AI search is entering its awkward adolescence

01. Last year teams sold AEO. This year they go deeper. In 2025 teams were pitching AEO programmes, in house or as new lines of business. Now they're adding layers of depth. Custom query fan outs. Topic moving to prompt level analysis. Working out how much data is the right amount. 02. No agreed share of voice. So teams write their own. People say AI share of search. I'm not sure it lives in any platform yet. Many companies are building their own formula across pixel depth, AI responses, organic and social. Hesitate and you miss data that signals where your strengths are. 03. Volatility is now an executive comms problem. Citations collapse, dashboards flash red, panic follows. "Google is testing" is not an answer. What changed, what it was worth and what we do next is what leadership wants. 04. Everyone is racing to fill the attribution gap. Bing Webmaster Tools now reports cited pages. Clarity shows AI visibility. All through 2025 we asked will they, won't they. Platforms showing their working wins real loyalty from this community. 05. Sophisticated buyers assemble the stack themselves. Point solutions, priced lean, chosen for the job. New logos get smaller. Retention and expansion become the growth engine. 06. From "can AI cite me?" to "why did AI cite me?" Topic tracking tells you if you appear. Prompt level analysis tells you under what conditions the model picks you, over whom, why, and how consistent your presence is. Doing AI search is easier than knowing whether you are doing it well.