![](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_hero_image_mobile/public/media/image/2026-10/Blog%20Graphic-Drupal-Why%20Drupal%20Is%20the%20Right%20Choice%20for%20E-commerce.png?itok=Uz1ZfGHW) Image ![Maggie Schroeder Headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/post_content_attribution_headshot/public/media/image/2026-09/Navy%20%286%29.png?h=3cd06fc8&itok=YqFn_6pu) [Maggie Schroeder](/people/leadership/maggie-schroeder) Vice President, Platform and Solutions Marketing Acquia ## Collection [Thought Leadership](/blog/series/thought-leadership) Find out how to co-own AI and drive a better brand experience [Read the Report](https://www.acquia.com/blog/missing-success-factor-growth-agentic-era-how-cmos-and-cios-win-digital-experience) # How Your Consumers' Habits Are Changing and What It Means for Your Organization Published: October 2, 2026 Last Updated: October 8, 2026 10 minute read [Share this blog post on LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https://www.acquia.com/markdownify/node/61571) [Share this blog post on Twitter ]() [Share this blog post via Email ]() Copy Markdown Consumer habits have changed. See how AI agents are reshaping content strategy across the public sector, manufacturing, and finance. ![](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_hero_image_mobile/public/media/image/2026-10/Blog%20Graphic-Drupal-Why%20Drupal%20Is%20the%20Right%20Choice%20for%20E-commerce.png?itok=Uz1ZfGHW) ## Collection : [Thought Leadership](/blog/series/thought-leadership) Your next customer, client, or citizen may never land on your homepage. They'll ask an AI agent a question, and the agent will decide which organizations are worth mentioning in its answer. Consumer habits are changing faster than most content strategies can keep up. Whether they are buying a new car, evaluating a university or booking a vacation, the way people get information and consume content has radically changed. According to a [2026 study](https://eightohtwo.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2026_EightOhTwo_AIAndSearchBehaviorStudy_.pdf), 37% of consumers now start their searches with AI tools like ChatGPT instead of Google. This shift applies across industries. A recent [McKinsey study](https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/charts/shopping-gets-an-ai-assist) found that among US consumers who use at least one AI tool, 38% say they use AI for research, 17% for financial advice, and 15% for health and wellness management today. What does this mean for brands, institutions, and organizations of all sizes? To reach people who are increasingly researching and buying in a totally new way, organizations must rethink how they create, structure, and distribute content for an audience that is both humans and AI agents. ## Why Content Is More Important Than Ever Strong search engine optimization (SEO) used to be enough to help organizations stand out. Producing quality content that targets human clicks still matters — AI hasn’t entirely replaced traditional search yet — but another discipline is becoming increasingly important: AI agent optimization (AAO). AAO is the practice of structuring content and digital infrastructure so AI agents can find it as readily as humans. ### **SEO, AEO, GEO, and AAO: Confused Yet?** They all sound alike, but each solves a different problem: - **SEO, or search engine optimization:** Helps your pages rank in traditional search results so people click through to your site. - **AEO, or answer engine optimization:** Shapes your content so it's pulled as the direct answer to a question, like a featured snippet in Google or the response a voice assistant reads aloud - **GEO, or generative engine optimization:** Makes your content more likely to be cited when tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google’s AI Overviews write a response. - **AAO, or AI agent optimization:** Takes things a step further. AI agents go beyond simply answering questions; they research, compare, shortlist, and increasingly act on someone's behalf. AAO makes sure your content, data, and infrastructure are ready for an agent to find, trust, and use. You don’t have to choose just one; each discipline builds on the one before it. Strong SEO is the foundation, and AEO and GEO help ensure your content shows up in AI-generated answers. AAO is what prepares you for the moment an agent (not a person) makes the first cut. Organizations that rely on name recognition and reputation, rather than clear, specific proof of what makes them better, risk becoming invisible to AI agents. An agent can’t weigh how people feel about a brand; it weighs what it can verify. To stand out, structure your organization’s unique strengths and product and service features so AI can easily recognize them. AI agents begin the decision-making process with the user's problem, not a brand name. Someone is far more likely to ask an agent for the “best phone charger for travel” than for a specific product or brand. To gain and maintain visibility, your organization has to clearly define its customers’ needs and produce accessible content that reaches the AI agents mediating their choices. ## Publish at the Pace AI Agents Expect What is required is personalized, helpful, and fresh (less than 12 months old) content published at scale. Publishing one blog post a month, even if well researched and cited, is no longer enough. Organizations must strengthen their authority on a given topic, and to do that, they need to write multiple pieces of content, each focused on a different customer question. Consider a bank launching a new mortgage product. - First-time buyers want to know whether they qualify and how much they need for a down payment. - Homeowners want to know whether refinancing will save them money. - Mortgage brokers want rates, lending criteria, and