Kerstin Ludwig
going→fwd

From Marketing with AI to AI-Relevant Brands

Using AI in marketing is table stakes in 2026. The harder shift: becoming a brand that AI systems find, understand, and recommend. This whitepaper maps what that requires. Not more optimisation. A different starting point.

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AI-Relevant Brands whitepaper cover

5 key findings

AI recommends brands that are clear → become one of them.
AI systems execute classic brand logic more consistently than most organisations do. 44% of users already name AI as their primary source for product research. What stays selectable: brands that solve a clear problem and keep all signals coherent.
Google ranking and AI visibility are not the same → optimise for both.
The overlap between top-10 search results and AI citations collapsed from 75% to 17–38% within a year. Optimising for search alone means optimising for a system being replaced.
Optimisation delivers nothing without substance → brand first, then execution.
SEO, GEO, and GAIO optimise how systems read your content. The Selection Loop maps what your brand needs to be before optimisation has anything to work with. Substance first. Execution second.
AI systematically alters your message → control what it passes on.
Citation Drift — the rate at which AI systems swap their sources — is a structural property of probabilistic systems. Coherence across all signal sources is the only reliable strategy.
What AI says about you is legally your responsibility → govern who speaks.
Companies are liable for AI-generated promises regardless of which system made them. Penalties: up to €35 million or 7% of global annual revenue (EU AI Act, Article 99).

Authors

© Kerstin Ludwig (going→fwd), in collaboration with Anja Teßmann and Julie Teßmann (SISTERHOOD, ki-im-marketing.at).

Keynote presented at Marketingtag AT, Vienna, June 2026 · Covered in Internetworld AT

Kerstin Ludwig, Anja Teßmann and Julie Teßmann presenting at Marketingtag AT
SISTERHOOD and going→fwd on stage at Marketingtag AT
Marketingtag AT audience and keynote stage

Photo credits: Ingo Folie/AMC