Author: Florencia

How to Show Up in AI Search Results Using LinkedIn and Reddit

Written by Florencia on 16 October 2026. Posted in AI in Marketing, AI SEO.

We attended the Marketing Associations B2B Marking Conference event in Auckland last week, and it confirmed something we’ve been hearing for a while – the way people find businesses is changing fast.

Alongside traditional Google searches, more people are turning to AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot and simply asking a question.

So where do these AI tools get their answers?

That’s where LinkedIn and Reddit come in – and it was one of the most important shifts in digital marketing discussed at the 2026 B2B Marketing Association event.

What Does “Showing Up on AI” Actually Mean?

Large language models (LLMs) – the technology behind tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini – are trained on vast amounts of content from the internet. When someone asks an LLM a question, it draws on that training to construct an answer, often referencing or summarising content it has learned from. The platforms it draws from most heavily? LinkedIn and Reddit consistently rank among the top sources.

This creates a new kind of visibility opportunity for businesses. It’s not about ranking #1 on Google – it’s about being the kind of brand that gets mentioned, referenced, or recommended when an AI answers a question in your industry.

Why do LinkedIn and Reddit matter more than other platforms for AI visibility?

Both platforms host enormous volumes of publicly accessible, text-rich, human-generated content. LinkedIn is full of professional opinions, industry analysis, and thought leadership. Reddit is packed with candid, experience-based discussions and recommendations. AI searches (LLMs) are particularly drawn to content that is detailed, opinionated, and authentic – which is exactly what both platforms produce at scale.

Platforms focused on short-form or highly visual content, like Instagram and TikTok, don’t provide the same level of usable information for LLMs. They may still be referenced occasionally, but not nearly as often as text-driven platforms like LinkedIn or Reddit.

What kind of content should a business post on LinkedIn to improve LLM visibility?

Focus on substantive thought leadership: your take on industry trends, lessons from real projects, answers to common client questions, and clear explanations of complex topics in your field. Posts that directly answer a question (“Here’s how we approach X”, “What businesses get wrong about Y”) tend to perform best because they mirror the format LLMs look for. Consistency matters too – a business that posts regularly over months builds a much stronger footprint than one that posts a flurry of content then goes quiet.

How should a business approach Reddit without coming across as spammy?

Reddit has a deeply ingrained culture of authenticity. Users are highly attuned to promotional intent and will quickly downvote or call out anything that feels like advertising. The right approach is to be a genuine participant: find subreddits relevant to your industry or audience, answer questions helpfully, share useful information without asking for anything in return, and only mention your business when it’s genuinely relevant and you’re transparent about who you are. Over time, consistent and honest participation builds real credibility – both with the Reddit community and with the LLMs that index those conversations.

Should a New Zealand business use the same strategy on LinkedIn and Reddit?

Definitely not. These are fundamentally different platforms with different audiences, tones, and rules of engagement. LinkedIn is professional, polished, and rewards expertise. Reddit is community-led, informal, and rewards honesty. A post that performs brilliantly on LinkedIn will often fall flat – or worse, attract backlash – on Reddit. You need a distinct content strategy, voice, and posting approach for each platform. Think of them as two different conversations happening in two very different rooms.

How long before a business sees results from this kind of strategy?

This is a long-game strategy, not an overnight fix. LLMs update their training data periodically, and building a credible presence on either platform takes time. Realistically, businesses that commit consistently to both platforms should start to see meaningful AI visibility gains within three to six months. The good news? The businesses that start now will have a significant head start on those who wait until this becomes common knowledge. 😉

LinkedIn vs Reddit: A Quick Reference

Reddit 👥

Best for: Community trust, authentic recommendations, niche audiences

Tone: Casual, honest, community-first

Content types: Answers, discussions, helpful threads

Key rule: Be a participant, not a promoter

Linkedin 👩‍💻

Best for: Thought leadership, industry insights, professional credibility

Tone: Professional, confident, considered

Content types: Articles, opinion posts, case studies, how-tos

Key rule: Add genuine value – don’t just promote

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Zero-Click Searches

Written by Florencia on 16 October 2026. Posted in AI SEO.

You’ve probably noticed it yourself. You ask Google something and the answer is right there – no clicking required. AI has made search so smart that users can find out almost anything without ever landing on a website.

So if people aren’t clicking through… does showing up on Google even matter anymore?

Actually, it matters more than ever. The rules have just changed.

Here’s the thing nobody’s talking about: yes, clicks are down. But the people who do click – or who see your business recommended by an AI – are far more ready to buy than they’ve ever been. Visitors arriving through AI-powered search convert at 23 times the rate of traditional organic traffic visitors. Twenty-three times. 😉

That means showing up isn’t just about driving volume to your website anymore. It’s about being the business that gets mentioned, gets trusted, and gets chosen – whether that’s through a link, a snippet, or an AI that tells someone “this is the company you want.” The way we measure success has shifted. But the prize for showing up? It’s bigger than it’s ever been.

What Is a Zero-Click Search?

A zero-click search happens when Google answers your question directly on the search results page, so there’s no reason to click through to a website.