how the product compares to competitors. - Financial advisors want to know how it fits into a client's long-term plan. Each is a distinct question for a different audience, and each needs its own accurate, approved content. ## Answer the Questions Your Customers Are Asking AI agents don't search the way people used to. They start with a question — often a long and specific one — and look for content that answers it directly. That's why FAQs tend to punch above their weight in AI-generated answers. The question is spelled out, and the answer sits right beneath it, ready for an agent to pull and cite. You can apply that same logic across your entire site. Start with the questions your sales team, service desk, or call center hears every week, plus the ones that show up in site search and support tickets. Then build content around them: - **Mirror your customers' language:** Use the question as the headline or subhead, in the words your customers use. - **Put the answer first:** Lead with the answer in the first sentence or two, then add the detail. - **Make every answer stand alone:** Keep each answer self-contained, so it still makes sense when an agent lifts it out of the page. - **Spread FAQs across your site:** Add FAQ sections to product, service, and policy pages, not just a standalone FAQ page. Go back to our mortgage example. "How much do I need for a down payment?" deserves a clear, two-sentence answer near the top of the page, not a figure buried in the fourth paragraph of a product overview. ## Every Element Of A Website Needs To Be Machine-Readable Answering the right questions is half the job. The other half is making sure every element of your website is readable by AI agents, from spec sheets to banner images to help center articles. Modern AI tools don't just read text. Many pair large language models with computer vision, using a file’s name, alt text, captions, and surrounding copy to judge an image's relevance to the page. For example, a manufacturer’s product page will rank higher in an AI-generated answer when its alt text and captions cover the exact specs a buyer is searching for (e.g., tolerance, material grade, or compatible fittings), rather than just a file name. “Bracket-047.jpg” tells an AI agent nothing; “stainless steel L bracket, 4mm” tells it a lot. Granularity is critical. ## How Consumers are Changing – and How Organizations Must Prepare Every sector faces its own version of this shift. Here is how three industries are already being reshaped, and what a content strategy built for both humans and agents looks like in each. ### 1. Public Sector Service Delivery For decades, citizens wanting to apply for permits, file their taxes, or renew a license have had to navigate endless landing pages and documentation to find answers or next steps, *if* they could do it digitally at all. According to the [Forrester CX Index](https://www.forrester.com/press-newsroom/cx-index-2019-results/), federal government customer experience trails the private-sector average by nearly 11%. Poor user experience in digital public services undermines trust and reduces the effectiveness of public administration. Many citizens are skipping the clunky portal altogether and [asking an AI chatbot for help](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2026/06/17/americans-and-ai-2026-chatbots-smart-devices-and-views-on-impact/) directly; almost half (49%) of US consumers now access chatbots. But sector-level analysis of [Acquia’s research](https://www.acquia.com/resources/report/missing-success-factor-growth-agentic-era) suggests the public sector isn’t ready for that shift: 65% of public sector marketing leaders admit their content is still built for people to read, not structured for AI to use. 77% say producing and managing that content takes more time than it should. Government entities need a centralized, governed content infrastructure: dense materials turned into accurate, machine-readable structures, so non-technical staff can publish updates instantly across every touchpoint. The [City of Burnaby](https://www.acquia.com/resources/case-studies/city-burnaby) consolidated more than 1,500 pages into 479 on its new site, delivering a streamlined architecture residents can easily navigate. ### 2. Manufacturing Field representatives, trade show handshakes, and print catalogs were once surefire ways for manufacturing leaders to generate business. But that is not how things work today. According to [Gartner,](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-03-09-gartner-sales-survey-finds-67-percent-of-b2b-buyers-prefer-a-rep-free-experience) 67% of B2B buyers say they prefer a rep-free experience. Many engineers and procurement leads now use AI answer engines and self-service portals to research tolerances, compare SKUs, and finalize vendor shortlists. The prospect may stay completely invisible to the seller until they reach the bottom of the funnel. In-depth sector analysis of [our research](https://www.acquia.com/resources/report/missing-success-factor-growth-agentic-era) shows how exposed that leaves manufacturers. They’re the least confident of any sector that their platform makes it easy for AI models to read and trust their content (39%, compared to 57% in the public sector and 53% in financial services). Only 44% have audited how AI models currently represent their brand. That blind spot is exactly why industrial leaders must reallocate spend from legacy awareness plays to a unified content engine. The goal is one place to manage global product assets, documentation that AI models can parse and cite, and spec data that reaches buyers and agents automatically. [Energizer](https://www.acquia.com/resources/case-studies/energizer) unified its multi-brand portfolio in one governed content hub, growing from roughly 30,000 to more than 200,000 assets