AI Search Best Practices: What Leading Brands Do Differently

I recently ran an experiment: I asked ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity the same 50 business-related questions and tracked which brands got mentioned most often. The results were surprising – and revealing.

Some brands appeared in 60-70% of relevant responses. Others, including some well-known companies with massive SEO budgets, barely registered. After digging into what separated the winners from the invisible, I found patterns that any business can apply.

The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything

The brands dominating AI search think differently about content. They don't ask, "What keywords should we target?" Instead, they ask, "What questions keep our customers up at night?"

Take Basecamp, for example. When AI assistants are asked about project management challenges, Basecamp appears frequently – not because they game the system, but because they've spent years writing honestly about the real problems teams face. Their content reads like helpful advice from an experienced colleague, not marketing copy.

The lesson: Stop writing for search engines. Start writing for the human who will eventually ask an AI about your topic.

Strategy #1: Own Your Conversation Category

The most successful brands don't try to dominate every conversation. They pick their battles carefully and become the definitive voice in specific areas.

Mailchimp's Smart Focus

Instead of trying to rank for every "email marketing" query, Mailchimp consistently appears when people ask about email marketing for small businesses. They've created hundreds of pieces of content specifically addressing small business email challenges, from list building to design tips for non-designers.

What they do differently:

• Focus on a specific segment (small businesses) rather than trying to be everything to everyone
• Address the unique challenges of their target audience
• Create content that acknowledges resource constraints and practical limitations

Your action step: Identify 2-3 specific conversation categories where you want to be the go-to expert. Then create comprehensive resources that address every common question in those areas.

Strategy #2: The "Question Behind the Question" Approach

Leading brands understand that people often ask AI assistants the wrong questions – and they create content that addresses what people really need to know.

When someone asks "What's the best CRM?" they usually mean "How do I choose a CRM that won't overwhelm my sales team?" or "What CRM will actually get used by my team?"

HubSpot's Depth Strategy

HubSpot doesn't just list CRM features. They create content like "Why 60% of CRM implementations fail (and how to avoid it)" and "What to expect in your first 90 days with a new CRM." This addresses the deeper concerns people have but might not know how to ask about.

What they do differently:

• Acknowledge common fears and objections upfront
• Provide realistic timelines and expectations
• Share both success stories and failure analysis
• Focus on implementation challenges, not just product features

Your action step: For each product or service you offer, list the 5 most common concerns or objections. Create content that addresses these underlying worries, not just the surface-level questions.

Strategy #3: The Multi-Touch Authority Building

AI systems notice when your expertise appears across multiple contexts and formats. The brands mentioned most often have established authority through diverse content types and platforms.

Buffer's Everywhere Strategy

Buffer appears in AI responses about social media because they're consistently helpful across multiple touchpoints:

• They share daily tips on social media platforms
• Their blog posts dive deep into strategy and tactics
• They publish annual reports with original data
• They appear on podcasts sharing insights
• They write guest posts for industry publications

Each piece reinforces their expertise, creating a web of authority that AI systems recognize and trust.

What they do differently:

• Maintain consistent expertise positioning across all channels
• Share valuable insights even when not promoting their product
• Contribute original research and data to industry conversations
• Build relationships with other industry experts and publications

Your action step: Create a content distribution plan that showcases your expertise across at least 4-5 different formats or platforms.

Strategy #4: The Generous Expert Approach

The brands that appear most often in AI responses are generous with their expertise. They share detailed, actionable advice without immediately pushing their product.

Intercom's Educational Investment

When people ask AI assistants about customer support best practices, Intercom frequently appears in responses. This isn't because they have better SEO, but because they've published hundreds of thoughtful articles about customer service challenges, team management, and communication strategies.

They regularly share frameworks, templates, and detailed case studies that help people solve problems – whether or not they become Intercom customers.

What they do differently:

• Lead with education, not promotion
• Share detailed frameworks and templates for free
• Provide actionable advice that works regardless of which tools you use
• Focus on helping people succeed, not just selling products

Your action step: For each piece of promotional content you create, balance it with two pieces of purely educational content that helps your audience succeed.

Strategy #5: The Fresh Perspective Advantage

AI systems favor content that offers unique insights or approaches, not rehashed conventional wisdom.

Notion's Category Creation

Instead of positioning themselves as "another productivity app," Notion created content around "building your second brain" and "personal knowledge management." They consistently appear in AI responses about these topics because they helped define the conversation.

What they do differently:

• Challenge conventional wisdom with data and examples
• Introduce new frameworks and terminology
• Share contrarian viewpoints backed by experience
• Create content that sparks industry discussions

Your action step: Identify one area where conventional wisdom is incomplete or outdated. Create content that challenges assumptions and offers a fresh perspective backed by data or experience.

Common Mistakes That Kill AI Visibility

Mistake #1: Writing Like a Press Release

AI systems can detect promotional language and tend to favor more natural, conversational content. If your content sounds like marketing copy, it's less likely to be referenced.

Fix: Read your content aloud. If it sounds unnatural or overly promotional, rewrite it in a more conversational tone.

Mistake #2: Feature-Focused Instead of Outcome-Focused

People ask AI assistants about problems they want to solve, not product specifications they want to compare. Lead with outcomes, not features.

Fix: Start every piece of content with the problem it solves, not the solution it provides.

Mistake #3: Inconsistent Expertise Positioning

If you write about everything, AI systems don't know what you're actually an expert in. Pick your lanes and own them.

Fix: Audit your content and identify 3-5 core topics. Focus 80% of your content creation on these areas.

Mistake #4: Ignoring the Conversation Format

AI responses are conversational. Content that's overly formal or corporate often gets overlooked in favor of more accessible, helpful resources.

Fix: Write like you're explaining the topic to a colleague over coffee, not presenting to a board room.

Building Your AI Search Strategy: A 90-Day Plan

Days 1-30: Foundation

• Audit your existing content for conversational tone and helpfulness
• Identify your 3-5 core expertise areas
• Map the real questions your customers ask in these areas
• Start rewriting your top 10 pieces of content in a more conversational style

Days 31-60: Expansion

• Create comprehensive topic clusters around your core expertise areas
• Begin distributing content across multiple platforms
• Start engaging in industry conversations and forums
• Launch a regular content series that showcases your expertise

Days 61-90: Optimization

• Monitor your AI search mentions and track improvements
• Double down on the content types and topics that generate the most mentions
• Build relationships with other industry experts for cross-promotion
• Develop original research or data to differentiate your content

How Llumos Helps You Track What's Working

Implementing these strategies without measuring results is like driving with your eyes closed. Llumos tracks your brand mentions across ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity, showing you exactly which content strategies are improving your AI search visibility.

Our platform helps you identify which topics generate the most mentions, how your positioning compares to competitors, and where you have the biggest opportunities to improve. Instead of guessing whether your content strategy is working, you get clear data on your AI visibility trends.

Ready to see which of these strategies will work best for your brand? Start your free trial and get your first competitive AI search analysis today.

The Long Game: Building Sustainable AI Visibility

The brands winning in AI search are playing a different game than traditional SEO. They're focused on being genuinely helpful and building real expertise, knowing that AI systems reward authority and trustworthiness over optimization tricks.

This approach takes longer than traditional SEO tactics, but it's more sustainable. As AI systems become more sophisticated, they'll get better at identifying and rewarding genuine expertise while filtering out manipulation attempts.

Start here: Pick one specific problem your ideal customers face. Create the most comprehensive, helpful resource on that topic that exists anywhere. Make it genuinely useful for someone who might never buy from you.

Then do it again for the next problem.

That's how you build AI search visibility that lasts.