Over the past few years, I’ve been fascinated (and probably worried at times) by how AI and subsequently changing search and buyer behaviour have been dramatically reshaping the marketing landscape.
At the same time, it has become apparent to me that some things don’t change, and that like fashion, some things are back in vogue – such as original thinking, thought leadership, and brand visibility and authority via media.
AI summaries, overviews, AI search platforms, and zero-click results are dramatically changing how B2B buyers discover, compare, and shortlist solutions. Instead of scrolling through pages of links, buyers tend to get their answers directly from AI-generated summaries or AI search platforms.
In fact, I recently attended client Staffbase’s Comms Club to hear their Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Frank Wolf, present on how he sees Google actually sitting behind AI search in the future. That says a lot.
This year, I have had hundreds of conversations with marketers, technologists, business owners, and business leaders. These conversations have led me to define the secret sauce of modern marketing in the future as I see it: the ‘Golden Triangle’.
The Golden Triangle is a connected approach that essentially recognises the rise of Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) and the importance of changes in search. It is also linked with the criticality of thought leadership and strong brand credibility through media coverage via trusted sources.
Overall, it is the Golden Triangle that I believe will help B2B brands stay present, credible, and discoverable in a changing business world that has become dominated by AI.
Why traditional visibility is no longer enough
The rise of AI search engines like Chat GPT, combined with the rise of ‘AI Overviews’ – summaries generated by AI at the top of traditional Google search results – has reduced organic search clicks to individual websites.
Many recent studies show that when these AI summaries appear, click-through rates to top organic results can drop by 30–60%, depending on the query and dataset.
Zero-click behaviour is growing, too. Various 2024–2025 analyses estimate that around 60–65% of Google searches now end without a click, with mobile searches showing even higher zero-click behaviour, often above 70%.
In other words, users increasingly get what they need from the results page or AI-generated answers, without visiting a website at all.
For brands that have spent years optimising their digital presence for rankings and traffic, this shift towards AI Overviews as the silver bullet for knowledge and answers is significant.
The question is no longer simply, “How do we get our brand appear on page one?” Rather, it is, “How do we stay present and relevant when AI is doing the summarising for us?”
That is where my Golden Triangle of marketing truly comes in.
Thought leadership: turning expertise into a clear story and a unique point of view
The core pillar of the Golden Triangle is thought leadership. This is where your expertise becomes a clear, consistent story.
In complex B2B decisions, buyers want partners who understand their world and can help them make sense of change. Thought leadership does this by:
● Clarifying your point of view on key industry issues.
● Answering real, nuanced questions your clients are asking.
● Showing how your experience translates into practical guidance.
Outlook reports, whitepapers, articles, webinars, interviews, and executive commentary all contribute to a coherent body of work and can support your unique view of the world. Over time, this becomes a reference library for both decision-makers and AI tools.
Thought leadership helps you become a trusted source of industry insights, not just recognised superficially.
Media: being seen and validated
Media is the second pillar of the Golden Triangle and a critical foundation for modern visibility. When your executive leaders and brand appear in trusted publications, podcasts and platforms, you gain more than reach – you gain validation. And thought leadership will often help you drive a strong media presence.
In an AI-led environment, this matters even more. AI summaries typically draw on multiple sources. If your brand consistently appears in reputable media outlets, you are more likely to be included in the pool of “trusted authorities” that AI tools reference and quote. So, a strong media strategy has actually become part of your digital marketing strategy – it now goes hand in hand.
So, we will see in the year ahead that successful B2B brands will be the ones who are far more strategic with their media and ensure that they prioritise media in their marketing scorecards. We advise our clients to:
● Make sure you put your brand in front of buying teams where they already seek information.
● Create independent proof points that reinforce your credibility; in other words, unique thought leadership.
● Build a trail of references that AI systems can recognise and reuse.
Media will help to ensure you are seen in the right places – by humans and machines – that is the difference.
GEO: ensuring AI can find and cite you
Then there is the third pillar and a very important one at that: GEO, which is about designing content in ways that AI tools can easily find, interpret, and cite.
Where SEO is focused on ranking for keywords, GEO focuses on being the source behind the answer.
It asks:
● Are we structuring content around the real questions buyers type or ask into AI tools?
● Is our information logically structured, well-labelled, and consistent across channels?
● Are we using formats such as clear headings, FAQs, and rich data points – formats that AI can readily summarise and attribute to us?
GEO combines strong content architecture with technical optimisation and message consistency. The goal is not just to appear in results, but to be named and referenced inside AI-generated summaries.
GEO helps ensure you are cited when it matters most.
Bringing the three pillars of the Golden Triangle together
The Golden Triangle works because each pillar reinforces the others:
● Thought leadership provides original thinking, depth, clarity, and a distinctive point of view.
● Media creates trusted third-party proof points and helps establish your authoritative voice and credibility.
● GEO connects and structures this ecosystem so AI can recognise and reuse your expertise, which is achieved through your thought leadership and media strategy.
Together, these elements create visibility. Your brand shows up in respected outlets, in your own channels, and inside AI-generated answers – shaping perception long before a formal sales conversation.
For marketing leaders and founders, the Golden Triangle approach means rethinking visibility as an integrated system, rather than a collection of separate tactics. Investments in PR, thought leadership content, and optimisation need to work in partnership, guided by a clear understanding of how AI Overviews work and how humans now conduct their searches.
If you are re-evaluating your brand visibility strategy for an AI-led future, we can help you design and implement your own Golden Triangle – connecting thought leadership, media, and GEO into one coherent marketing approach.
Start a conversation with us to explore how this could look for your brand.
