What we learned at Advertising Week New York 2026

I recently attended one of the most anticipated events in the advertising industry: Advertising Week New York 2026. As one of the premier marketing events in the U.S., Advertising Week New York brings together the entire ecosystem of marketing, technology, and culture. The event is spearheaded by global leaders, breakthrough brands, and the innovators building what comes next. Over four days, hundreds of sessions across multiple stages explore emerging trends, share industry insights, and examine the ideas and innovations shaping the future of advertising.

I was particularly interested in two sessions exploring AI’s growing influence on consumer behavior and the implications for brands and marketers: From Discovery to Decision: How AI Is Changing Marketing and The AI Generation: What Gen Alpha’s AI Use Means for Brands. While the former examined how AI is reshaping the consumer decision-making journey, the latter explored the implications of Gen Alpha’s growing use of AI for brands. 

Below are my key takeaways from these sessions and what they mean for the future of advertising.

What the Shift to AI is Doing to Consumers

AI is fundamentally changing how consumers discover, research, and make decisions about brands. Traditionally, the customer journey began with a search engine, followed by browsing websites, reading reviews, and comparing products across platforms. Today, consumers are increasingly turning to AI tools like ChatGPT to streamline this process, using conversational prompts to explore ideas, evaluate options, and receive personalized recommendations tailored to their specific needs. Rather than simply searching for information, consumers can now move from initial inspiration to active consideration within a single conversation.

As highlighted in From Discovery to Decision: How AI Is Changing Marketing, AI is becoming an increasingly important part of the consumer decision-making journey by helping people navigate decisions that require more context than a traditional search query can provide. For example, someone looking for countertop ideas might use a search engine for inspiration, but turn to ChatGPT to explore options based on a specific project, budget, or personal need. This shift extends across generations: The AI Generation: What Gen Alpha’s AI Use Means for Brands highlighted that 34% of Gen Alpha use AI daily, demonstrating how these tools are becoming embedded in everyday information-seeking behavior. As consumers increasingly phrase searches as conversational requests, AI can influence which brands they discover, consider, and ultimately choose.

Ultimately, AI is changing not only where consumers find information, but also how they make decisions. Discovery, research, consideration, and commerce are becoming increasingly interconnected, allowing consumers to move from exploring an idea to evaluating potential purchases within the same interaction. As AI adoption grows, it is becoming an increasingly important touchpoint in the customer journey, making it essential for brands to remain discoverable, credible, and relevant when consumers turn to AI for guidance.

What this Means for Marketers

As AI becomes an increasingly influential part of the consumer decision-making journey, marketers need to rethink how they build brand awareness, establish credibility, and ensure their brands are discoverable. It is no longer enough to focus solely on traditional search rankings, social media presence, or paid media placements. Brands must also consider how they appear within AI-driven discovery, where consumers are actively seeking personalized recommendations and guidance. Three key priorities emerge from this shift.

1. Trust and credibility are more important than ever.

As consumers increasingly turn to AI for recommendations and decision support, brands need to establish themselves as credible, trustworthy sources of information. This goes beyond traditional brand messaging; consumers want authentic experiences, genuine stories, and proof that a brand can deliver on its promises. As highlighted in The AI Generation: What Gen Alpha’s AI Use Means for Brands, younger consumers are particularly attuned to authenticity, often placing greater value on recommendations from friends, creators, and communities than on messaging directly from brands. Marketers should prioritize customer stories, creator partnerships, and useful, transparent content that demonstrates real value. Ultimately, strong brand credibility helps brands stand out in an increasingly crowded environment where consumers have more ways than ever to evaluate their options.

2. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is becoming an important part of discoverability.

As consumer discovery expands beyond traditional search engines into conversational AI tools, marketers need to consider how their brands are represented in AI-generated responses. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) focuses on improving the likelihood that a brand’s content, expertise, and products are surfaced in responses generated by AI platforms. This requires more than simply optimizing for keywords. Brands need to develop useful, relevant, and credible content that directly addresses consumers’ questions, needs, and interests. Clear product information, comprehensive FAQs, authoritative resources, and authentic customer experiences can all help strengthen a brand’s digital footprint.

As highlighted in The AI Generation: What Gen Alpha’s AI Use Means for Brands, content mapping and establishing brand authority are foundational to becoming a relevant reference point when consumers ask AI for guidance. Marketers must therefore begin incorporating GEO into their broader discoverability strategies alongside traditional SEO, recognizing that the goal is not simply to participate in the conversation, but to become a brand AI tools can confidently surface when relevant. GEO is becoming an optimizable performance play.

3. Marketers should begin exploring advertising opportunities within AI platforms.

While organic discoverability and brand credibility are essential, marketers should also consider how paid media can help them reach consumers as AI becomes part of their decision-making process. Platforms like ChatGPT present an emerging advertising opportunity because consumers are already using them to explore ideas, research products, and evaluate potential purchases. Unlike traditional advertising environments, conversational AI can provide rich context around a consumer’s needs and intent, creating the potential for more relevant advertising experiences. 

As discussed in From Discovery to Decision: How AI Is Changing Marketing, maintaining a clear distinction between advertising and organic responses, protecting conversation privacy, and giving users control are central to building trust in this environment. For marketers, this creates an opportunity to explore a new touchpoint in the customer journey while prioritizing relevance and the consumer experience. Rather than waiting for AI advertising to become an established channel, brands should begin evaluating how it can complement their existing media strategies and help them connect with consumers during moments of discovery and consideration. Now is the time to invest and test in ChatGPT Ads before the channel becomes saturated and costly.

Ultimately, AI is reshaping both how consumers make decisions and how brands need to compete for their attention. Marketers who invest early in building credibility, strengthening their GEO strategies, and exploring advertising within AI platforms will be better positioned to remain visible and relevant as these behaviors continue to evolve. The opportunity is not simply to adapt to another emerging channel, but to establish a presence in an increasingly important part of the consumer journey.

Want to go deeper on ChatGPT Ads? Watch our team’s take below.

The Programmatic Advantage in AI

As AI becomes an increasingly important part of the consumer journey, marketers have an opportunity to reach consumers in a new environment where they are actively discovering products, exploring solutions, and evaluating their options. ChatGPT advertising allows brands to show up during these moments of consideration, creating a new opportunity to connect relevant offerings with consumers as their needs emerge.

Running ChatGPT ads programmatically allows marketers to integrate this emerging channel into their broader media strategies rather than managing it in isolation. Key benefits include unified measurement through the DSP pixel across the open web and ChatGPT, as well as access to programmatic specialists and tools that help identify relevant intent clusters and align contextual signals with ad relevance. This provides a more integrated approach to campaign management, measurement, and optimization.

There is also an opportunity to gain a first-mover advantage. As AI advertising continues to develop, brands that begin testing now can establish performance benchmarks, learn which messaging and relevance clusters drive results, and refine their strategies before competition increases. Through a structured test-and-learn approach, marketers can identify what works, optimize toward stronger conversion performance, and build a foundation for future investment.

Ultimately, marketers need to consider both how their brands appear in AI-generated responses through GEO and how they can reach consumers through paid AI advertising. These are complementary but distinct opportunities to strengthen brand visibility in an evolving discovery landscape.

Considering ChatGPT Ads or GEO for your media plan?

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