and onboarding acquired brands into the same system. ### 3. Financial Services Banking is generally more digitally advanced as a sector, with [more than half (54%) of customers using mobile apps](https://www.aba.com/about-us/press-room/press-releases/National-Survey-Preferred-Banking-Methods) as their top option for managing accounts, compared to just 9% visiting their local branch. Consumers are also becoming more comfortable using AI to evaluate high-yield accounts, compare lending options, and get tailored financial advice. According to [Personetics](https://personetics.com/resource-center/84-of-bank-customers-would-switch-for-ai-powered-insights/), 84% of customers would switch banks for timely, relevant AI guidance that improves their financial health. But demand is outpacing the sector’s AI readiness. Industry analysis of [Acquia’s research](https://www.acquia.com/resources/report/missing-success-factor-growth-agentic-era) shows financial services already has the compliance foundations most sectors are still building: 76% say security, legal, and compliance controls are built directly into their main platform. But only 53% are confident their content is structured so AI models can read and trust it. This presents a real opportunity to extend the governance the sector has already built, rather than starting from scratch. To do so, financial services firms should invest in centralized and compliant digital platforms that consolidate multisite footprints, automate compliance and rate updates, and ensure easy brand discovery across touchpoints. And of course, security is paramount to convert growing consumer interest into lasting confidence. Financial services firms must put strong guardrails around AI-driven decisions and strictly govern information to meet rigid regulatory standards. [Franklin Madison](https://www.acquia.com/resources/case-studies/franklin-madison) manages more than 200 financial product microsites from a single governed platform. ## 5 Moves to Make AI Agent Optimization Work AAO isn't a content team project. It's a leadership decision, and it starts with five moves. 1. **Treat AI agents as an audience worth investing in.** Shift budget from awareness plays that agents can't see toward structured, verifiable content they can. 2. **Compete on proof, not reputation.** If your advantage can't be stated as a verifiable fact, an agent can't weigh it. Make sure your positioning holds up when a machine, not a person, is doing the comparing. 3. **Build one governed source of truth.** When content and product data live in one governed system, every channel and every agent gets the same accurate answer. That's a platform decision, not a publishing one. 4. **Co-own it with IT.** Marketing decides what to say and to whom. IT decides what data agents can access and how. Neither can do this alone. 5. **Measure what agents do, not just what people click.** Track citations in AI-generated answers, agent-assisted conversions, and how accurately AI represents you. ## Reach Consumers In An Agentic Future Read our latest research report, [The Missing Success Factor for Growth in the Agentic Era](https://www.acquia.com/resources/report/missing-success-factor-growth-agentic-era), to discover how to prepare your business strategy for the agentic future. Image ![Maggie Schroeder Headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/post_content_attribution_headshot/public/media/image/2026-09/Navy%20%286%29.png?h=3cd06fc8&itok=YqFn_6pu) [Maggie Schroeder](/people/leadership/maggie-schroeder) Vice President, Platform and Solutions Marketing Acquia Maggie is Acquia’s VP of Platform and Solutions Marketing. She is an experienced marketing and product strategy leader with a strong background in enterprise software, digital transformation, driving strategies for Acquia’s digital experience platform. [Share this blog post on LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https://www.acquia.com/markdownify/node/61571) [Share this blog post on Twitter ]() [Share this blog post via Email ]() Copy Markdown ## Frequently Asked Questions What does “changing consumer habits” mean for organizations right now? Consumers are bypassing traditional search in favor of AI agents at every stage of research and buying. To stay competitive and visible, organizations must structure content to be found and trusted by both humans and AI. What is AI Agent Optimization (AAO)? AAO is the practice of structuring content and digital infrastructure so AI agents can easily find, parse, and cite it. Atomic content, structured data, and machine-readable formatting make this possible. Which industries are most exposed to the shift in consumer habits? Additional analysis of Acquia’s research points to the public sector, manufacturing, and financial services as sectors where AI agents are already reshaping how customers, clients, and citizens find and evaluate information. ## Keep Reading [View More Resources](/resources) [Image ![](/sites/default/files/media/image/2026-09/Frame%201321314293.svg) Blog Article 5 min ###### The Missing Success Factor for Growth in the Agentic Era: How CMOs and CIOs Win with Digital Experience CMOs and CIOs must co-own AI strategy. Learn how governance drives sustainable growth and a superior digital experience in the agentic era. Read article Thought Leadership ](/blog/missing-success-factor-growth-agentic-era-how-cmos-and-cios-win-digital-experience) [Image ![](/sites/default/files/styles/card_tablet/public/media/image/2026-09/Group%201000002056_0.png?h=10d202d3&itok=C1gv4vpf) Blog Article 5 min ###### AI Governance in Marketing: Built In, Not Bolted On See why Acquia's CMO and VP of marketing say AI governance works best built into the workflow, not added after the fact. Read the full breakdown. Read article Thought Leadership ](/blog/governance-infrastructure-not-brake)