From Google to GPT: How Search Actually Works in 2025

About this episode

The episode explores how AI and new technologies are transforming the customer journey and discoverability in marketing.

Discoverability isn’t “just SEO” anymore. It’s the entire customer journey. VML’s Chief Discoverability Officer, Heather Physioc, joins host Lacey Peace to unpack how AI search, LLM overviews, social media channels, and agentic assistants are rewriting how customers find, trust, and choose brands. We cover: the rise of zero-click results and GEO (generative engine optimization), why trust + authority beat content volume, connecting your content supply chain, and where to invest next. Practical, human-centered—and way beyond keyword stuffing. Key Moments 00:00 Meet Heather Physioc, VML’s Chief Discoverability Officer 7:33 What Is a Chief Discoverability Officer? 10:07 Discoverability’s Role in the Modern Customer Journey 13:00 The Biggest Gaps in Marketing and CX Today 17:00 From 10 Blue Links to AI Overviews: The Timeline of Discoverability 22:00 How AI Overviews Are Changing Search Behavior 23:45 Three Shifts Defining the AI Search Revolution 27:45 Is This the Death of the Website? 28:40 Can We Track What People Search on LLMs? 30:53 Does SEO Still Matter in an AI-First World? 33:17 What Platforms Actually Matter Most Right Now 37:00 Building Trust and Authority in the Age of AI…

People in this episode

Host: Lacey Peace

Guest: Heather Physioc

Topics covered

• AI search
• customer journey
• discoverability
• trust and authority
• content supply chain
• marketing
• SEO

Keywords

• discoverability
• AI search
• customer journey
• trust
• authority
• content supply chain
• SEO
• generative engine optimization
• zero-click results
• AI assistants

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: VML, Google, GPT

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