# The AI search boom is fueling content budgets before media buys > Source: > Published: 2026-06-22 04:01:00+00:00 # The AI search boom is fueling content budgets before media buys AI search may be the industry’s latest shiny object, but most marketers aren’t spending heavily on AI search ads yet. Instead, those dollars are being routed to creators, content, agency services and tools to influence how their brands are cited in LLMs. WPP forecasts AI search advertising [will become](https://digiday.com/media-buying/wpp-forecasts-ai-search-ads-to-become-fastest-growing-channel-in-advertising/) the industry’s fastest growing channel. Many brands, however, seem more focused on earning visibility inside AI-generated answers instead of shelling out for paid placements — at least that’s the case for now as marketers still have questions about return on investment. The writing is on the wall, [just ask any publisher.](https://digiday.com/media/media-briefing-publishers-brace-themselves-for-the-zero-click-era-amid-googles-ai-search-overhaul/) **‘Organic to organic’ shift ** AI-generated answers are cannibalizing website traffic, clicks and conversions. Brands, however, aren’t scrambling to pull dollars away from say, broadcast, or even paid search to show up in Google AI Overviews or ChatGPT conversations. Instead, some brands are repurposing the money that was funding website improvement and content to ensure that material is more geared toward LLMs, said David Dweck, president at Go Fish Digital. Dweck describes the shift as an evolution of organic search where brands hack the LLMs with human-generated content that provides value to readers. “It’s more of a shift from organic to organic than from paid,” Dweck told Digiday. “Some clients are spending a bit more on it, but marginally so. I wouldn’t say they’re carving out a massive percentage of their paid media budgets to support this.” (Dweck did not outline client spend specifics.) **Mix-and-match approach ** Until there’s widely available ads with clear success metrics, marketers seem to be taking a mix-and-match approach to AI visibility budgets. For example, Butterball, the turkey product brand, hired its new agency of record Carmichael Lynch this year partially for its AI visibility capabilities. The ad agency is tasked with helping Butterball make sense of the AI visibility marketplace in addition to maintaining the brand’s social share of voice. “We’re a relatively small team here, so it was a critical success factor for choosing a partner in the space,” said Kyle Lock, vp of marketing at Butterball. The brand is also testing Google AI Max for summer recipe and grilling terms in an attempt to reach users beyond exact queries, and boost visibility in Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode. Lock did not offer specific spend figures. Priceline is betting on influencers and content creators to offer authentic storytelling on Priceline’s behalf and potentially enhance AI discoverability, said Lesley Klein, svp of strategy and brand marketing at Priceline. The online travel agency has increased its social spend across TikTok, Meta, Pinterest and other platforms. Klein clarified that increased spend isn’t for the sake of AI visibility alone, but it certainly plays a role, she said. The Priceline exec did not outline specific budget allocations. Priceline has also apparently set aside some spend for AI visibility via ChatGPT ads as part of a broader effort to understand LLMs, and the new consumer shopping journey, said Toby Korner, svp of digital marketing and pricing at Priceline. Korner did not offer specific spend figures on the ChatGPT pilot. **‘Be ready to turn on the spigot’ ** Agency execs aren’t yet convinced brands need to start carving out specific AI visibility budgets — especially if they can hack it organically. OpenAI has rapidly grown its ads program, but there are still questions around attribution, performance measurement and ad inventory. “At the moment, it’s very much focused on the organic side,” said Joseph Levi, CEO and co-founder of Noise Media Group. “Across all agencies, across all software, attribution is difficult because AI is an answer, whereas search is a click.” Levi and Dweck of Go Fish agree AI search has and will continue to upend the search landscape as we know it. For now, marketers can (and should) dust off their old organic marketing playbooks, according to the agency execs. As Dweck puts it, “That’s the place that [brands] should be investing right now, and then be ready to turn on the spigot once the ads are widely adopted and available and functioning the right way.” ### More in Marketing #### [ WTF is containerization? ](https://digiday.com/marketing/wtf-is-containerization/) Containerization is suddenly everywhere in ad tech conversations. #### [ Cannes Briefing: The ad industry’s power shifts, mapped in sand ](https://digiday.com/marketing/cannes-briefing-the-ad-industrys-power-shifts-mapped-in-sand/) An investment bank walks into Cannes. A holdco walks out. #### [ OpenAI expands ads manager to U.K., adds CPC ](https://digiday.com/marketing/openai-expands-ads-manager-to-u-k-adds-cpc/) Similar to the U.S. the ads manager is now widely available in the U.K., and is the fifth market where advertisers can access it.