If you’ve ever asked, “How do I get my content to show up in AI search results?” Patrick Moorhead has a simple answer: Stop writing like a marketer. Start writing like a trusted expert.
No one is scrolling your blog for product updates or vague feel-good content. They’re typing questions into tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, and expecting clear, helpful answers. The brands that show up are the ones creating content that AI tools recognize as authoritative and worth referencing. So instead of publishing just to keep up with a schedule, think of every piece of content like it belongs in a digital encyclopedia. It should be something that actually helps someone, something AI would be confident pulling in to answer a real question. That’s how you make your content future-ready.
This shift isn’t just about language. It’s about purpose. At IMPACT, we talk often about becoming the most known and trusted voice in your market. That level of trust comes from writing like someone is depending on your content to guide their next decision, because they are.
So, naturally, Patrick's ideas felt like they were lifted straight from the pages of our playbook, because in many ways, they are.
In this episode of Endless Customers, I sat down with Patrick Moorhead to talk about his new book, Answer Rank, and how the rules of visibility are changing in the age of AI.
Let’s dive in.
Answer Rank is about earning the right to be "the answer" in an age where AI tools like ChatGPT are becoming the first stop for buyers looking to make decisions.
Patrick describes it as "the combination of technical visibility and perceived trust." That second part, perceived trust, is the clincher. You can show up on page one of Google, but if AI doesn't see your content as credible, you won’t be part of the conversation. And more often than not, your buyers will never know you were there to begin with.
AI models are trained to look for content that:
That means your blog title, structure, and formatting all play a role, but so does your reputation. What you link to matters. Who links to you still matters. But even more important? The consistency and quality of your message.
AI doesn’t care about traditional rank order. As Patrick put it, "You could be number seven and still make it into the answer." In other words, the old race to the top spot on Google is less relevant now. Instead, it's about being included in the AI-curated answer set.
This levels the playing field. Smaller brands with tighter messaging and deeper trust can compete with larger companies. You don’t need to be everywhere. It’s about being respected where it counts.
This is where things get interesting, and a little nerve-wracking for teams stuck in the SEO status quo. Patrick noticed this shift firsthand when he was still a CMO. Despite dominating page-one rankings, his organic traffic started to dip while direct traffic rose.
That defies everything traditional SEO would predict. The rankings were strong. The keywords were dialed in. The publishing cadence was on point. Two to three Big 5 blog posts published a week, 76 weeks straight. That’s not a typo. That’s commitment.
But something had changed. And the data didn’t lie.
That’s when it hit him. "There’s no click in ChatGPT," he realized. People were finding their answers in AI tools and skipping the click altogether. Your perfectly optimized post? It gets summarized by AI and delivered to the user in seconds. No traffic. No conversion.
This is the inflection point. So what’s replacing those SEO wins? Trust. Authority. Credibility. Not in a vague, feel-good way but in a very real, very measurable shift in behavior.
It’s the beginning of a better kind of content strategy. One rooted in helping, not hyping. One built on clarity. It’s the same stuff we’ve been preaching for years at IMPACT.
The future of digital visibility isn't about being seen first. It's about being believed first.
That’s a shift worth leaning into.
One of Patrick's most powerful pieces of advice? Stop thinking like a marketer. Start thinking like a librarian.
"Every blog post should be a page in the encyclopedia of your industry," he said. This is the heart of building what he calls a "knowledge hub."
A knowledge hub (or what we call a Learning Center) isn’t just a blog with a few categories tacked on. It’s an organized, deliberate repository of your best thinking.
Think topic clusters, pillar pages, clear navigation, and zero fluff. The goal is to create a place where buyers, AI models, and even your internal teams can go to learn everything there is to know about your space.
This goes way beyond standard blogging. It demands thoughtful editorial planning, internal linking strategies, and a shift in purpose. You’re not publishing for traffic spikes. You’re publishing for trust accumulation.
At IMPACT, that resonated deeply. That’s what the Endless Customers System™ is all about. You don’t earn trust with splashy campaigns. You earn it by being the most helpful, transparent, and authoritative source in your space.
