If you believe everything you read on LinkedIn, you’ll probably be thinking that search is dead or, at the very least, dying. But in reality, this couldn’t be further from the truth. While the channel is going through somewhat of a revolution, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t still valuable to brands. In fact, some would argue that search has never been more valuable, particularly to brands in the e-commerce space. 

For brands selling physical products, search still requires your attention. But it’s also important to respect that the channel has evolved. In this article, we break down how search is evolving, how you can appear across different areas of search results, and what makes a winning search strategy in 2026.

1. Optimise for AI Search and GEO

One of the biggest ways in which search has evolved over the last few years is the emergence of AI. In the world of SEO, AI’s impact has been phrased as generative engine optimisation, or GEO for short. In short, GEO refers to the process of increasing your brand’s visibility across AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Gemini. And given that so many users are now going to AI before Google, AI search must be a consideration within your wider marketing strategy.

The good news is that much of what worked for SEO also works for GEO. Being linked to from high authority websites, optimising product pages for keywords, and adding helpful content all increase your chances of being mentioned or recommended by the likes of ChatGPT. But to take full advantage of AI, it’s important to match your website’s content to the user's search intent. It’s common for users to go to AI when they want to ask a question or compare two products, which increases the importance of FAQs and comparison tables that put this exact information in front of AI crawlers.

2. Target AI Overviews and Search Summaries

Brands that provide the clearest and most authoritative answers are most likely to earn visibility in AI-generated summaries.

The most valuable part of Google’s results pages has always been the top of the page. For years, being the first paid or first organic result for a certain keyword was the goal. And while that still should be a goal for brands, most results pages now have an AI summary that appears before any clickable website.

Obviously, appearing in Google’s AI summaries is extremely valuable. To do so, focus on answering questions; many users now get answers to informational queries from the AI summary without clicking onto a website - this is known as a zero-click search. This doesn’t just mean adding FAQs to the bottom of pages. Use blog posts to offer deep, thorough answers to common questions.

A good example is Snapfish. While they’re known for selling photo and canvas prints, their blog section covers things like the latest interior design trends, which can help the brand to get a mention and/or a link within Google’s AI summaries when a user searches for interior design trends. 

3. Invest in Paid Search to Maximise Search Real Estate

Let’s face it, paid search is more valuable to Google than organic search is, which may explain why the visibility of sponsored results has grown and grown over time. It’s also fair to assume this will continue. 

For ecom brands, it’s important to show up everywhere. For full domination of results pages, your brand should appear in organic results, AI results, and as a paid result. This allows your brand to appear multiple times across the page and account for all types of user behaviour.

Final Thoughts

Search is far from dead, but it is evolving. And e-commerce brands who want to continue to see results from search must move with the times. This means accounting for the rising popularity of AI and continuing to target different areas of the results page. Only then can your brand truly dominate search results.