2025 was the year of monumental shift, where cracks in brands’ visibility started to show. AI Overviews diverted traffic, social platforms cemented themselves as search destinations and consumers became noticeably less patient with generic, automated content. The signals were everywhere: discovery was fragmenting, trust was shifting and the old rules of visibility needed rethinking.
2026 is where those changes take shape. AI will increasingly collapse discovery and decision-making into a single moment, earned media will become a core signal of credibility and brands will be judged less on where they rank and more on whether they’re understood and trusted across the ecosystem. At the same time, audiences will continue to reward human craft, long-form storytelling and emotionally resonant content in response to digital fatigue.
The predictions below bring together perspectives from across Greenpark to unpack what’s changing, what we’re already seeing play out, and what it all means for brands preparing for the year ahead.
Search Will Follow the User, Not the Platform
Maria Cuenca, SEO Manager, EMEA
Search behaviour is fragmenting across AI assistants, social platforms and traditional engines, driven by intent rather than habit. TikTok, Instagram and YouTube are now primary tools for discovery and problem-solving, while AI synthesises answers from multiple sources instead of directing users to a single page.
Google still plays a foundational role, but what “visibility” means is changing. Rankings matter, but they’re no longer the whole story. Increasingly, it’s about how clearly your content communicates value, relevance and real experience, not how well it matches keywords.
What it means for brands: Channel-first optimisation doesn’t hold up anymore. Brands must design content strategies around real user journeys, aligning SEO, AI readiness and social discovery through shared intent signals and consistent structure. Success in 2026 will belong to brands that understand how and why people search, not just where.
AI Slop Will Accelerate the Demand for Human Craft
Chris Pearce, Managing Director, EMEA & US
AI-generated marketing content is scaling at unprecedented speed, but consumer tolerance for low-effort automation is shrinking just as fast. Feeds are filling with technically competent but emotionally empty output, increasing digital fatigue and eroding trust.
At the same time, people are actively seeking out experiences that feel real and human. In-person moments and communal spaces are gaining cultural value — particularly among younger audiences. 90% of Gen Z diners say they enjoy communal tables, with 63% citing the chance to meet new people, while 88% of consumers say authenticity matters when choosing brands, yet only 51% believe brands actually deliver it. The gap between what brands produce and what people want is widening.
What it means for brands: Using AI is no longer a point of difference. How it’s used is. By tapping into omnichannel search and social data, brands will have tighter guardrails, stronger context and clearer intent behind AI-assisted content. In a world of AI sameness, a renewed investment in experiences and storytelling that demonstrate genuine human presence will resonate – and the odd imperfection will also drive exponential trust as proof of authenticity (The Pratfall Effect).
LLMs Will Swallow the Funnel
Sam Barker, Head of Omnichannel Search & Insights, EMEA & US
The traditional marketing funnel is collapsing and AI is the reason why. People are using LLMs to go from “I’m curious” to “I’ve decided” in one conversation. Research, comparison and validation now happen without switching tabs, platforms or even mindsets.
AI doesn’t just surface options, it actively shapes the shortlist. It filters alternatives, frames choices and influences decisions before a user ever encounters a brand-owned experience. This is reinforced by AI-led shopping integrations with a sharp increase in prompt behaviour focused on product comparison and validation.
What it means for brands: Brands can no longer rely on downstream persuasion. Your value, credibility and differentiation need to be obvious to machines and humans – everywhere your brand shows up. In a collapsed funnel, visibility is influence. And if you miss that moment, there’s no retargeting your way back in.
Nostalgia Marketing Is Here to Stay
Jane Fulcher, Head of Content, EMEA & US
Nostalgia continues to be a powerful emotional driver because it taps into feelings of comfort, familiarity and warmth. This shows up in everything from childhood recipes reappearing to fashion from past decades being rebranded as “vintage.”
What’s particularly striking is how strongly this plays with younger audiences. Gen Z search behaviour shows a clear resurgence of 90s fashion and early-2000s aesthetics, while online conversation around nostalgia grew by 18% in 2025, reaching more than 43 million discussions. Brands leaning into this well – like The Gap’s recent “Better in Denim” collaboration – aren’t just driving views, they’re prompting participation with throwback-led content sparking organic UGC and cultural relevance.
What it means for brands: Nostalgia works best when it’s intentional. It’s not about surface-level retro styling, but about understanding which moments, references or emotions matter to your audience and why they resonate now. When used thoughtfully with audience insights, nostalgia invites participation and creates the ‘warm fuzzies’, encouraging audiences to share their own memories and experiences. In 2026, brands that use nostalgia well will build emotional connection and community, not just visual appeal.
