Seven ways to optimise your corporate website for the new generation of AI browsers
The arrival of AI-powered web browsers such as ChatGPT Atlas, Comet, and Dia marks a structural shift in how people experience the web.
These next-generation browsers don’t just retrieve web pages; they interpret, summarise, prioritise, and even act on content on the user’s behalf.
For corporate website managers – already under pressure to do more with less – this is not just a superficial change. It fundamentally alters how information is extracted from digital content, how trust is built, and how your company’s reputation is shaped.
Here are seven implications – with recommendations on how to adapt your corporate website in response.
In many cases, the first “reader” of your corporate website is an AI agent, not a person
1. Your primary visitor may be an AI bot, not a human
AI browsers, through the chatbots deeply embedded within them, increasingly act as intermediaries: reading entire websites, navigating complex structures, extracting meaning, and answering questions for users. In many cases, the first and most important “reader” of your corporate website is an AI agent, not a person.
What this means
If your content is hard for AI agents to interpret, it risks being skipped, misread, or excluded from AI-generated answers.
How to respond
- Use clear, consistent semantic structure throughout your corporate website (headings, sections, definitions)
- Avoid burying key information in PDFs, images, or vague prose
- Be explicit about what each page of the site is for, who it serves, and what is truly authoritative about it.
2. Meaning matters as much as navigation
Human users rely on navigation menus. AI browsers don’t. They scan across pages, follow semantic signals, and assemble answers from multiple sources.
What this means
Traditional information architecture is no longer the sole organising principle for a website. AI extracts conceptual clarity, not menu logic.
How to respond
- Ensure each web page of your corporate site can stand alone, with clear context
- Reduce dependence on “click here to learn more” journeys
- Produce pages that provide authoritative answers to real stakeholder questions. Creating FAQ-format material is a simple yet powerful way of doing this.
Humans infer trust intuitively. AI systems rely on signals
3. Authority is inferred, not assumed
What this means
Corporate authority must now be machine-legible, not just reputational.
How to respond
- Attribute all key claims on your website to named leaders, experts, or other credible sources – providing links to these sources where possible
- Publish clear policies, positions, data, and details of tangible results
- Avoid generic marketing language that lacks substance
4. Fragmented content weakens AI understanding
Many corporate sites suffer from content sprawl: overlapping pages, with inconsistent terminology and messaging across different areas.
What this means
AI browsers synthesise content. Inconsistency introduces ambiguity – and ambiguity reduces both messaging accuracy and trust.
How to respond
- Harmonise language across sections (IR, Careers, Sustainability, Media)
- Use shared definitions for terms like “sustainability”, “innovation” and “purpose”
- Treat content governance as an AI-readiness issue, not just a brand one
5. “Findability” is shifting from search to synthesis
Classic SEO focuses on driving traffic. AI browsers often answer questions without sending users to your site at all.
What this means
Success is no longer just about “getting the click”; it’s about shaping the answer.
How to respond
- Create content designed to be quoted or summarised accurately
- Anticipate the questions stakeholders actually ask (and AI anticipates). Understanding your audiences is key here
- Use plain language alongside technical detail so meaning survives compression
Your corporate website is now a strategically crucial reputational asset
6. Trust signals must be explicit
Humans infer trust intuitively. AI systems rely on signals: disclosures, update dates, governance markers, and consistency across web pages and other channels.
What this means
If trust is implicit or assumed, AI may downgrade or ignore it.
How to respond
- Clearly demonstrate ownership, accountability, and governance
- Timestamp content and explain update frequency
- Make legal, ethical, and operational information easy to locate and digest – avoiding legalistic language and corporate jargon
7. Make the corporate website your AI “mothership of truth”
On the AI-mediated web, misinformation often emerges from gaps, not just lies. If your site is thin or ambiguous, AI systems will fill those gaps from elsewhere.
What this means
Your corporate website is now a strategically crucial reputational asset, anchoring how your organisation is understood at scale.
How to respond
- Treat your corporate site as the definitive reference about your company, not just a promotional tool
- Address complex or sensitive issues openly, not obliquely
- Invest in depth where reputation, risk, or trust is at stake
Who’s doing this well?
- Nestle.com – particularly its “Ask Nestlé” answers bank – is an excellent example of a corporate site that succeeds in being the “mothership of truth” about all relevant topics. As a result, it is highly rated by, and heavily cited in, AI search tools.
- The “Get to know our researchers” section of Bosch.com powerfully communicates authenticity and credibility to human visitors and AI search bots alike.
The companies that succeed in the dawning AI search era won’t be those with the flashiest websites – but those with the clearest, most coherent, and most credible digital presence.
And that is very much still a human responsibility.
- Bowen Craggs clients can find our AI search bot persona in the Digital Managers' Toolkit
- Bowen Craggs offers a consultancy package designed to help clients adapt their corporate website for the AI search age. To find out more, email tgolden@bowencraggs.com.