Some companies are using ads to influence AI agents

It’s no secret that agents are slowly taking over the internet. Automated traffic across the internet increased almost eight times faster than human activity last year, according to a March report from cybersecurity company Human Security.

But how is a brand to influence them?

As agentic infrastructure continues to develop and as some consumers begin deploying agents to shop or perform other tasks, companies across industries are not only grappling with optimizing their websites for agents but are trying to figure out how to advertise to them. Many brands are thinking beyond just answer engine optimization (AEO) and are working on how to engage directly with agents to drive sales or impact how the agents perceive them, according to executives we spoke to.

“[Agents are] still emerging as a channel,” Fiona Tan, Wayfair’s chief technology officer, told Marketing Brew. “We want to just make sure we’re keeping very close to how consumers are changing their behavior and then reacting as quickly as possible, and in some cases, proactively providing that information.”

High time

Advertising to agents is top of mind at the publisher Time magazine, as the number of days where it sees more bot traffic than human traffic to its site is increasing, according to Mark Howard, the publication’s chief operating officer. He cited data from Ally Bank showing that consumers who came to the brand from AI referrals tended to have a higher conversion rate and were further down the funnel by the time they got to the brand, which he said makes them an attractive opportunity for its advertising partners.