We're kicking off March with what might be the most consequential AI infrastructure deal we've ever covered — and it has ripple effects that touch every marketer reading this right now. Amazon just dropped $50 billion on OpenAI, and the two are building something together that could fundamentally change how businesses deploy AI agents at scale. Meanwhile, the conversational ad revolution just got its first major programmatic partner, and Google's AI Mode is quietly swallowing traditional search whole.

There's a LOT to unpack today. In this issue, you'll discover:

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Let's dive in.

This is the biggest AI infrastructure deal in history, and I'm fascinated by what it signals for the future of marketing technology.

Here's the breakdown: Amazon is investing $50 billion in OpenAI as part of a massive $110 billion funding round that also includes SoftBank and NVIDIA. This brings OpenAI's valuation to a staggering $730 billion. But the money is only half the story.

The real headline? AWS is now the exclusive third-party cloud provider for OpenAI Frontier — the platform that lets organizations build, deploy, and manage teams of AI agents. The two companies are co-creating what's called a "Stateful Runtime Environment" through Amazon Bedrock, which allows AI systems to maintain context, remember previous interactions, and coordinate across tools and data sources.

Think about what that means for marketing. We're moving from a world where you ask an AI a one-off question to a world where AI agents remember your brand guidelines, your campaign history, your audience data — and can act on all of it autonomously.

A Gartner analyst called this a "major coup" for AWS, noting significant enterprise interest in building agentic solutions on the platform.

What about Microsoft? They maintain exclusive rights to traditional API access, while Amazon gets the "stateful" environment — the one where AI agents actually do things. Both companies say the partnerships remain strong, but the competitive dynamics here are fascinating to watch.

Start thinking about your AI agent strategy now. The infrastructure being built today will power the marketing automation platforms of tomorrow. If you're running Google or YouTube ads, tools like KeywordSearch.com are already using AI to automate audience targeting — and this kind of AI-first approach is only going to accelerate.

This is a big one. Criteo just announced it's the first advertising technology partner integrating with OpenAI's ad pilot in ChatGPT, bringing approximately 17,000 advertisers into the ChatGPT ecosystem through programmatic channels.

Here's the stat that jumped out: users referred from LLM platforms like ChatGPT convert at roughly 1.5x the rate of other referral channels, based on a sample of 500 Criteo retailers in February. That's significant.

Even more interesting — OpenAI's monetization team has described a future where businesses simply prompt ChatGPT to create and manage entire ad campaigns conversationally, with the AI autonomously testing bids, allocating budgets, and refining strategy.

Why This Matters: Conversational AI is becoming a legitimate advertising channel. If you're not thinking about how your brand shows up in ChatGPT responses, you're leaving money on the table.

✅ Action Item: Audit your brand's presence in AI-generated responses. Search for your product category in ChatGPT and see if you're being recommended. If not, it's time to optimize.

Google AI Mode has crossed 75 million users — and here's the number that should make every content marketer sit up straight: in 75% of AI Mode sessions, users never leave the pane. They get their answer and move on. Clicks are mostly reserved for transactions.

Google has also started inserting shopping ads and Direct Offer ad formats directly inside these conversational results.

Why This Matters: The zero-click future isn't coming — it's here. Your content strategy needs to shift from "drive clicks" to "get cited." If AI Mode pulls from your content to answer a question, that's the new visibility.

LinkedIn documented something many B2B marketers have been feeling: non-brand awareness content saw traffic declines of up to 60% from Google's AI Overviews — even while traditional search rankings stayed stable. Their takeaway? The playbook needs to shift from "search, click, website" to "be seen, be mentioned, be considered, be chosen."

Why This Matters: If LinkedIn is feeling a 60% traffic hit on awareness content, smaller B2B brands are likely experiencing the same or worse. Brand building and authority content are more important than ever.

✅ Action Item: Focus on building brand recognition across multiple channels rather than relying solely on organic search traffic. Diversify into email, social, and community presence.

