"AI is changing how people discover, compare and choose - across every industry. But not every industry is equally vulnerable. New research from BCG maps where large language models (LLMs) are likely to disrupt the consumer journey, and it breaks the landscape into four clear archetypes: Breached, Undefended, Contested and Secured. Each one tells a different story about how AI is reshaping marketing, discovery and retention - and what brands should be doing about it right now."
"In sectors like travel, news, retail and health and fitness, AI isn't just shifting traffic - it's collapsing the comparison layer entirely. Search, aggregators and even branded content are being skipped over as consumers ask LLMs what to buy and trust the answer. That's a huge problem if your business relies on visibility in traditional discovery channels. These brands are at risk of being demoted to data providers for AI interfaces, with little pricing power or differentiation left."
"Verticals like gaming, dating and betting (RMG) aren't yet being replaced by AI. However, discovery is shifting fast, and brand loyalty is thin. These businesses often rely on performance marketing and low-friction app installs, making them especially exposed to disappearing visibility across search, app stores and programmatic. To avoid fading into the background, these brands need to flip from transactional to durable. That means investing in personalization, AI-fueled loyalty and strategic integrations to ensure they appear in AI-mediated recommendations."
AI is transforming how consumers discover, compare and choose, creating four archetypes of industry vulnerability: Breached, Undefended, Contested and Secured. In Breached sectors such as travel, news, retail and health and fitness, LLMs can bypass search and aggregators, collapsing the comparison layer and risking commoditization of brands into data providers. In Undefended verticals like gaming, dating and betting, discovery is shifting rapidly while loyalty remains weak, leaving firms exposed to disappearing visibility across search, app stores and programmatic. Productivity tools are harder to displace, but user access patterns are changing as AI agents emerge. Brands must rebuild direct relationships, invest in personalization, loyalty and exclusive data to stay relevant.
Read at MarTech
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]