Manila, Philippines – The marketing and advertising landscape has moved firmly past the debate of whether artificial intelligence (AI) is a necessity. Today, the industry is no longer asking whether it should adopt AI, but how to master it.
This evolution was the focus of the recent ‘AI Visibility: The Future of Content & Paid Media’ forum, where about 100 industry leaders gathered to explore how Large Language Models (LLMs) are fundamentally upscaling modern marketing systems.
“AI isn’t coming for the Philippines. It’s already here,” said Fe Husaint, Greenpark’s Managing Director, as she kick-started the event.
“I want to give you this number:42.4%. That’s the percentage of internet users in the Philippines who use ChatGPT every single month. That’s nearly double [the] global average,” underscored Fe.
Marking a first in the industry, this AI Visibility event served as a landmark gathering in the Philippines. The rest of the forum explored how winning on visibility is shaping the future of content and paid media.
The thinking part: Four Cs and the new AI playbook
Ian Colvin, Greenpark’s Partner and Chief Strategy Officer, opened with a view of the current landscape. He introduced the idea of “the great transition,” emphasising the need to understand what has changed.
While largely trial-and-error, the former model was straightforward: traditional search and cookies fueled the growth of e-commerce. Ian emphasized that these were largely unbranded searches—until the landscape grew more complex.
From traditional search to social and marketplace search, he highlighted how all three help brands penetrate consumer journeys.
“Penetration is how brands grow, but let’s face it. There are still too many clicks. Forward clicks. Back clicks. Too many cookie policies to accept, reject, or customize.”
Ian noted that while LLMs are being used extensively in every stage of the funnel, adoption isn’t happening at the same pace. He also underscored that ranking in organic search “doesn’t really matter now.”
With this, he underscored the rise of AI-driven search responses, noting that nearly one in three Google searches in the Philippines now surfaces an AI-generated answer before traditional results. He urged brands to assess whether they are appearing in these AI-powered results, warning that this could reach around 60% of search results within 12 to 18 months.
From this point, Ian highlighted that digital discovery has changed. For brands, he stated, “If you don’t know where you are, you need to find out.”
This led to his discussion on a new set of rules. To make sense of this, he mapped out the “Four Cs” of the visibility formula and how to maximize AI visibility.
- Core. Ian described this as the ultimate source of truth. This means that brands must clearly define their website and the corresponding products, with all the detailed information about them.
- Credibility. With this, he emphasised that the days of keyword stuffing are gone. He noted that citation-targeted digital PR is more essential. By ensuring that the content is factual and informative, consumers can easily find information on what the brand is really about.
- Culture. The way to influence culture, Ian mentioned, is through creatives, ones that are trusted, set the right conversation about the brand, and use real language to describe products.
- Commerce. With this, Ian encapsulated the necessity of product visibility in transactional spaces, optimizing the Product Detail Page (PDP), refining product details, and leveraging consumer reviews to build trust. He also shared how this shift is already entering beta through AI-driven advertising, where “contextual relevance” is replacing traditional clicks.
To stay competitive, brands must now audit their “AI visibility” by monitoring share of voice and sentiment through specialized tools like OPTIQ powered by Greenpark. Ultimately, he stated, success in the AI search ecosystem requires a data-driven framework that balances credible digital assets with optimized commerce touchpoints.
The feeling part: Scaling personalisation through the human lens
While Ian’s talk summarized the “thinking part,” Jim Guzman, Digital Director at Unilab, kick-started his session by emphasizing the “feeling” part.
“AI is a shift we can no longer ignore. AI is not just changing the way we do content marketing, as far as my expertise is concerned, but essentially everywhere,” highlighted Jim.
Elaborating on how they navigate content marketing at Unilab, Jim noted, “With the noise right now on the internet, it’s very important that every piece of content you put out there is click-baity. Otherwise, you miss that one-second opportunity to get noticed.”
Moreover, AI integration for Jim is not merely a technical upgrade but a structural shift in how the pharmaceutical giant communicates with its vast consumer base. By utilising AI for SEO and dynamic creative optimisation, Unilab can customise messaging based on specific audience behaviours, tailoring everything from landing pages to calls-to-action (CTAs).
Beyond creative production, AI also serves as a critical diagnostic tool within Unilab’s workflow, as shared by Jim. The technology is used to analyse which content successfully drives engagement and conversion.
“It helps us serve these insights faster than manual reporting and recommend what to scale, tweak, or stop,” he explained.
Addressing industry-wide anxiety regarding job security, Jim urged marketers and agency partners to view AI as an accelerator rather than a threat. While the technology handles the heavy lifting of data and execution, he maintained that the “human lens” remains irreplaceable for high-level strategy and emotional resonance.
“AI won’t replace humans. But if you don’t use AI, you will be replaced by humans using AI,” he emphasised.
The visibility roadmap: Navigating the intersection of scale, human judgment
To cap off the event, Giann Vega, E-Commerce Head and Digital Data Transformation lead at PepsiCo, and Leandro Ignacio, Head of Digital Consumer Experience at Nestlé Nutrition, joined Ian in a panel discussion.
The panel discussed the shift in search behavior, with Leandro noting that “the internet became more of a concierge, an assistant, something that answers your needs,” and Ian adding, “AI assistance is already helping you make all of these research practices available to you.”
Addressing trust in AI, the panelists highlighted concerns about biases and credibility. Ian remarked, “trust remains the great wall for AI,” while Giann noted that “AI recommends the brands it trusts,” emphasizing the importance of brands establishing authoritative content: “since we’re talking about recommendation, how do you become unignorable? How do you make sure that your content is what AI reads and cites?”
To close the discussion, each emphasised the importance of adapting to AI-driven metrics and digital trust signals.
Ian stated, “When we do a visibility audit, we identify the top cited sources influencing results for your product or category.”
Giann added that success now also measures consumer happiness, highlighting that traditional metrics are shifting towards “stronger visibility, better quality of conversion” driven by AI.
Moreover, the conversation illustrated that the future of Philippine marketing lies in moving beyond the novelty of AI toward a sophisticated, visibility-centric strategy. As digital discovery transforms from a linear search process into a conversational, concierge-like experience, the “Four Cs: Core, Credibility, Culture, and Commerce, provide a critical roadmap for brands to remain “recommendable” in an automated world.
It can be concluded that true AI visibility is found at the intersection of AI-powered scale and irreplaceable human judgment. By optimizing for citations and sentiment rather than just keywords, brands can ensure they don’t just appear in the results, but consistently emerge as the trusted, AI-validated answer to the consumer’s intent.
Optimize Your Brand for the AI Era
Is your brand ready to be the first answer in an AI-driven world? From AI visibility audits to content strategies that build digital trust, Greenpark helps brands navigate this new frontier of discovery.
Contact Greenpark today for a complimentary consultation for your brand. Write ‘APACWinInAI’ in the enquiry section and discover how to master the future of AI visibility.
