By Crom Salvatera, Sydney digital and AI marketing strategist
The New Internet is the shift from people searching and clicking websites to asking AI, which understands, compares and acts for them. In it, the businesses that win are the ones AI understands and trusts. For twenty years, people searched Google, clicked websites and decided who to trust. That pattern is now changing. This hub summarises my 35 lessons on the shift.
Quick Answer: The New Internet describes how AI now researches, compares and recommends businesses on behalf of customers. Search is becoming conversation and action. Businesses stay visible by explaining clearly what they do, who they help and why they deserve trust. Clear information, visible proof and original expertise help AI understand and recommend them.
Part 1: How Search Changed (Lessons 1 to 10)
The first series explains what Google showed at Google I/O and why it starts a new internet.
The Internet Has Changed and Google Is Becoming an Assistant
Most businesses haven’t realised the internet has changed. Google showed a future where AI helps people understand information, compare it and act on it. Google is trying to become an assistant. Its AI answers complex questions, understands context and continues conversations. People will spend less time searching ten websites. Increasingly, they will ask one question and receive one intelligent response. Google is moving from a librarian pointing to books towards a researcher finding answers. Businesses need to think beyond rankings and become businesses AI understands and trusts.
Agentic Google and Search That Becomes Action
The most important word from Google this year was “agent”. An AI assistant answers questions. An AI agent goes further and performs tasks on your behalf. Google introduced agents that work in the background, monitor information and flag important changes. Google also demonstrated AI that researches products, monitors prices and helps complete tasks from Search and Gemini. Search used to help people discover. Now it helps people do. Success will come from being the business AI chooses when someone wants to take action.
Meet Your New Customer
Your next customer may never search the way your last customer did. People are moving from typing keywords to asking complete questions. Google is designing Search and YouTube to support ongoing conversations that remember context. Customers now expect AI to narrow their options before they visit a website. That means businesses need to earn trust before the click.
Why Some Businesses Will Lose Traffic
Some businesses will lose website traffic even when they have done nothing wrong. AI now answers more questions directly in Search. Fewer people need to click through several websites for basic information. Websites still matter. Every visit now needs to deliver more value. Original expertise and practical guidance become more valuable because they are harder to summarise. Every business needs to become a trusted source AI wants to reference.
Why This Matters to Every Business
This shift affects far more than technology companies. Online stores, local services, professional practices and national brands all face it. Their customers are changing how they discover information. When AI becomes the first place people ask questions, every business depends on being understood and recommended. This is a business strategy issue.
Google Is Becoming Your Sales Assistant
Imagine Google explaining your business before your customer visits your website. Google showed AI that summarises information, compares options and guides decisions across Search, YouTube and shopping. A digital presence increasingly shapes what AI can say about a business. The clearer and more trustworthy the information, the better AI can represent that business accurately.
The Biggest Shift Since Smartphones and What Happens Next
This could be the biggest change to the internet since the smartphone. Smartphones changed how we accessed the internet. AI is changing who does the work. Intelligent systems now research, compare and organise information on people’s behalf. That changes marketing, search and online sales at the same time. The internet is evolving. Businesses that adapt early will build websites, content and digital assets AI can understand, trust and confidently recommend.
Part 2: How AI Understands Your Business (Lessons 11 to 20)
The second series explains what businesses must do. AI can only recommend a business it understands.
Your First Customer Isn’t Human Anymore
Before a customer visits a website, AI increasingly does part of the research. Google demonstrated Search that answers conversationally, compares information and narrows choices before anyone clicks. That gives every website two audiences. Humans eventually buy. AI interprets the business before they arrive. Unclear businesses are much harder for AI to surface. Read your homepage as a stranger. Could an AI explain the business accurately in two sentences?
Clarity Comes Before Optimisation
People often ask me how to rank in AI. I think that is the wrong question. Google’s AI can only work with what it understands. A vague website confuses AI just as it confuses people. The first job is clarity. A website might contain thousands of words and still miss the important questions. Who do you help? What problems do you solve? Why should someone trust you? Having information and communicating understanding are very different things.
Original Thinking Beats Generic Content
AI can write generic content in seconds. Generative AI makes common information easier to create and easier to summarise. That raises the value of what AI can’t invent. Real experience, customer stories, insights and expertise all become more valuable. Businesses that repeat what is already online become harder to distinguish. Businesses that teach from experience stand out. The future belongs to original thinking.
Your Website Is a Knowledge Base Built on Context
A website is becoming your business’s knowledge base. Google is building systems that understand relationships between information. Think of the website as a library. Every service page, FAQ, case study and article teaches AI what the business knows. Context matters here too. Keywords still matter, and AI now understands meaning, relationships and intent. Someone searching “best accounting software for a growing ecommerce business” has a specific business problem. Write for the question behind the search.
Trust and Reputation Are Becoming Machine Readable
Trust used to be something people felt. Now AI has to recognise it too. People judge a business on reviews, experience, examples, credentials and clear explanations. AI looks for many of those same signals as evidence. Verifiable expertise shows why a business deserves attention. A brand is also what AI can learn about it. Every review, mention, article, interview and video builds a digital reputation. Inconsistent messaging makes understanding harder. Consistency now supports comprehension as well as branding.
Marketing Is Becoming Knowledge Engineering
I think marketing is entering a completely new discipline. For years we built campaigns. Now we also need to build knowledge about our products, services and expertise. If AI becomes part of the buying journey, organised knowledge becomes a competitive advantage. My advice is to think like a teacher. Getting found still matters. Being understood now matters just as much, because AI can’t accurately represent a business it doesn’t understand. The aim is to become the clearest, most understandable business in your market.
