AI visibility now decides whether a brand gets found when consumers ask an assistant to shop for them. Tracey Pilon, AI Acceleration Director at Microsoft, explained how brands can earn it at aiblLIVE London 2026.
Her case rests on Microsoft’s own data and research. Consumers are ready for AI agents, but most brands have not made their information easy for agents to read or trust. Here is what she recommends.
All figures as stated on stage by Tracey Pilon.
Because one AI conversation can take a consumer from awareness to purchase. Pilon says AI compresses the funnel into a single exchange, or two or three for nuanced needs. AI traffic is still small, but Microsoft’s data shows it growing eight times faster than human traffic.
No longer can brands just rely on perception. You have to now rely on performance as well.
Tracey Pilon, AI Acceleration Director, Microsoft
Make your content legible to machines. Pilon recommends structured content, with tables only where they suit the information. Add FAQs, expert content, videos and blogs, and write in the language customers use in their prompts. Structured catalogues and feeds help outside retail too.
Every team that shapes the brand. Because the funnel collapses into one conversation, brand, performance, SEO, paid media, customer experience and tech all play a part. Pilon’s advice is to get those leads into one room. Then use tools such as Semrush, Profound or Clarity to see how agents find the brand today.
They compare what a brand says with what everyone else says. AI reads forums, reviews and expert sources as well as owned content. If a sustainability claim cannot be found elsewhere, or reviews contradict it, an agent may decide the claim does not hold. Pilon calls this a constant review.
If you’re thinking about building a brand agent, one thing to start with is what friction are you trying to remove?
Tracey Pilon, AI Acceleration Director, Microsoft
Tracey Pilon is AI Acceleration Director at Microsoft and has previously led a finance vertical. She spoke on the Growth track at aiblLIVE London on 20 October 2026.
If customers are starting to shop through AI assistants, this is the plan to borrow. The full PDF goes deeper than this page, in Pilon’s own words.
For CMOs, brand, SEO and digital leads planning for AI search. Six pages, about an eight-minute read.
