Back in June I wrote a blog called “AI means the buyer will have already created your brand story in their heads, which is why you need to have a hyper-human story to stand out” which explained how buyers won't read what you write about your brand as AI is now the first step in and buyers journey, back in June I said … 

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but buyers aren’t waiting around for you to pitch anymore

They’ve done their own research and already formed an opinion of you, your product, your brand, before you’ve even said a word

Why?

Because AI has rewritten the rules

Buyers are now using AI to search, summarise, compare, and make sense of what used to take them hours

It’s like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity; they’re now your buyer's first meeting

Not you

So, before you've booked that Zoom or sent that connect request, the buyer has already read about you

They've seen your LinkedIn

They’ve crunched your reviews

They’ve read your blog (or noticed the absence of one)

They’ve checked out your CEO’s last five posts and even asked ChatGPT to “summarise your company’s value proposition”

In short: they've already created your brand story in their heads

And here’s the thing, if you don’t give them the story, they'll make one up

That’s why in this AI-first world, being “authentic” isn’t a nice-to-have

It’s survival

So it was great to read blogs by AI stalwart like Liza Adams to write something similar, you can read her blog here

"While most companies chase AI citations and search rankings, they're missing something bigger

AI systems are already analyzing your brand, judging who you serve best, and recommending you (or not) — whether you guide them or not

And they can only be as clear as you are

If you're fuzzy on who you serve and what problems you solve best, AI will be too

This is about clarity, positioning, and knowing your customer deeply, so much more than just prompts or keywords

Key takeaways:

AI references websites more than any other source when forming brand opinions
Vague positioning forces AI to piece together your value from scattered signals
Result: AI creates its own version of who you serve which may not match your intent
SEO tricks won’t cut it. Say clearly what you do and who you help.
Be explicit about your ideal fit instead of expecting AI to figure it out"

Now back to me …

What can you do about it?

You need to go beyond polished messaging and automation

What you need is a hyper-human story

So what do I mean by hyper-human?

I mean stories that only you, the person, can tell

Stories that come from lived experience

From empathy

From actually listening to your customers

From being brave enough to show your personality and your point of view, not the corporate fluff approved by a marketing committee

Buyers crave what AI can’t do: nuance, emotion, vulnerability, humour, character

That messy, unpredictable stuff that makes us real

That’s where trust is built

That’s where decisions are made

So if you're still clinging to generic messaging, templated emails, or product-first content, you’re invisible

AI will summarise you into irrelevance

Here’s what to do instead:

Be known before you're needed. Create content that shares insight, not just information

Add value before there’s a transaction on the table

Speak human. Use plain language. Be conversational. Be you

Show up consistently. One great post won’t fix it. Social selling isn’t a campaign, it’s a commitment

Tell stories, not stats. Stats are forgettable. Stories are sticky

Let your buyers be the heroes. Make your content about them, their problems, their ambitions, their outcomes

Have you thought about using social media to drive business growth?

How do you and your sales team compare with best practice, when it comes to using social media to drive revenue?

Want to know?

Take the assessment and see how you measure up

Start your journey here

What are our customers achieving by using our social selling methodology?

A measured average across our customers

For an AE, we can shorten sales cycles by 30%

And the average SDR will get 1 x ICP meeting a day

Which should increase your revenue by 20%

You can get these results by using our social selling methodology, that is certified by Institute of Sales Professionals (ISP)

"social selling techniques to influence buyers and changemakers - 2nd edition".

In this brand new edition, I have updated all the text, I have also got 15 practitioners, so people who are doing this already to explain how they are get (practical) business benefit. From the CEO that has been running a digital business for over 18 months to sales leaders and sales people who use social selling every day to drive revenue growth. 

Articles on how these business have and are implementing digital, from Mercer, Telstra Purple, Ring Central, Cyberhawk, Namos, Ericsson, DLA Ignite and more.

What does Mark Schaefer, Marketing guru think of the book "social selling - techniques to influence buyers and changemakers - 2nd edition"? watch the video here

It's available on Amazon worldwide.  Link to Amazon.com here and Amazon.co.uk here.