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How Brands Win in AI Search
OpenAI unveils o3 and o4-mini, Claude gets new research feature, Veo 2 added to Gemini Advanced, adapting your brand to AI search and more!
Everyday AI
April 16, 2025
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Outsmart The Future
Today in Everyday AI
7 minute read
š Daily Podcast Episode: How can brands thrive in the evolving landscape of AI search? We uncover why all search is becoming AI search and how to adapt. Give it a listen.
šµļøāāļø Fresh Finds: ChatGPT adds AI image library, Google uses AI to suspend ad accounts and Grok gets new AI features. Read on for Fresh Finds.
š Byte Sized Daily AI News: OpenAI unveils o3 and o4-mini, Claude gets new research feature and Google adds Veo 2 to Gemini Advanced. For that and more, read on for Byte Sized News.
š§ Learn & Leveraging AI: Wondering what your brand can do to win the AI search battle? Hereās how you can come out on top. Keep reading for that!
ā©ļø Donāt miss out: Did you miss our last newsletter? We talked about OpenAI's new social network, Apple's AI boost with user data, GPT-4.5 phasing out and OpenAI's engineer AI agent. Check it here!
How Brands Win in AI Search š„
Most brands are about to vanish from search. Yours doesnāt have to.
AI search isnāt the future. Itās already rewriting the rules. And if youāre not adapting -- youāre disappearing.
Whatās changing? Whoās winning? And why are some brands thriving while others fade into the algorithmic abyss?
Chris Andrew, CEO & Co-founder of Scrunch AI, joins us to break it all down.
Also on the pod today:
ā¢ Shifting SEO Tactics for AI Search š
ā¢ Small Brands Competing in AI Search š
ā¢ AI Search and Customer Journey Changesš¶
Itāll be worth your 34 minutes:
Listen on our site:
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YouTube| Amazon Music |
Hereās our favorite AI finds from across the web:
New AI Tool Spotlight ā Boxo launches AI features in your mobile app fast, Mailgo is an AI-powered cold email platform and Acedit is an AI interview coach.
Google ā Google used AI to suspend 39.2 million ad accounts suspected of fraud.
OpenAI ā ChatGPT has added a library for your AI-generated images.
OpenAI has aqui-hired the context.ai startup team.
AI Chips - AMD is facing U.S. license requirements for AI chip exports to China and could lose $800M in inventory if they donāt obtain one.
Anthropic ā Anthropic has formed a new team to recruit AWS customers to its AI products.
AI Models - Grok has added GrokStudio, a tool for creating apps and docs.
Future of Work ā Bill Gates says AI is coming for two kinds of jobs that were once tech proof.
Read This ā A new report from Microsoft shows that AI is making online shopping scams harder to spot.
1. OpenAI Unveils Next-Gen Reasoning Models o3 and o4-mini š§
OpenAI has just launched o3 and o4-mini, its latest AI reasoning models designed to pause and think through questions before answering. These models not only outperform previous versions in math, coding, and visual tasks but also integrate tool use like web browsing and Python execution directly in ChatGPT, enhancing real-time problem-solving.
The models are available now for Pro, Plus, and Team subscribers. For developers and professionals aiming to leverage AI for smarter applications, these models offer a fresh balance of speed, cost, and reliability that could reshape how AI supports complex decision-making.
2. Anthropic Unveils Google Workspace Integration and Research Feature for Claude ā”ļø
Anthropic just supercharged its AI assistant Claude by connecting it directly to Gmail, Google Calendar, and Docs, turning it into a proactive workplace aide that can organize emails, meeting notes, and action items without you lifting a finger. Alongside this, Claudeās new Research feature now performs multi-step searches with source citations, aiming to solve complex queries in under five minutesāputting it head-to-head with Microsoft Copilot and other AI rivals.
Currently in beta for select regions and plans, these updates promise to streamline workflows and surface deeper insights while addressing privacy and accuracy concerns.
