Roxana Ravjee joins Havas as its new CEO for the Africa region
She comes to Havas as a business leader with more than 20 years of expertise across marketing, advertising, transformation and growth.
SEARCH
Good content increasingly important in the age of AI search – Gartner
By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2025
AI-based search is altering how consumers seek and interact with search platforms, and how marketers must approach online visibility.
More than half of consumers distrust the reliability and impartiality of AI search and summaries, a survey by insights company Gartner has found.
This concern is reflected in user frustration, with 41% of consumers reporting that generative AI overviews make the search process more frustrating than traditional search methods.
Consequently, there is a strong demand for user autonomy, and 61% of people in the US study would prefer an option to toggle AI summaries ‘on’ or ‘off’. Gartner’s researchers believe this underscores the importance of user control in shaping the search journey.
For marketers, the key lesson may be to build topical authority by consistently publishing in-depth, accurate, well-researched content.
“The impact of AI extends beyond improving the search experience, altering how consumers seek and interact with search platforms, and how marketers approach visibility,” comments Noam Dorros, Director Analyst in the Gartner Marketing practice.
Photo: Christina Morillo from Pexels
“Digital marketing strategies must evolve to not only optimise for these AI-powered results, but also to reinforce brand trust through comprehensive and reliable information, recognising that not all consumers embrace AI summaries equally.”
Significant evolution in the search landscape
According to the researchers, while AI-powered results represent a significant evolution in the search landscape, their role in product research remains limited.
Consumers find AI summaries most useful for initial product exploration, but the perceived usefulness of these summaries declines when evaluating value options, and they drop further when finalising a purchase.
“As the journey toward a fully AI-redefined consumer search experience continues, brands should strengthen their reputation as trusted sources and optimise content for visibility within AI-generated summaries, while prioritising transparency and user choice,” advised Dorros.
“To do this, brands should pursue a multichannel discoverability strategy and maximise visibility by optimising for both AI-powered overviews and traditional SEO, ensuring their content is structured, authoritative and relevant at every stage of the search journey.”
The full report, titled ‘Digital IQ: Search Marketing Benchmarks for 2025’, is only available to Gartner clients.
Search is fragmenting – credibility and trust create the new visibility
Online search behaviour has changed significantly with the rise of AI. How can African brands adapt to this new marketing landscape?
New framework for understanding how emotions shape behaviour online
Researchers find three distinct reactions that explain why emotional content online can be so powerful – and have contradictory effects.
AMC magazine brings latest news and insights for Africa’s marketers
Strategic Marketing for Africa, the publication for deep-thinking African marketing professionals, is not to be missed.
Kenya’s Stanbic Bank takes a bet on expanding its retail customer base
Bank moves its focus from corporate and investment banking as it unveils plans to target retail customers and small businesses.
Uganda’s marketing body elects a new Chairperson and Board
Uganda Marketers Society looks to the future as the new Board outlines its priorities for the next two years.
Pepsi brand moves from refreshing drinks to revitalising showers
Brand continues a trend of food and beverage licensing moving into the beauty sector by collaborating on shower and lip-care products.
Agency asks whether Africa’s marketing future is already happening
While the global marketing industry debates what the next big consumer trend might be, Africans are getting on with embracing major change.
Retailer Massmart makes senior marketing leadership appointment
Charmagne Mazhindu becomes Vice-President of Marketing for Wallmart-owned group that includes major brands such as Makro and Builders.
Coke campaign encourages sharing meals and better work-life balance
The Coca Cola Company has unveiled a new global Coke campaign called ‘The World Will Wait’ that’s aimed at Gen Z and Millennial audiences.
Morocco’s Tanger Med port reinforces its global logistics significance
The port sits on one of the world’s busiest shipping routes and is showing steady growth as a major logistics hub.
