The Future Rules: What’s Next on the Horizon
The pace of change in marketing has never been faster — and it’s not slowing down.
As AI continues to evolve, we’re entering a world where conversations won’t just happen between brands and people, but between systems, agents, and intelligent intermediaries. The next era of conversation marketing will be less about broadcasting messages — and more about being understood by machines that speak on our behalf.
It’s time to prepare for what’s coming.
1. Generative AI Will Shape the Customer Journey
We’re already seeing this with tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and Claude: customers now ask questions and expect answers — not links.
These systems don’t serve traditional ads or content. They interpret intent, summarise data, and deliver curated recommendations.
If your brand isn’t structured for AI understanding, it risks disappearing from the decision path.
What to do:
- Use structured data (schema.org, JSON-LD)
- Optimise for featured answers, not just keywords
- Ensure your brand voice and product information are machine-readable
- Create “answer-ready” content that anticipates queries and objections
2. The Rise of Agent-to-Agent Communication
We’re approaching a world where AI agents — personal assistants, shopping bots, and digital concierges — will interact with each other to complete tasks on behalf of users.
That means your brand will need to:
- Speak machine-to-machine as well as human-to-human
- Provide APIs and structured content endpoints
- Define your tone, rules, and logic in a way that LLMs can process and respect
This is where technologies like Brando Schema and structured brand definition languages will matter most.
3. Personalisation Will Become Autonomous
Today, personalisation relies on data, segmentation, and workflows. In the future, it will be fully autonomous — powered by agents that learn preferences in real time and adapt automatically.
Expect to see:
- AI crafting unique experiences per user, on the fly
- Conversations that evolve mid-flow based on sentiment or behaviour
- Voice, tone, and timing that change depending on who’s speaking and how
The challenge: ensuring your brand still feels like you, even as experiences become hyper-individualised.
4. AI Ethics and Brand Safety Will Be Under the Microscope
As AI plays a larger role in how your brand communicates, trust becomes the differentiator.
You’ll need to define:
- What your brand will and won’t say
- How AI-generated responses are monitored
- Guardrails for tone, sensitivity, and escalation
- Transparency around when users are talking to a human vs. a machine
Customers won’t just expect intelligence — they’ll expect integrity.
5. The New Battleground: Visibility in Closed AI Ecosystems
We’re entering a post-search era. AI engines don’t link — they summarise.
This means brands must compete for visibility in closed systems, not open SERPs.
Implications:
- Content strategy shifts from SEO to AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation)
- Visibility depends on reputation, structure, and verified brand metadata
- Brands will need to train models on who they are and how they speak
Being part of the conversation will mean being machine-discernible, not just discoverable.
What This Chapter Really Means
The future of marketing isn’t a louder megaphone — it’s a smarter presence.
To stay relevant, brands must become:
- Structured enough to be interpreted by AI
- Empathetic enough to feel human, even when automated
- Flexible enough to adapt across channels, agents, and systems
“In the age of AI, your brand isn’t just what you say — it’s what the machines say about you.”
— Jonny Bowker