How people are starting to find businesses
AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot are becoming a common way for people to find information online. Instead of using a traditional search engine and comparing several links, people can now ask an assistant for guidance, a recommendation, or a direct answer.
For brands, that creates a practical challenge. Your website and mobile app need to be easy for AI systems to find, read and understand. Writing only for search engines is no longer enough on its own. Your digital platforms also need to be clearly structured, so these tools can interpret your content accurately.
Why your own platforms come first
AI is becoming part of how customers research products, services and businesses. When someone asks an assistant about a product, service or category, your brand is more likely to be considered if your website or app can be understood clearly by that system.
Digital hygiene matters more than ever here. Clear page structures, accurate HTML tags, useful metadata, descriptive alt text and well-organised content all help AI systems make sense of what your site is about. And this is where your owned channels earn their place. Visibility across AI platforms is useful, but it should not come at the expense of your own website or app, because those are what give you control over the customer experience, your messaging, and the relationship you build with users.
Getting your platforms ready
A few practical steps make a site easier for both people and AI systems to work with.
Review your website and app structure so important information is easy to find and logically organised. Make sure page titles, headings, HTML tags and metadata accurately describe the content on each page. Add descriptive alt text to images so visual content has clear context. And write content that is clear, specific and easy to interpret, while still sounding natural to a human reader.
Then test how your brand appears across different AI systems, but keep your own website and app at the centre of your digital strategy rather than the edge of it.
The two traps to avoid
The first is treating AI optimisation as a brand new discipline that replaces SEO. It does not. The fundamentals still matter: clear structure, reliable content, accessibility, performance, and a user experience that works well on mobile and desktop.
The second is focusing so much on AI visibility that you neglect your own channels. AI platforms may help people discover you, but your website and app are still where you present your brand clearly, support users properly, and keep more control over the experience.
Building platforms that are ready for AI
Kraken Dev Co can help brands strengthen the technical foundations of their websites and apps, so they are easier for both people and AI systems to use. That might mean reviewing site structure, improving metadata, refining HTML, supporting better performance, and making digital experiences more reliable. The aim is not to chase every new AI trend, but to build cleaner, clearer, more dependable platforms that are ready for the way customers are starting to search, compare and decide online.