You’ve seen these all the time. You search “what time does the sun set in Christchurch today” and Google tells you right there. You search “best marketing agency?” and boom – we showed up 😉. You search “best Italian restaurants in Wellington” and a map with star ratings pops up.

The features driving this include featured snippets, knowledge panels, People Also Ask boxes, local packs, and increasingly, AI-generated Overviews.

That last one – AI Overviews – is the big new player. Google now generates a written summary at the top of results for more and more queries, pulling information from multiple websites and presenting it in one tidy answer. No click required.

How Did We Get Here?

This isn’t something that happened overnight. Five years ago, roughly 25% of Google searches ended without a click. By mid-2025, that figure had climbed to 65%.

The tipping point was Google’s AI Overviews rollout. The share of queries triggering AI Overviews jumped from 6.49% in January 2025 to 13.14% by March 2025 – a doubling in just two months. And it’s kept growing from there.

The pattern is clear: Google is increasingly becoming the destination, not just the signpost.

Why Should NZ Business Owners Care?

If your business relies on people finding you through Google and visiting your website, zero-click searches directly affect your traffic numbers. Recent analysis by Onely found that 73% of B2B websites experienced significant traffic loss between 2024 and 2025, with average declines of around 34% year-on-year.

You might have noticed this yourself – your Google Search Console (not sure what that is? Watch our quick explainer here) shows you’re ranking, but clicks are down. That’s not your SEO failing. That’s a structural market shift affecting most organisations, regardless of how much they’ve invested in optimisation.

The types of searches most affected are informational ones – “how does X work”, “what is Y”, “best way to Z”. Research from Semrush found that 88.1% of queries triggering AI Overviews are informational in nature. If your content strategy has been built around answering general questions to attract traffic, that content is now being absorbed by Google’s AI before anyone reaches your site.

But Here’s the Plot Twist

Here’s where it gets interesting – and where a lot of the panic around zero-click searches misses the point.

Some publishers are actually seeing revenue growth even as traffic declines, because they’re being cited inside AI Overviews. That citation drives branded searches and direct visits from people who saw the mention and wanted to find out more.

Think of it like word of mouth, but at Google’s scale. You didn’t get the click – but you got the credibility.

And when people do click through from AI-powered search results? Those visitors convert at 23 times the rate of traditional organic traffic. The clicks are fewer, but the people clicking are much more serious.

So rather than chasing volume, the game is shifting towards authority – being the business that gets mentioned, not just the one that gets found.

What Does This Mean for Your Marketing?

This shift is changing what “good SEO” looks like. A few things worth understanding:

Your website still matters – a lot. Zero-click doesn’t make your website irrelevant. Original research, expert analysis, and content that requires someone to actually visit your site to get value – like interactive tools, downloadable resources, and product pages – are significantly less affected. Generic how-to content is what’s getting eaten. Genuine expertise isn’t.

Being cited beats being ranked. The new goal isn’t just sitting at position one. It’s being the source that Google (and ChatGPT, and Perplexity) trusts enough to reference. That comes from building real authority in your space – not just publishing content for the sake of it.

Your owned channels are gold. Email lists, social media followings, and direct traffic channels are the most durable assets in a zero-click world, because they don’t depend on search discovery at all. If you’ve been putting off building your email list or showing up consistently on social, now’s the time.

Local search is still very click-friendly. If someone searches “plumber in Timaru” or “hair salon Ashburton”, they’re not getting an AI summary – they’re getting a map and a list of businesses. Transactional queries, where users need to complete a purchase or make a booking, still drive clicks reliably. Local SEO and Google Business Profile still deliver real results.

So…

Zero-click searches aren’t a bug – they’re Google evolving to keep users happy. And while that creates real challenges for businesses built on organic traffic, it’s not the end of search marketing.

What it is is a nudge to stop thinking about your website as a passive waiting room, and start thinking about your brand as an active presence – one that shows up in answers, gets recommended by AI, and builds real relationships with customers through channels you actually own.

If your current marketing strategy is still being measured purely by website traffic, it might be time for a conversation.

Ready to future-proof your search visibility? Explore our AI SEO service.

Frequently Asked Questions About Zero-Click Searches

What is a zero-click search?

A zero-click search is when Google answers a question directly on the search results page, through features like featured snippets, knowledge panels, People Also Ask boxes, local packs and AI Overviews, so the user doesn’t need to click through to a website.

Are zero-click searches bad for my business?

Not necessarily. Clicks are down, but visitors arriving through AI-powered search convert at 23 times the rate of traditional organic traffic, and being cited in AI Overviews builds credibility and drives branded searches. The goal shifts from traffic volume to authority.

How do I get my business cited in Google’s AI Overviews?

Build real authority in your space with original research, expert analysis and content based on genuine experience, rather than generic how-to articles. Clear, well-structured answers to the questions your customers actually ask also make your content easier for AI to reference.

Does local SEO still work with zero-click searches?

Yes. Local searches like “plumber in Timaru” still show a map and a list of businesses rather than an AI summary, and transactional searches still drive clicks reliably. Keeping your Google Business Profile up to date remains one of the most effective things a local business can do.