3. Google Rolls Out Veo 2 For Gemini Advanced Subscribers š„
Google is now letting Gemini Advanced subscribers test Veo 2, its latest text-to-video AI model that generates 8-second, 720p cinematic-quality clips directly from prompts. The upgrade promises more realistic motion and physics, plus easy sharing options to TikTok and YouTube, marking a push to make AI video creation more accessible and streamlined. Subscribers face monthly limits but get notified as they approach them, showing Googleās cautious approach to managing resource use.
Alongside Veo 2, Google also launched Whisk Animate globally for Google One AI Premium users, expanding creative tools that transform images into short videos, signaling a broader commitment to AI-driven content creation
4. OpenAI Tweaks Safety Rules Amid Rising AI Race āļø
OpenAI has updated its Preparedness Framework, signaling it may ease safety requirements if competitors launch āhigh-riskā AI systems without similar protections, according to a recent blog post. This move comes amid accusations that OpenAI is rushing releases at the expense of thorough safety testing, a concern intensified by a brief filed by former employees in Elon Muskās lawsuit.
The company insists any adjustments will be cautious, aiming to maintain robust safeguards despite faster development cycles relying more on automated evaluations.
5. Anthropic Prepares Voice Modes for Claude AI š£
Anthropic is reportedly gearing up to launch three distinct voice optionsāMellow, Airy, and Butteryāfor its Claude AI chatbot, potentially as soon as this month, according to Bloomberg. This move places Anthropic in direct competition with OpenAIās ChatGPT voice features, signaling the companyās intent to enhance user interaction through more natural speech modalities.
The development reflects growing demand for versatile AI tools that can support professionals and creators by offering varied, personalized voice experiences.
6. Texas Grid Rules May Slow Trumpās AI Data Center Plans š¢
New Texas legislation could delay the construction of key data centers critical to Donald Trumpās $500 billion AI infrastructure push, with added regulatory reviews and costly power backup requirements potentially extending approval times up to two years. This comes as Stargate, a consortium including OpenAI and SoftBank, begins building its first 10 centers in Texas but faces uncertainty over future projects under Senate Bill 6.
While the bill aims to protect Texasā fragile power grid after the deadly 2021 winter storm, it risks deterring tech investments just as the U.S. tries to outpace China in AI development.
7. NVIDIA Hit with New U.S. Export License Requirement on H20 AI Chips š
NVIDIA revealed Tuesday that the U.S. government now requires it to obtain a license to export its advanced H20 AI chips to China indefinitely, citing concerns over their use in Chinese supercomputers. This unexpected move could cost Nvidia $5.5 billion in charges for Q1 fiscal 2026 and contributed to a 6% drop in its stock price after hours.
The H20 is currently the most advanced AI chip NVIDIA can legally export to China, but growing government pressure followed reports linking the chip to Chinaās DeepSeek startup and its disruptive AI model.
š¦¾How You Can Leverage:
Your website is getting fewer human visitors.
Itās twiddling its digital thumbs, aimlessly looking around. Just wonderingā¦. WHERE DID ALL THE HUMANS GO!?!
But, your companyās site is getting WAY more robot visitors.
And then thereās the robot-referred humans that AI search brings to your doorstep? Yeah, they're 5X more likely to buy your stuff than if they just randomly found you on a traditional Google search.
Such is the online dilemma for millions of businesses worldwide.
The rules of SEO and the internet have been largely easy to follow for decades.
And successful companies ā from small, local businesses to behemoth enterprises ā have made their mark by creating content that converts human website readers into customers.
Butā¦.. now itās the AI search engines like Perplexity, Googleās AI search and ChatGPT that are dishing about your company.
Not traditional search engines.
Soā¦. How can brands win the SEO game when so much of those searches are now happening in AI chats?
Chris Andrew, CEO of Scrunch AI, dropped the game plan on today's Everyday AI episode.
Companies checking their server logs are finding AI crawlers from ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity EVERYWHEREāconsuming content like digital locusts.
Is your brand ready? (Probably not.)
