Garrett Sussman

Director of Marketing · iPullRank

Key takeaways

3:03Conversational AI amplifies confirmation bias—the way users search influences which answers they receive, and AI systems tailor outputs based on personalized factors, making the search experience increasingly subjective.
27:32Individual keyword rankings no longer matter; instead, track share of voice at the topical level across 30-70 word conversational queries that may only be used once, focusing on visibility across related prompts and synonyms.
7:08Brand authority and reputation are now critical—appear alongside trusted publishers, get mentioned in earned media, and ensure consistent brand description across properties to show up reliably in AI-generated answers.
20:23Content strategy must balance providing what audiences want to hear with objective truth; use customer research, semantic markup, and answer-friendly snippets to guide search behavior without manipulating systems.
47:52Google is expected to make AI Mode the default search experience within 12 months, forcing adoption of conversational search and fundamentally changing how people search and requiring a complete rethinking of SEO tactics.

Questions Garrett Sussman answered

What moments or data points pushed you to conclude that AI is 'the great rewiring of search'?

The way people phrase queries influences results—asking 'is coffee good for you' versus 'is coffee bad for you' returns completely different studies, showing how individual bias and search intent shape outcomes that SEOs must account for.

Conversational AI meets cognitive bias: Re-engineering search strategy for the human brain1:38

What does conversational AI meeting cognitive bias mean for how people search and how should SEOs rethink their strategy?

Conversational search personalizes results far more than traditional search, satisfying what users want to hear rather than providing diverse perspectives. The search journey becomes an ongoing conversation rather than a single query, making tracking and monitoring exponentially more complex.

Conversational AI meets cognitive bias: Re-engineering search strategy for the human brain3:51

Will large companies eventually need to submit official brand descriptions to prevent LLMs from misrepresenting them, or will legal action force changes?

The legal landscape is complex and uncertain; government enforcement is unpredictable, and IP issues make it nearly impossible to control how AI represents brands. The best approach is strong brand reputation, good PR, and PR—recognizing that some brand issues are beyond control.

Conversational AI meets cognitive bias: Re-engineering search strategy for the human brain8:10

How does Google's 'messy middle' change when AI Overviews condense options, and where do biases get amplified?

The messy middle—an iterative exploration-evaluation loop—becomes even more complex with AI. Users converse with AI rather than scanning results, and psychological triggers like scarcity bias and social proof increasingly influence decisions across multiple touchpoints beyond content alone.

Conversational AI meets cognitive bias: Re-engineering search strategy for the human brain12:14

If a company can only focus on three cognitive biases, which would you pick and what quick audits or templates would you run?

Focus on confirmation bias, authority bias, and familiarity. Start by deeply understanding your audience through customer research, then ensure your brand is mentioned alongside trusted publishers, use semantic markup, and create content that answers audience questions while maintaining ethical standards.

Conversational AI meets cognitive bias: Re-engineering search strategy for the human brain19:22

In Garrett Sussman's words

“The way that we actually phrase our queries very much influences the results that we get from Google.”
Conversational AI meets cognitive bias: Re-engineering search strategy for the human brain2:01

“Conversational AI completely changes the way that we need to think about content creation, content strategy, monitoring, tracking, let alone whether people are actually going and visiting our websites.”
Conversational AI meets cognitive bias: Re-engineering search strategy for the human brain5:06

“There is a chance that it's associated with your brand and the conversational chatbot for a specific personalized experience for a search query can come up.”
Conversational AI meets cognitive bias: Re-engineering search strategy for the human brain10:12

“How well do you know your audience? Are you telling them what they want to hear? Are you trying to give them some sort of objective truth? Are you trying to appeal to everybody or just a segment?”
Conversational AI meets cognitive bias: Re-engineering search strategy for the human brain21:24

“It's the best time to get into the industry right now. Everything is new. You are not too late. Hold your opinion strongly, but it's so critical that you can change your opinions with new information.”
Conversational AI meets cognitive bias: Re-engineering search strategy for the human brain48:53

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