Yesterday for me I saw the market change in front of my eyes

For the last 12 months I've been talking about how people were switching from Google to using AI, LLMs such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok etc to search

I even booked a holiday for my significant Birthday this year through AI to prove the point

It's been an interesting journey, I've been cyber bullied by SEO experts, who told me this wasn't the case

In fact, during the cyber bullying episode a leading SEO expert told me there was no data to show that people we switching from Google to AI

Of course he would say that, he's built a career on being an SEO expert and now the rug is being pulled from under his feet

But until yesterday, this has, I admit been kind of speculative

OK, so there has been data and reports published by Forrester and a number of “name” companies but something changed yesterday

I was presenting to a leadership team about social and AI and how they needed to get on board with the digital revolution

The change?

It was the prospect who actually said, that they used AI to search and no longer used Google

I no longer needed to “push water up a hill”

To quote this article from the drum

"The rules of relevance have changed

"Most CMOs are still optimizing for yesterday’s search engines

But in this new landscape, the algorithm is invisible, the interface is human, and your competition is every brand the AI has ever learned from

Welcome to LLMO: Large Language Model Optimization. Like SEO before it, LLMO is about understanding how AI interprets authority, trust, and relevance—and ensuring your brand meets that bar

But unlike SEO, you can’t buy your way to the top

You have to earn it

That’s the strategic opportunity, and the challenge

It’s not about being loud

It’s about being credible

Brands need to show up in these moments, not as noise, but as meaningful voices

That means building real trust, not just media weight

Creating stories and experiences that feel culturally fluent and human, not manufactured

This is the kind of work that fuels AI engines and human connection"

Yesterday marked a turning point, not just for me, but for the future of search

What was once a speculative shift from Google to AI-driven search became real when a prospective client confirmed it with their own behavior

We're no longer talking about a possible future; we're living it

The era of LLMO is here, where trust, relevance, and human connection outweigh keywords and paid rankings

For brands, the message is clear: the game has changed

Now, it’s not about being found by algorithms; it’s about being chosen by people, through AI that sees through the noise

Can you drive revenue from social media?

Social selling is not about spamming people or inmails or connect and pitch

Our definition of social selling is 

"Using your presence and behavior on social media to build influence, make connections, grow relationships and trust, which leads to conversation and commercial interaction"
 

And the results?

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.