CMO Confidential Newsletter: Week of Nov 18th
In this week’s episode of CMO Confidential, host Mike Linton is joined by Chris Andrew, CEO and co-founder of Scrunch AI, to explore the seismic shifts AI is creating in the marketing world. From the disappearance of organic search to the collapse of the consideration funnel, Chris shares his view on how brands can adapt to engage with AI bots—the new customers that are rewriting the rules of marketing.
This week’s top 5 insights deliver a roadmap for staying competitive in a world where your AI assistant does the thinking for your consumers.
- As Organic Search Declines, AI Bots May Become Your New Customers —Act Accordingly The evolution of AI will drastically reduce the amount of organic search - Gartner predicts a dramatic 50% decline as AI becomes the primary decision-making tool. "Google is already cannibalizing its own results with AI summaries because that’s where consumers are headed," said Chris. That means AI bots are becoming the intermediaries between brands and consumers. "If your customer is using an AI assistant to decide what car to buy or where to eat, you’re not marketing to them—you’re marketing to the assistant." Much like optimizing for Google in the early days of search, marketers now need to prioritize their visibility in AI-generated answers. Key Action: Shift from designing websites for humans to structuring content for AI bots.
- The Death of Consideration Funnels and Websites AI will likely compress the customer purchase journey, which in turn, will collapse the current consideration phase of buying. "Instead of browsing 50 winter jackets on a website, AI will deliver five curated options based on past behavior and personal context. AI assistants know you better than your best friend—they’re your personal stylists, shopping advisors, and researchers. If AI knows my preferences and history better than my friends do, why wouldn’t I trust it more?" In this situation, websites will become data sources rather than destinations. Key Action: Simplify content into structured, FAQ-style formats to feed AI’s need for concise, direct answers and invest in branding and consistent messaging to ensure AI accurately reflects your value proposition.
- The Rising Cost of AI-Powered Ads AI-generated recommendations are shifting the economics of search advertising. "Platforms like Perplexity are charging 10-20x traditional ad rates because AI users are deeper in the purchase funnel," Chris said. ?Takeaway: These ads will produce a greater ROI as they reach users at critical decision-making moments. Marketers should test and learn so they understand the true value of these ads to their company situation.
- Brand Visibility in AI Answers Will Be Make-or-Break? Brands need to actively monitor how AI platforms like GPT, Perplexity, and Meta represent them. "One of the first steps is to compare your traditional search results with how you show up in AI-driven results," Chris advised. Key Action: Audit your AI visibility and optimize for gaps, inaccuracies, and content structure issues. I think we need more here on the takeaway.? E.g. Look at both sides of the story.??
- Humans Still Matter a Lot — Don’t Outsource Your Strategy to AI Resist the temptation to hand everything to the AI Gods: Chris ended with a reminder: "Taste, critical thinking, and creativity are irreplaceable. AI can provide answers, but it’s up to you to ensure those answers align with your brand’s unique vision." Practical Advice: Use AI tools to streamline execution, but don’t lose sight of the human touch. AI is a complement, not a replacement, for thoughtful strategy.
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