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From Queries to Conversations: Why Search is Being Rewritten

By Anushka Pandit

Ian-Irving

Ian Irving, Lead SEO & ASO Specialist at BBC, says LLMs are to the 2020s and beyond what the web was to the 2000s.

As users swap search bars for smart prompts, and developers build entire apps on conversational APIs, the ripple effect is reshaping everything from product discovery to brand visibility. Welcome to the era where marketers must think less about keywords and more about conversations.

This shift isn’t just technical; it’s behavioural. Customers are no longer “Googling” their way to answers—they’re chatting their way through decisions. Developers are embedding LLMs into workflows, websites, and products, making AI the new default interface. And marketers? They’re scrambling to understand how to show up in an algorithmically generated answer, not just a search result. The digital transformation isn’t coming—it’s already talking back.

Ian Irving, Lead SEO & ASO Specialist at BBC, strongly agrees. In an interview with Martechvibe, Irving shed light on how LLMs are to the 2020s what the web was to the 2000s – and that is something to think about! Are we at the beginning of a new wave of digital transformation? 

Read the full interview to see Irving’s thoughts on what will shape marketing in this new ecosystem.

What’s one trend or shift you believe will have the biggest impact on marketing in 2025?

The shift to LLMs as a primary interface for product discovery. We’re moving beyond early adoption – many users will soon default to “LLM-first” search behaviour. That creates a huge challenge: how do you get your brand or product in front of people when the search engine isn’t a list of links, but a conversation? Rethinking visibility in this new paradigm is going to be essential.

What’s one challenge marketers must overcome to stay competitive this year?

Fragmentation. The digital space continues to fracture into distinct, fast-evolving ecosystems – each with its own logic, audience norms, and content formats. The challenge is maintaining a coherent message that can travel across all of them without losing fidelity. Consistency without uniformity will be key.

If you could give one piece of advice to today’s marketing leaders, what would it be?

Don’t just think about how your customers are using LLMs – start using them yourself. As force-multipliers, they’re already transforming how individuals work. Those who integrate LLMs deeply into their own workflows now will have a serious advantage. We may be standing at the start of another digital transformation—what the web was to the 2000s, LLMs could be to the 2020s and beyond.

The trend that’s emerging, and the one I think will continue to grow in 2025 to set brands apart, is the ability to decentralise their brand identity. 

Customers no longer buy into a brand because of what it says about itself, they buy in because of what it reflects back to them. Whether that be authentically or aspirationally. 

The deeper we understand our customers, the more precisely we can create meaningful entry points into the brand — each one tailored, native and emotionally resonant.  

It’s not about fragmentation, it’s about building a brand identity that’s flexible enough to show up in different spaces whilst still being rooted in the same core mission. 

Irving will take the stage to present a fireside chat on Unlocking the power of first-party data.

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