Earned Media Becomes the Core Signal of AI Trust
Jen Grey, Head of Digital PR, EMEA & US
Generative systems are increasingly relying on third-party validation to decide what and who to recommend. AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity regularly cite authoritative journalism, expert commentary and trusted publishers, often skipping brand-owned content altogether.
This points to a wider shift in how credibility is judged. AI doesn’t just look at what brands say about themselves, it pays close attention to what others say about them, and where those conversations are happening.
What it means for brands: Digital PR moves from support act to centre stage. Brands need earned media strategies that build authoritative mentions, expert presence and credible narratives across high-trust sources. Measurement must evolve too, shifting away from rankings and backlinks toward AI citations, mention quality and narrative influence. In an AI-led world, reputation travels further than optimisation.
Content Will Win on Interpretability, Not Rankings
Li-Anne McGregor, SEO Manager, EMEA & US
AI-led discovery is increasingly favouring content that’s clear, well-structured and easy to interpret. Visibility is being driven less by keyword density and more by whether content communicates genuine experience, relevance and credibility. In many cases, rankings haven’t dramatically changed but influence has quietly slipped away.
This signals a broader shift. Optimising individual pages still matters, but it’s not enough on its own. AI is looking at the bigger picture: how consistently a brand explains what it does, why it matters and how its content connects across the ecosystem.
What it means for brands: Brands need to move beyond page-by-page optimisation and start building content systems AI can confidently understand and trust. That means clear intent mapping, consistent narratives and alignment across SEO, content and digital PR. In 2026, brands won’t lose because they ranked lower, they’ll lose because AI couldn’t confidently interpret and recommend them.
Long-Form Content Will Re-Emerge as a Trust Signal
Jen Sharpe, Social Media Director, EMEA & US
Audiences are starting to push back on endless short-form, dopamine-driven content. People are showing more appetite for content that actually gives them something back. Platforms are responding, with TikTok extending video limits and prioritising sustained engagement. It’s a sign that richer storytelling is back in favour.
Creator-driven, long-form video generates up to 10x more views, 3x higher save rates and 5x more meaningful comments than traditional branded content. Influencer-led video also delivers 2.2x better audience retention, and 68% of consumers say long-form content makes a brand feel more credible.
What it means for brands: In 2026, value will beat velocity. Brands should invest in longer-form, insight-led content delivered by trusted voices to build authority and trust across the journey. It’s a signal to your audience that you have something worth saying, and the confidence to say it properly.
Regulation Will Fragment the Internet and Create New Opportunity
Tom Chapman, SEO Delivery Director, EMEA
Governments are exerting greater control over digital platforms through age verification, access restrictions and content regulation like we’ve seen recently in France, Italy and Australia. We are steadily moving away from a single, global internet toward more region-specific digital ecosystems.
At the same time, consumer sentiment is shaping new alternatives. Platforms are emerging that deliberately limit or even ban AI-generated content, responding to growing fatigue with over-automation. The digital landscape is becoming more regulated, but also more varied.
What it means for brands: International SEO is becoming a strategic discipline, not a technical one. Brands must understand regional regulations, platform availability and cultural expectations to maintain visibility. Fragmentation adds complexity, but it also opens up earlier entry points and less crowded spaces for brands that can move quickly and think locally.
The Search Index Is Becoming Shared Infrastructure
Raj Varadharaj, SEO Lead, EMEA
AI systems don’t “know” things in real time. To stay up to date, they rely on retrieval mechanisms powered by search engines and trusted external sources. Regulatory pressure is already nudging the industry toward shared or syndicated search infrastructure, allowing multiple AI tools to access fresher data without building their own indices from scratch. This shifts the importance of traditional indexing from Google-specific performance to broader discoverability across emerging AI tools.
What it means for brands: Technical SEO is not just background hygiene, it’s long-term visibility infrastructure. Clean site architecture, strong crawlability, clear internal linking and structured data make the difference between being retrievable or invisible. If your content can’t be reliably indexed and interpreted, it simply won’t show up, no matter how good it is.
Investing in your visibility
As brands head into 2026, one thing is clear: visibility is no longer just about ranking, it’s about how AI systems interpret, trust and recommend you.
Greenpark’s AI Visibility Audit helps brands understand how they currently appear across AI-led search experiences, where they’re influencing decisions, and where opportunities are being missed. Starting the year with that clarity puts you in control of how your brand shows up in an AI-driven landscape.
Get in touch now to start the year with confidence.