How should I measure SEO success if clicks are down?

Look beyond website traffic. Track impressions and rankings in Google Search Console, branded searches, mentions in AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity, enquiries and conversions, and the growth of owned channels like your email list.

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What Is Human-Led Creativity – and Why Does It Matter for Your Marketing?

Written by Florencia on 16 October 2026. Posted in Social Media.

At the 2026 B2B Marketing Association event in Auckland, one phrase kept coming up in conversation after conversation: human-led creativity. Honestly? We smiled when we heard it – because it’s something we’ve been doing and insisting on with our clients for a long time. Showing up as they really are, telling their genuine story, leading with real human experience. We were just missing the technical name for it.

So, What Exactly Is Human-Led Creativity?

DEFINITION: Human-led creativity is an approach that prioritises human imagination, intuition, and lived experience as the primary drivers of the creative process – even when using advanced technology like artificial intelligence.

In plain terms: it means keeping humans firmly in charge of the creative thinking, while using AI as a tool to support, speed up, or execute that thinking. It is not about rejecting AI – it’s about making sure AI never replaces the parts of marketing that only humans can do well.

As AI-generated content becomes more widespread, the risk for brands is homogenisation. When everyone uses the same tools with the same prompts, everything starts to look and sound the same. Human-led creativity is how brands stay distinct, relevant, and genuinely connecting with their audiences.

What Makes Creativity “Human-Led”?

Human-led creativity is built on four core pillars. Together they describe the qualities that humans bring to marketing that no algorithm can replicate – at least not yet, and arguably not ever in the ways that truly matter.

1. Lived Experience

Humans draw from personal history, genuine emotion, and sensory memory. The joy of a first win, the sting of a hard lesson, the texture of a real moment – these inform storytelling in ways no model trained on text can fully capture. It’s what gives your content soul.

2. Cognitive Agility

The ability to think beyond existing frameworks, ask “what if?”, and make creative leaps that defy algorithmic logic. This is the spark behind truly original ideas – the unexpected angle, the counterintuitive campaign that somehow just works.

3. Strategic Judment

AI can produce options quickly, but humans provide the essential last 5% of context. Which idea is right for this brand, this moment, this audience? That judgement call requires experience, accountability, and a genuine understanding of what your business stands for.

4. Cultural & Ethical Nuance

Social tone shifts fast. A message that lands brilliantly one week can feel deeply tone-deaf the next. Humans can read those currents and navigate them in ways that data-driven models consistently miss – protecting your reputation and keeping your brand trusted.

So you may asking now… 😉

Is human-led creativity just a pushback against AI?

Not at all. It’s not about working against AI – it’s about working with it intelligently. Human-led creativity fully embraces AI as a tool for research, drafting, testing, and scaling. The key distinction is that humans remain the strategic and creative lead. AI executes; humans direct. Think of it like having a brilliant, fast assistant who needs strong human guidance to do their best work.

What does human-led creativity look like in practice for a small NZ business?

It looks like a business owner writing a social post from a genuine personal experience, then using AI to refine the wording. It looks like a marketing team developing a campaign concept based on real customer insight, then using AI to generate multiple visual options quickly. It looks like a copywriter reviewing every piece of AI-generated content through the lens of the brand’s values and voice before it goes live. The human perspective shapes everything; AI just makes it faster.

Why is cultural nuance so important, and can’t AI learn it over time?

Cultural nuance is important because marketing is ultimately about connection — and connection happens in a specific cultural moment, not in the abstract. AI models are trained on historical data, which means they are always, by definition, slightly behind the present moment. A local business in Ashburton marketing to Canterbury communities, or a NZ brand navigating a sensitive national conversation, needs someone who is living in that context – not a model trained on global data with a knowledge lag. That gap is where human judgment is irreplaceable.

How should businesses adapt their marketing strategy around human-led creativity?

Start by identifying the parts of your marketing that are most dependent on connection, trust, and authentic voice – your brand story, your community engagement, your key campaign ideas. Protect these as human-led. Then identify the more mechanical, repetitive, or volume-based tasks – content variations, scheduling, data analysis, SEO research – where AI can genuinely accelerate your output. Build a workflow where the two work in harmony, with humans always setting the direction and reviewing the output.

Will audiences be able to tell the difference between human-led and fully AI-generated content?

Increasingly, yes. Audiences are becoming more sophisticated, and research consistently shows that people respond more strongly to content that feels genuine, specific, and grounded in real experience. Fully AI-generated content often has a polished but slightly generic quality – technically competent, but missing the idiosyncratic details and emotional specificity that make content truly memorable. As the volume of AI content grows, the brands that invest in human-led creativity will stand out more, not less.

The takeaway:

As AI becomes a standard part of every marketing toolkit, human-led creativity is what separates brands that connect from brands that just communicate. The technology is the tool. Your people – their ideas, instincts, and genuine understanding of your customers – are the strategy.

Worth remembering:

Every competitor you have is gaining access to the same AI tools. The only things they can’t replicate are your team’s experience, your brand’s authentic story, and the genuine relationships you’ve built with your customers. That’s your edge – protect it.