5. The “Boring” Brand Website Matters—Finally!

As AI aggregates information from across the web, owned media becomes more crucial than ever. Owned media is the No. 1 “ingredient” — or “algorithmic anchor” — of AI answers across all engines from Perplexity and Grok/X to Gemini and ChatGPT. A brand’s website isn't just for humans anymore—it's also educating the bots that will shape consumer perceptions of the brand. Brands must invest in creating robust, informative content that serves both audiences.