How to build your AI advantage for a resilient GTM in 2026

AI is moving faster than any past marketing shift.

A few years ago, I was a content marketing manager pitching an article on AI’s future impact on marketing.

My editor wouldn't touch it. The whole piece got canned because it was too “controversial.” Granted, it wiped out the editor's job, the director's job, and my job too! 🌝

Fast forward: It's happening. And most people are still fighting about em dashes on LinkedIn.

Most LinkedIn chatter about AI in marketing still misses the real revolution.

Sure, everyone is cranking out content faster than ever… But the companies actually pulling ahead are thinking bigger:

They're using AI to rebuild their entire go-to-market (GTM) playbook.

They’re connecting insights, orchestrating better decisions, and unlocking real growth at warp speed.

The gap between the "adopters" and the "adapters" is about to get a lot wider in 2025.

Growth tactics are shifting underneath our feet

Take SEO, for example.

When Google’s AI Overviews appear, the click-through rate for the #1 organic result drops by 34.5%. (Ahrefs)

(Turns out, if you put content and links within AI Overviews, they get higher clickthrough rates than if you put it outside of AI Overviews.)

This isn’t a tweak. It’s a full reset.

Organic traffic will drop.

Position #1 won’t matter like it used to. "Write and rank" strategies will lose steam.

Here's what to do:

• Find your non-commoditisable product strengths. What can’t an LLM replicate?

• Focus on lower-funnel Jobs to be Done. Where specific expertise matters more than generic answers.

• Use AI-generated content surgically. Only where it delivers real user value.

• Experiment with SEO snippet optimisation. Try to feed structured info that’s useful to LLMs.

• Widen your match types in paid search. Cast a broader net to stay visible.

Core mindset:

If your message or product can be copied by AI, it will be. Your edge is where you can't be easily replaced.

Choosing the right AI tools: New rules for 2025

Instead of asking "what’s the best AI tool," start asking:

• Do we have the right data foundation? No clean data, no good outputs.

• Can this tool integrate into real GTM workflows? Or is it just another tab to ignore?

• What will this workstream look like in two years? Which parts should stay human? Which will be automated?

If the tool doesn't help you connect sales, marketing, and CX data — not just do isolated tasks faster — it's not setting you up for 2026.

2026 budgeting will look very different

The pace of AI innovation is faster than anything we've faced in B2B marketing.

Boards and CEOs will expect marketing leaders to be AI-literate and deliver two things:

1. More predictable results

2. Lower acquisition costs

2025 isn't about having everything figured out.

It's about building experiments today that become your budget case studies tomorrow.

You need to show that you can:

• Test AI use cases tied directly to revenue.

• Prove incremental wins.

• Build a resilient, connected GTM system… not just throw more tech at problems.

What’s your take?

Are AI Overviews just a new version of Featured Snippets, or are we entering a whole new GTM era?

Let's hear it. 👇