We’ve seen it work. The companies that commit to knowledge hubs become the go-to resources in their markets. They’re the ones buyers quote on sales calls. They’re the ones AI platforms reference. And they’re the ones closing faster, with fewer objections.
And yeah, that means you need more than a blog. You need a strategy.
How does visibility and trust work together in AI search?
Answer Rank isn’t just about showing up. It’s about showing up and being chosen.
There are two lanes to this highway:
One of my favorite takeaways? AI isn’t just scanning your site. It’s scanning your competitors, too. If your site doesn’t have pricing, product comparisons, or other Big 5 content, AI will gladly pull it from someone else. And not just pull it, position it as the truth.
Patrick shared, "If you're not telling your version of the story, then somebody else will."
That one hit home. You don’t want your competitor’s version of your story being the one buyers see first. In this new world, silence isn’t neutral. It’s a liability.
What does it mean when the buyer decides before visiting your website?
Patrick shared something we’ve seen time and again with our clients: Direct traffic may be up, but those visitors are way more qualified.
Why? Because they have already made their buying decision in ChatGPT.
"AI told them ABC Corporation is the best for this," Patrick said. "They arrive at your site ready to buy."
Let that sink in. These aren’t window shoppers. They’re not in the awareness phase, poking around for ideas. They’ve already asked the question, gotten the answer, and now they’re showing up on your doorstep.
That’s a whole new kind of buyer. Faster to convert. More confident in their choice. And they’ve reached that stage of their buying journey without even speaking to someone at your company.
Isn’t that the dream? Having someone land on your site with their credit card metaphorically in hand because they already trust you?
This is the upside of AI-fueled content. Done right, it doesn’t just inform. It qualifies, it nurtures, and it builds momentum before your sales team ever gets involved.
If your content can earn that level of trust with an AI model, it can win over the humans who rely on it. That’s the kind of leverage traditional SEO never gave us.
3 things businesses should do right now to earn AI trust
Patrick laid out three actionable moves that every business should be making:
Build a knowledge hub, not a blog. Organize content like an encyclopedia. Treat every piece as a lasting resource. This means intentionally mapping your most important topics and creating structured content that answers real questions. Not just what your product does, but how it compares, what it costs, who it’s best for, and even who it’s not for. The more clarity you provide, the more your brand becomes the trusted answer.
Cite real sources. Be transparent about price. Tackle uncomfortable topics. Don’t let AI piece together your story from someone else's site. That means leaning into The Big 5 topics: cost & price, problems, versus & comparisons, reviews, and best in class. These are the subjects buyers actually care about. If your site doesn’t speak to them honestly, AI will find a competitor who does. You don’t want to lose a sale because someone else was braver.
Get in the head of your buyer. Ask ChatGPT the questions they would. See if your brand is in the answer. If it’s not, you’ve got work to do. This kind of “buyer role playing” with AI is powerful. It shows you exactly what narratives are dominating the space and whether your voice is part of that story. If you’re invisible in the results, it’s a signal, not a failure, but a fixable gap.
Turns out, asking AI what it thinks might be the smartest audit your team does this quarter.
How to use AI as a creative partner in your content strategy
Patrick was clear: AI has a role in your content process. But it’s not about replacing your people, it’s about amplifying them.
Used the right way, AI becomes a creative partner that speeds up the groundwork, so your writers can focus on the strategic stuff. Think:
What AI can’t do is replicate your unique point of view, your tone, or your real-world expertise. That still belongs to your team. And it should.
"Promote them. Give them more resources," Patrick said. That got a big head nod from me.
This isn’t about working harder. It’s about working smarter, so your content team can stop wasting time on the rinse-and-repeat tasks and start doubling down on strategy, clarity, and trust-building. That’s where the magic happens.
When you put AI in the loop and keep humans at the center, you’re not just producing content faster. You’re making it stronger.
Examples of companies doing Answer Rank well
Patrick called out NerdWallet and Wirecutter as top-tier examples. Why? Because they’ve built their content ecosystems around what buyers actually want to know. They’re not chasing keywords. They’re answering real questions with depth, clarity, and structure.
These sites are:
They’ve become trusted destinations, not just for humans, but for AI too. That’s a rare sweet spot.
