In a recent LinkedIn post, Ross Simmonds discusses a critical shift in how businesses should approach visibility in the age of artificial intelligence, arguing that the prevailing mindset of treating AI as a new channel is fundamentally flawed. Instead, Simmonds frames AI visibility as the natural outcome of long-term, strategic distribution efforts.
He highlights that large language models, which power many AI discovery tools, draw from a company’s entire digital footprint, not just its homepage. This includes a wide array of interactions and content across the web.
“AI visibility is the compounded return on years of distribution decisions. SEO. Community participation. Review management. Guest contributions. Independent comparisons on sites you don’t own.”
Simmonds emphasizes that this comprehensive digital presence forms a company’s true competitive advantage. He references new research from G2, which indicates a significant evolution in the buyer journey. According to this research, AI dominates the initial discovery phase, review platforms become crucial during evaluation and decision-making, and owned content plays the most vital role in customer retention and expansion.
The Limitations of Top-of-Funnel Strategies
The implications of this evolving buyer journey, as outlined by Simmonds, are profound. A strategy focused solely on initial awareness is no longer sufficient. He advocates for a more integrated, full-stack approach to build and maintain brand presence and credibility.
Simmonds argues that businesses need a multi-faceted strategy that encompasses:
- Owned properties that clearly articulate the company’s value proposition.
- Third-party mentions and reviews that validate claims made on owned channels.
- Customer testimonials and feedback that reinforce credibility.
- Consistent messaging across all online touchpoints, including profiles, directories, and communities.
This requires structured, strategic work, but the underlying instruction is clear: build trust signals where potential buyers and the AI models advising them are already looking.
“Your homepage is one input of hundreds.”
Trust as the Ultimate Competitive Moat
Looking ahead, Simmonds predicts that trust will become the paramount differentiator in the business landscape. He posits that in five years, the most trusted brands will prevail, while sheer volume and noise will diminish in importance.
“Five years from now, the most trusted brands will win. Full stop. Volume and noise stop mattering. Trust becomes the signal.”
He notes that this perspective aligns with the principles his company, Foundation, has been advocating for since they began publishing on GEO/AEO 18 months ago. The G2 data, in his view, provides empirical evidence to support this long-term vision.
The ‘Answer Economy’ and Strategic Distribution
Simmonds’s post, which directs readers to a more detailed breakdown, frames the current environment as an ‘Answer Economy.’ In this economy, the ability of AI to provide relevant, trustworthy answers is paramount. This underscores the importance of a robust, distributed digital footprint that feeds these AI models with accurate and credible information.
“We’ve been saying this at Foundation since we started publishing on GEO/AEO 18 months ago. The G2 data just put the numbers behind it.”
Ultimately, Ross Simmonds’s analysis on LinkedIn serves as a wake-up call for businesses, urging them to move beyond a superficial engagement with AI and instead focus on the foundational work of building genuine trust and a comprehensive digital presence that will endure and thrive in the evolving landscape of buyer discovery and decision-making.
📝 About This Content
This article is based on insights shared by Ross Simmonds on LinkedIn.
📅 Originally posted on April 28, 2026 | View original post on LinkedIn →