AI Rewards Boring Basics, Full Stop
In the Answer Economy, the boring work of FAQs, product explainers, brand websites, and structured content isn’t busywork anymore—it’s a growth strategy.
If you just attended POSSIBLE or are heading to Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity Lions, or if you just care about marketing, take five minutes for this read.
It could reshape how you think about AI and brand strategy. My column was just published on Ad Age . I don’t have a subscription, here’s the core takeaway:
AI-powered answer engines—like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Amazon’s Rufus—are now reaching Super Bowl–level audiences every single week (we’re talking 5 billion+ queries a month). That’s not hype. That’s a new front page of the internet.
And brands? They're being judged in that arena—relentlessly. (We know because we've run thousands of audits.)
To win, you need to "latch" on to a very simple, consumer-first framework (LATCH).
LISTEN – Monitor what people are actually asking, from prompts to Reddit threads to FAQ spikes.
ANSWER – Provide clear, structured, immediately accessible responses. Think FAQs, not slogans.
TELL THE TRUTH – AI cross-references everything from green seals to Better Business Bureau credentials. If your claim isn’t airtight, it gets buried, refuted, or replaced.
CLARIFY – Radical transparency wins. Vagueness gets penalized.
HOST – Act like a 24/7 concierge, not a sales desk. Anticipate, simplify, solve. (See my early Ted Talk "The Concierge Economy.")
This framework (and mindset) is what inspired me (and my co-founder Hank Hudepohl) to launch BrandRank.AI ("Prompting Your Brand Truth") and earlier PlanetFeedback (which evolved into BuzzMetrics and the folded into Nielsen)
In the new AI-powered #AnswerEconomy, attention isn’t bought—it’s earned with credibility.
Pete, thanks for the acronym. I’ll “latch” on to that and integrate it into my marketing efforts. And, yes, AI’s usefulness is one if its most appealing traits.