{"id":8898,"date":"2026-09-14T04:15:56","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T08:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acaweb.ca\/en\/?p=8898"},"modified":"2026-09-14T05:17:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T09:17:14","slug":"does-ai-think-to-include-you-are-you-giving-it-a-reason-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acaweb.ca\/en\/2026\/does-ai-think-to-include-you-are-you-giving-it-a-reason-to\/","title":{"rendered":"Does AI think to include you? Are you giving it a reason to?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Subject: How AI is changing the economics of visibility for advertisers – what happens when being “present” is no longer enough, and being recommended becomes the new reach.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having spent much of my career in data and research, I\u2019m often asked: \u201cin a sea of data, what is the ONE metric I need to really pay attention to?\u201d My real, honest answer is that you should never look at just one (nor should you get lost in thousands, but that\u2019s another article\u2026). When forced to pick just one, I pick unaided awareness: it matters less what people know about your brand and matters more that they think of you first.<\/p>\n

I still believe that.<\/p>\n

But as we all know, there is a second kind of awareness emerging. Brands must now be top-of-mind in a consumer\u2019s memory as well as in the AI systems they use to help them make decisions. So, when we talk about the economics of visibility, we need to ask, not one, but two distinct questions: Do people think of us and does the AI think to include us?<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the numbers are hard to pin down with certainty, multiple reports suggest 25-55%<\/a> of consumer decision journeys now include AI, depending on demographic, category, and whether people even really know that they\u2019re using AI! Whatever the number is, it\u2019s past the threshold where advertisers who don\u2019t recognize and act on this reality will fall (or are already quickly falling) behind. The good news? First-mover advantage here isn’t just competitive – it’s compounding, since AI systems build trust in what they’ve already seen work.<\/p>\n

The risk here goes deeper than most advertisers realize. A brand may invest heavily in creating awareness, thereby stimulating category demand and teaching consumers what to look for, only to have an AI system recommend a competitor when the consumer is ready to build a shortlist or buy. In this scenario, the brand creating demand may not be the brand capturing it, and worse yet, might be paying to drive conversions for their competitors.<\/p>\n

How is this happening?<\/strong><\/p>\n

AI decides differently than humans. Humans are complex and make decisions through a combination of memory, emotions, habit, identity and experience whereas AI is more straightforward and \u201cmakes decisions\u201d by interpreting a question, finding available information, and predicting which answers are most relevant and credible. That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n

Simply stated, if the evidence isn\u2019t out there to convince the AI, the AI isn\u2019t recommending it. In practice this means:<\/p>\n