Comscore Smriti Sharma explains why marketers need to optimize for bots SEO is dead welcome to AIO

As artificial intelligence drastically alters consumer behavior, the global media measurement sector is negotiating a fundamental credibility issue that exposes brands to significant structural blind spots. Smriti Sharma, Executive Vice President, Analytics & Managing Director, Custom IQ at Comscore, discussed how media is being mismeasured and why brands need to switch from search engine optimization to AI optimization as consumer journeys become more fragmented and AI-led in an exclusive interview with Adgully on the fringes of Goafest 2026.How can marketers make sure they stay visible and relevant in AI-driven contexts outside of traditional search and social media as AI assistants grow into consumer discovery and recommendation engines? Instead of focusing only on ranking, brands should consider developing into reliable sources.

In what way are they portrayed? How do you locate them? AI is now focused on discovery rather than searching. Brands must be easily found, offer reliable, organized information, and respond to commonly asked inquiries.In order to be cited and quoted when consumers are making decisions, they must develop into a trustworthy source of information for both AI agents and customers. AI is being used more and more by Indian marketers in search, content, customer interaction, and commerce. How should brands reconsider their advertising, discoverability, and media planning strategies in this developing AI environment when customers start interacting with multiple AI assistants like Google Gemini, OpenAI's ChatGPT, and Anthropic's Claude?