“I found you through ChatGPT.”

We’re hearing this more and more from our new clients. We’re also fielding a lot of questions from marketers, executives and investors about how to show up in AI platforms. It’s a new business world in every possible way, and the requests we’re fielding right now tell a clear story about where B2B marketing is headed.

Your prospects are researching solutions differently now. Instead of (or in addition to) typing keywords into Google Search, buyers are exploring their problems and getting their questions answered using ChatGPT, Perplexity and other conversational AI tools. Your content needs to show up in those chatbot conversations if your company is going to be discovered.

As content strategists and conversion copywriters, we understand what makes content compelling to human readers. What we’ve learned is that those same principles — clarity, quality and comprehensive answers — happen to be exactly what AI platforms look for when deciding which sources to cite.

That’s exactly why we’re adding AI Optimization (AIO) strategy to our service offerings at Horizon Peak Consulting.

Here’s what AIO strategy looks like in practice …

What AIO strategy actually is

Quality content becomes even more important, not less, when you’re optimizing for AI.

The current research is clear: AI platforms prioritize recently published content that thoroughly answers questions and demonstrates genuine expertise — exactly what your prospects want when they’re researching solutions.

For the last 10 years, SEO content has competed directly with quality content for marketing resources. SEO content was published solely for algorithmic discovery, but quality content attracted audiences and made sales. It was a rare company that would, or could, invest fully in both. We understand the frustration marketers are feeling: They’ve been torn between writing for search engines versus writing for actual people.

AIO is different in that quality content is discoverable content.

So our AIO approach builds on our traditional content writing services rather than competing with them. The fundamentals we’ve always emphasized, like real human writing, understanding your audience, and addressing your customer’s real concerns, are precisely what AI platforms prioritize in the content they recommend.

Why Horizon Peak Consulting is the right team for your AIO (wherein we toot our own horn)

Our deep experience in content strategy and conversion copywriting, plus our founder’s academic research into generative AI puts us in a unique position — which is exactly why we’ve been getting the requests we’ve been getting. Adding AIO services is a natural next step — it builds on everything we already do well.

AI’s sole job is to thoroughly answer the user’s question, so we make sure your content does exactly that, in the most engaging way possible.

Good AIO content needs both the technical stuff that helps AI find it and the psychology that makes people want to buy. When we optimize content for AI platforms, we’re drawing on our deep knowledge of what actually persuades prospects to take action.

Over the years, we’ve worked with companies like SurveyMonkey, Lever and Cohesity as they’ve adapted their content strategies to changing online behaviors. The fundamentals remain the same today: marketing content has to work in real business environments. The difference is that AI is now part of how business gets done.

At HPC, we are writers, first and foremost. We have added AIO strategy as an additional layer of expertise that makes your content work harder for your company.

Unlike traditional agencies that robotically execute SEO strategies, our AIO approach is 100% focused on getting your content cited by AI platforms. You get a roadmap for optimizing your assets for AI platforms, then we help you create the content that follows through on that strategy. The result is content that connects with your human audience while positioning your company to be cited by the AI tools your prospects are using most.

This combination of strategic direction and hands-on execution means your content investment delivers results across multiple discovery channels. Instead of creating separate materials for traditional search and AI platforms, you get strategically developed content that performs well in both.

Intrigued? Set up a free discovery call to see how AIO fits into your marketing goals.