Brands invest in owned content to improve visibility in AI search

Key points

• Fender overhauled its website into a storytelling platform with short heritage videos featuring artists like Jimi Hendrix.
• Marshall's 'Dead Venues' YouTube series stages new bands in long-closed venues as part of a campaign running since May.
• Skyword survey reportedly found seven in 10 U.S. consumers use ChatGPT or AI summaries when researching products or companies.
• Kantar survey reportedly found three-fourths of marketers plan to increase spending on AI assistant visibility next year.

Why it matters for marketers: Content teams may need to shift budget toward original, owned editorial, since brands cannot directly control what chatbots say about them.