And then there’s HubSpot. Of course, they made the list. They’ve spent years building up a massive content foundation, but what sets them apart now is how they’re adapting. They’ve kept the quality high, layered in technical improvements, and they’re not afraid to experiment. Even when a new tool doesn’t work, they’re open about it.
That kind of public transparency isn’t just refreshing. It builds even more trust. Buyers notice. And so do the algorithms.
The big takeaway here? You don’t need to be the size of HubSpot to do this well. What you need is a willingness to be helpful, honest, and technically sharp. If that’s your foundation, AI will start paying attention. So will your audience.
Common content strategy mistakes businesses should avoid in the age of AI
The biggest misstep Patrick sees? Assuming old SEO tactics still apply.
"Don’t try to solve the new problem with old thinking," he warned. That means keyword stuffing, thin content, chasing backlinks, or prioritizing volume over value. Those tactics belonged to a different era, one where humans clicked first and asked questions later.
But now? AI is the gatekeeper. It doesn't just count links or scan headlines. It evaluates clarity, context, consistency, and credibility. The whole idea of "ranking" is being replaced with "referencing." Are you useful enough, trustworthy enough, and comprehensive enough to be cited in an AI answer? If not, you’re invisible.
He also cautioned against flooding your site with AI-generated content. Sure, you can produce a thousand articles in an afternoon. But will any of them actually help a buyer make a confident decision? Probably not.
AI content isn’t the enemy. Thoughtless content is.
Just because it’s easy to create doesn’t mean it’s worth publishing. Content that doesn’t show real perspective, answer real questions, or link to credible sources will be ignored by both buyers and bots.
Craftsmanship still counts. In fact, it might matter more now than ever. Because in a sea of generic answers, the clearest, most helpful voice is the one that stands out.
So don’t fall into the trap of doing more for the sake of doing more.
How do I start building a content strategy that earns trust from AI and buyers?
If you take one thing away from this episode, let it be this: In the answer economy, trust isn’t just helpful, it’s the whole game.
Patrick is currently developing a framework he calls "Trust Signals." These are the actions, behaviors, and content decisions that increase your credibility not just with buyers, but with the AI tools shaping what they see. That includes transparency, consistency, quality sourcing, and a commitment to being truly helpful.
As Patrick put it, "If your approach to being an authority is thumping your chest and yelling how smart you are, that’s not it."
Being the trusted voice in your space isn’t about dominance. It’s about dependability. It’s about showing up with answers, week after week, in a way that’s clear, confident, and honest.
And yes, that aligns perfectly with what we teach in the Endless Customers System™. Authority isn’t claimed. It’s earned through education, transparency, and real substance. And now that AI is the filter, the stakes are even higher.
If you want to win in this new landscape, you must lead.
Be the voice your buyers trust.
Be the answer AI relies on.
Be the brand they believe.
Ready to build your own knowledge hub and become the most trusted voice in your market? Talk to us about how the Endless Customers System™ can help you build the trust AI (and your buyers) are looking for.
Patrick Moorhead is the co-founder of AITrustSignals.com and the creator of Answer Rank, the first definitive framework for brand visibility in AI-generated answers. Together with Marcus Sheridan, Patrick is building the benchmark infrastructure that helps companies win trust with both AI systems and human buyers.
Check out The Sovereign CMO
Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn
What is Answer Rank?
Answer Rank is the ability for your content to be selected and cited by AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude when responding to user questions. It’s about becoming the trusted source of AI references. This relies on a combination of technical visibility (structured, AI-readable content) and perceived trust (credibility, clarity, and consistency).
How do I know if my content is being cited by AI?
Ask AI tools the exact questions your buyers are typing in. For example:
If the AI response includes your company by name, quotes your site, or echoes your key messaging, you’re being cited. If not, it’s time to audit and optimize.
What makes a good knowledge hub?
A strong knowledge hub is:
Think of it as the Wikipedia of your industry; deep, useful, and easy to navigate.
How do trust signals influence my visibility in AI tools?
Trust signals help AI decide which sources are reliable. These include:
If AI doesn’t trust your content, it won’t cite it no matter how well it’s optimized.