TransformerPeople now discover products in two places that aren't a list of blue links: creators' feeds and AI-generated answers. Creator content shows up directly in the first and increasingly shapes the second, which makes influencer marketing one of the most direct ways to be found.
Where do people discover products now?
For two decades the default path was: have a need, search Google, click a result. That path still exists, but it has company.
- Social feeds. GWI data reported by eMarketer found that 51% of Gen Z consumers worldwide use social media to look up a brand, compared with 45% who use search engines. A 2024 Forbes Advisor and Talker Research survey of 2,000 Americans found 46% of Gen Z and 35% of millennials prefer social media to traditional search engines for finding information.
- AI answers. Instead of searching, many people ask ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity or Google's AI features and read a synthesized answer. Gartner predicted in 2024 that traditional search engine volume would fall 25% by 2026 as AI chatbots and virtual agents absorb queries. The exact number is debated, but the direction is not.
Why do creators matter for social discovery?
On social platforms, discovery happens through people. You find a new tool because someone you follow posted about using it. The algorithm decides what you see, but the trust comes from the person.
For a brand, that means the shortest path into a feed is a creator who is already in it. Paying for a post from a creator whose audience matches your buyers puts your product where those buyers are already looking.
Why do creators matter for AI answers (GEO)?
Generative engine optimization (GEO) and answer engine optimization (AEO) are about being cited or recommended when someone asks an AI assistant a question like "what's the best tool for X?"
AI systems build those answers from what's written about you on the public web. Much of the most useful material is what real people say about real products: reviews, threads, comparisons and posts. A product that many credible people have written about is easier for an AI system to describe and recommend than one that only has its own marketing page.
Creator posts help in three ways:
- They create independent mentions. Many separate voices describing your product is a stronger signal than your own site repeating itself.
- They use the words buyers use. Creators describe the problem in plain language, which matches how people phrase questions to AI assistants.
- They drive searches and links. People who see a post go looking for the product, link to it and talk about it, which adds more public signal.
None of this replaces having clear, crawlable information on your own site (we publish an llms.txt for exactly that reason). But your own site is one voice. Creators multiply it.
What should brands do about it?
- Treat creator posts as discovery, not just awareness. They put you in feeds now and in the public record that AI systems read.
- Brief creators on the problem you solve, in plain words. That's what people will later ask an AI about.
- Favor posts that stay public. Posts on open platforms like X can be read, linked and cited. Disappearing content can't.
- Measure the direct effect with a tracked link per creator, and watch branded search and signups for the indirect effect.
Key takeaways
- Younger buyers often look up brands on social media before search engines.
- AI assistants are absorbing a growing share of questions that used to go to search.
- Creator posts put you in feeds directly and add independent, public mentions that AI answers draw on.
FAQ
Do Gen Z use TikTok and Instagram instead of Google?
Many do for some kinds of searches. GWI data reported by eMarketer found 51% of Gen Z consumers use social media to look up brands versus 45% who use search engines, and a 2024 Forbes Advisor survey found 46% of Gen Z prefer social media to traditional search.
What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?
GEO is the practice of making a brand easy for AI systems such as ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google's AI features to understand, cite and recommend. It relies on clear information on your own site and on credible, independent mentions elsewhere on the web.
Can influencer marketing help a brand show up in ChatGPT answers?
It can help indirectly. AI assistants summarize what's written about a product on the public web, and posts from credible creators add independent descriptions of what the product does and who it's for. There's no guaranteed placement, but more credible public mentions make a product easier to recommend.
Sources
- GWI via eMarketer: Social media overtakes search engines for discovery among Gen Z and millennials
- Forbes Advisor and Talker Research survey, via Fortune
- Gartner forecast, via CMSWire