Part 3: Ecommerce, YouTube and AI-First Marketing (Lessons 21 to 35)
The third series applies these ideas to online stores, video and marketing strategy.
Ecommerce Is Becoming AI-Led
Customers can now ask AI to compare products, check reviews and recommend what to buy. A product may be judged before the website gets the click. Ecommerce now needs to optimise for understanding. Product pages have become data sources. AI needs to know what the product is, who it suits and what problem it solves. Every product page should explain the buying decision. A stronger product page can improve conversion and AI visibility together.
Every Important Page Must Stand on Its Own
Your next customer may never start on your homepage. AI may pull information from a product page, category page, FAQ, review, YouTube transcript or comparison article. The journey becomes fragmented. If every page relies on the homepage for context, the journey breaks. A product page should explain the product. An article should explain the problem. When every page builds trust by itself, the business gains more entry points.
Reviews Become Evidence and Shopping Becomes Conversational
AI can read patterns in reviews. Repeated praise, repeated complaints, delivery problems and customer language all shape how a business is understood. Reviews should create evidence through specific outcomes, experiences and reasons people chose you. Shopping is also moving from search boxes to conversations. Customers ask what is best for their situation and what is worth the money. My principle is to answer the buying question behind the product keyword. Comparison guides, buying guides, best-for pages and real customer FAQs attract people closer to purchase.
YouTube Is Becoming an Answer Engine
YouTube is becoming part of AI search. People will ask questions and expect YouTube to organise the answer. Videos now compete to become the answer. Every video should answer one clear question. AI reads the signals around a video. These include the title, description, transcript, captions and chapters. Structure every video for interpretation. Name the problem, name the audience and end with a clear takeaway.
Strong Openings, Clear Jobs and Knowledge Assets
The first 30 seconds decide whether people stay. Filler damages trust, and early exits send YouTube a weak signal. Confirm the promise immediately and start with relevance. Every video also needs a business job. Some attract, some educate and some move people toward an offer. Random content creates random results. A strong video is also a knowledge asset. It can become a transcript, article, short, LinkedIn post, email or FAQ. When one video becomes many assets, expertise compounds.
AI Marketing Starts With Strategy
Many businesses think using AI to write posts counts as AI marketing. Faster content and better marketing are different things. Weak positioning just lets AI say weak things faster. AI marketing starts with strategy. Most businesses use AI like a cheap intern for captions and generic blogs. That saves time and creates little advantage. Use AI as a strategist to analyse intent, map objections, compare competitors and find content gaps. Better decisions lead to better customers, sales and margins.
Teach the Market and Become the Most Understandable Business
AI changes how customers decide. They research options, summarise reviews, understand pricing and narrow choices before speaking to anyone. Build marketing for AI-assisted buyers. Make information clear, proof visible, offers easy to compare and the next step obvious. The best marketers will become teachers. Explain the problem and the decision, then show where the business fits. The future belongs to the most understandable business. The business that is easiest to understand becomes easier to trust, and easier to choose.
What Businesses Should Do Now
These five actions come straight from the lessons.
- Run the homepage clarity test. Ask someone outside your industry to read your homepage. They should explain what you do, who you help and why someone should choose you.
- Answer the questions customers really ask. Ask “What important questions haven’t we answered yet?” Then build service pages, FAQs, buying guides and comparisons around real buying questions.
- Publish proof for every claim. Show reviews, case studies, credentials, examples and customer outcomes. Keep messaging consistent everywhere the business appears.
- Make every important page stand on its own. Product, category and article pages should each explain their subject clearly. Include who it suits, what problem it solves and the next step.
- Use AI as a strategist and give every video a job. Map intent, objections and content gaps with AI. Structure each video around one clear question, then repurpose it into many assets.
What Is the New Internet?
The New Internet is the shift from people searching and clicking websites to asking AI. AI now understands, compares and acts on their behalf. For twenty years, people searched Google, clicked websites and decided who to trust themselves.
Google is moving from a search engine towards an intelligent assistant. People spend less time searching and more time asking. The businesses that win are the ones AI understands and trusts.
What Is Agentic Search?
Agentic search uses AI agents that perform tasks on a person’s behalf. Google introduced agents that keep searching in the background, monitor the web and flag important changes.
Search can now continue working while people get on with their day. Businesses need to become discoverable to these agents, because agents increasingly narrow the options people see.
How Does AI Decide Which Businesses to Recommend?
AI can only recommend what it understands. It needs clear information on what a business does, who it helps and why it deserves trust.
AI also looks for evidence. Reviews, experience, examples, credentials and clear explanations help it evaluate a business. Consistent messaging across reviews, mentions, articles and videos makes a business easier to understand and recommend.
Is SEO Still Important in the New Internet?
Yes. Google Search Central confirms that standard SEO best practices apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode. SEO helps a business get discovered. AEO helps it answer the question. GEO helps AI understand, mention and recommend it.
Keywords still matter, and context now matters more. Write for the question behind the search. All three disciplines work best when the business itself is easy to understand.
How Should Ecommerce Brands Prepare for AI Shopping?
Ecommerce brands should optimise for understanding as well as traffic. Products need clear names, useful descriptions, strong categories, helpful FAQs, honest reviews, visible policies and structured information.
Every product page should explain the buying decision. Show who the product suits, when to choose it and how it compares. Add comparison guides and buying guides that answer the real buying question.
Get Your Business Ready for the New Internet
AI is already researching and recommending businesses for your customers. Make sure it understands yours. I help Sydney and Australian businesses become clear, trusted and easy for AI to recommend.