But we gotchyuuuuu shorties. Hereās what ya need to know. š
1 ā Your Marketing Funnel Just Collapsed ā¤µļø
We've all rage-quit a recipe blog after scrolling through 17 paragraphs about someone's trip to Tuscany without getting a single ingredient for cooking that pasta.
(WTF Carol just gimme the ingredients!)
See, thatās how the internet and SEO game has traditionally gone. Companies and websites with suuuuuuper long-form content were awarded. Not the site that gave you the answer quickly without fluff.
Chris used this exact example to explain why AI search is exploding.
People HATE browsing. No one wants to open 17 tabs and read for 45 minutes to find one answer when a LLM can give it to you in 17 seconds.
We just never had an alternative until now.
When Chris noticed his own behavior changingāasking ChatGPT questions instead of visiting websitesāhe realized consumer behavior was shifting FAST.
The traditional funnel where people visit, browse, and maybe convert?
Deadzo.
Now they ask AI their questions, make their decision there, and only visit when they're ready to buy.
Try This:
Run this test today: Take your three biggest conversion pages and track referring traffic sources.
Chris discovered that AI-referred visitors convert at ridiculous rates (2-5X higher) because they arrive pre-educated. They're not browsingāthey're BUYING.
2 ā Youāre Probably Blocking Your Best Traffic Source ā
Last week, Chris audited a Fortune 500 company that had accidentally blocked ALL AI crawlers.
Massive whoooospsies. Lolz.
When you block AI crawlers, Chris explained, you force AI to cobble together information about your brand from random third-party sites. Those sources might have wrong pricing, outdated products, or worse.
They might say your product/service stinks.
One media company complained their podcasts weren't appearing in AI search results.
The fix? Stop blocking the crawlers on free content they actually WANTED people to find.
While many companies rushed to block AI scrapers 9-18 months ago, they set their online content minds on cruise control.
Now that Google delivers AI results by default on many queries, blocking āAI crawlersā means youāre wiping your digital footprint from everyone.
Now that everything is shifting to AI-first search, you canāt exactly block the likes of Google, Perplexity, ChatGPT, etc. and expect to still get new customers on your site.
Try This:
Pull up your server logs right now. Search for crawler visits from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity. Chris says companies often find hundreds of daily visits they never knew about.
Hereās an easy way to check.
Login to your Google Analytics: Acquisition ā> Traffic Acquisition ā> sort by session source/medium ā> look for ChatGPT/perplexity/etc
Then check your robots.txt file. Many companies blocked AI crawlers months ago without realizing the consequences. Chris warned that if you block Google's AI crawler, you might accidentally block regular Google search tooāa fatal mistake many brands still haven't caught.
3 ā Small Brands Can Actually Win This Battle āļø
Here's the coolest part, underdogs.
(WOOF!)
Chris discovered something WILD during his Scrunch AI journey: your brand reputation is no longer just what's on your website.
It's what AI THINKS about you.
Chris explained that for non-branded searches, a whopping 80% of websites cited by AI models are third-party content. Review sites. Industry blogs. Forums. Social media.
Even scarier? AI is now the primary consumer of your customer journey content. That top-of-funnel blog post you wrote? It's not for humans anymore.
It's for robots.
And those robots are JUDGING you based on how clearly you explain complex topics. Chris emphasized that AI doesn't care about your keyword density or backlink profile. It cares about how well you match user intent.
This explains why Chris sees companies with super-detailed persona mapping crushing it in AI search. They've mapped every question their customers ask at each journey stage.
Try This:
Feed your top five customer personas into ChatGPT and ask it to generate the exact questions they'd ask before purchasing your product. Chris found this technique reveals blind spots in your content strategy that AI crawlers might be noticing.
Then search for your brand name + "review" or "alternative" in three different AI tools. Chris said this quickly reveals what third-party content is shaping your reputation. Often, it's outdated info you could easily fix with a simple outreach email.
While your competitors debate whether AI search matters, Chris has seen clients double their AI referral traffic for six straight months.
Your move.
Hit reply if you've checked your logs yet. The results might shock you.
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