A new report estimates the global digital marketing market will grow from $446.5 billion in 2026 to $1.50 trillion by 2035 — an 11.66% compound annual growth rate. The AI-powered segment is expected to be the fastest-growing category.

Brands like Deel are already running ads featuring lifelike AI-generated actors, eliminating traditional production delays and costs. L'Oréal has also incorporated generative AI tools into its daily marketing workflows, using AI to adapt visual assets and video footage for social platforms and regional markets.

Why This Matters: The barrier to high-quality ad creative is dropping fast. Small businesses and agencies can now produce professional-level video content at a fraction of historical costs.

TikTok's US ownership structure has been settled, with Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX each holding 15%. This stabilizes one of digital advertising's most unpredictable channels.

Why This Matters: If you paused TikTok ad spend due to ownership uncertainty, it's time to revisit the platform with fresh eyes.

Google launched its first core update targeting only Discover, finishing its rollout on February 27. Here's the context that makes this huge: Discover's share of Google-sourced traffic to news publishers has nearly doubled in two years — climbing from 37% in 2023 to roughly 68%, while traditional web search traffic dropped from 51% to about 27%.

Why This Matters: Google Discover is becoming the dominant traffic driver for content publishers. If you're not optimizing for Discover, you're missing where the audience is going.

With everything we've been discussing about zero-click search, AI Overviews, and the shift from SEO to GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), this tool caught my attention.

Mersel AI is an execution platform specifically focused on increasing brand citations in AI-generated search results. As AI assistants increasingly select providers rather than showing options, being the brand that gets cited is becoming the new "ranking #1."

What You Can Do With It:

Why It's Noteworthy: This addresses what's becoming the single biggest shift in digital marketing — the move from traditional SEO to ensuring your brand gets recommended by AI. When ChatGPT-referred users convert at 1.5x the rate of other channels, and LLM traffic converts 4.4x better than organic search, being visible in AI responses isn't optional anymore.

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The data is clear: organic CTR drops 61% when an AI Overview appears, BUT when your brand is cited in that AI Overview, your organic CTR is actually 35% higher than normal. The game isn't about fighting AI search — it's about being the brand AI recommends.

Here's how to start:

Step 1: Search for your core product/service categories in ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, and Perplexity. Document whether your brand appears.

Step 2: Identify the brands that ARE being cited. Analyze their content structure, authority signals, and how they present information.

Step 3: Create "citation-worthy" content — comprehensive, factual, well-structured content that AI systems can easily parse and reference. Think definitive guides, original data, and expert analysis.

Step 4: Build entity authority. Ensure your brand has consistent information across your website, Wikipedia (if applicable), industry directories, and press coverage. AI systems cross-reference these sources.

Step 5: Monitor and iterate. Use tools like Mersel AI or Content IQ to track your AI visibility over time.

🎯 Success Metric: Track your brand's mention rate in AI-generated responses for your top 10 keywords monthly. Aim for a 20% improvement quarter over quarter.

With Amazon pouring $50 billion into AI infrastructure and ChatGPT opening up to 17,000 advertisers through Criteo, one thing is clear: AI-powered advertising is no longer the future — it's the present.

But here's what many marketers miss: the best AI creative and the smartest bidding strategy won't save a campaign that's targeting the wrong audience.

That's where KeywordSearch.com comes in. Our AI Audience Builder creates laser-focused targeting audiences in minutes — not hours — and syncs them directly to your Google and YouTube Ads campaigns with one click.

While the big platforms are building AI infrastructure for tomorrow, KeywordSearch gives you AI-powered targeting you can use today.

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Until next time, keep experimenting, keep learning, and keep putting AI to work for your business.

Aleric & Greg KeywordSearch.com

P.S. With 17,000 advertisers flooding into ChatGPT ads and AI reshaping how audiences find brands, smart targeting has never been more critical. Take KeywordSearch for a spin with our unlimited 5-day free trial and see how AI can sharpen your ad targeting in minutes. Start free →

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