What's one place your buyers are researching that you're not showing up in yet? Hit reply and let me know. I read every response.
See you next week,
Shannon
P.S. If this resonated, forward it to a colleague who's dealing with the same pressure to "just add AI."
