Stop Renting Discovery: Build Trust with Values-Based Marketing
Why small businesses need to own their channels (and their voice).
Small businesses that hold firm to their values, and show them clearly through owned channels, perform better in AI-driven discovery. Structured data and consistent messaging make those values visible to both people and machines.
AI has changed how people find brands, and it’s doing it faster than most small businesses realise. Consumers under 40 now use AI for half their searches. Google's AI Overviews intercept queries before users reach your site, displacing up to 64% of organic traffic in some categories. On Amazon Prime Day 2025, traffic from generative AI sources surged 3,300% year-over-year.
The way people discover brands has fundamentally changed. The old model (renting visibility through paid search, social algorithms, SEO) is fast losing its impact.
Shoppers aren't typing keywords anymore. They're having conversations with AI: "What's the best sustainable skincare brand in Ireland that caters for combination skin?" or "Find me a coffee roaster that pays fair wages and only uses fair-trade coffee"
Notice those aren't just product queries. They're values queries.
And AI agents answer based on what they can read: structured data about your sourcing, certifications, practices. If that information doesn't exist in a format AI can access, you won’t show up in the answer. This means visibility isn't enough anymore. You need channels where you can demonstrate your values over time, not just state them in an ad. This is the infrastructure problem most small businesses don't know they have yet.
The shift from acquisition to retention
Most small businesses have spent years optimising for a discovery model that no longer exists. SEO for keyword rankings. PPC to capture search intent. Social ads hoping the algorithm delivers.
They still have a place. They just don’t pull the weight they used to.
The shift is clear: invest in channels you control, where you can shape your message to speak to your values, and be found by AI.
Why Values Still Sell for Small Businesses
If your product catalog isn't built for AI agents, you're invisible.
AI reads structured data: pricing, inventory, materials, specs. It's also starting to read values signals: certifications, sourcing transparency, ingredient ethics, labour practices. When someone asks an AI agent for a cruelty-free Irish skincare brand, you want the agent reading your data. If it exists. If it's accessible.
Why Values Matter for AEO
There's fear right now that values-based positioning is risky in a polarised climate. That neutrality is safer. The data shows otherwise. The brands growing fastest are clear on their values and their audience. The ones struggling are trying to be everything to everyone.
Diverse consumer markets wield $6.8 trillion in buying power. Gen Z's spending power will grow from $9.8 trillion in 2024 to $12.6 trillion by 2030. And 46% of Gen Z judge people based on the brands they use. Brand choice has become identity.
E.l.f. Beauty declared publicly that "inclusivity is not optional. It's fundamental." Result: 26 consecutive quarters of net sales growth. Target scaled back diversity efforts. Result: ongoing boycotts from customers they'd worked to attract.
The pattern is clear. When your message is rooted in genuine values, you build loyalty that acquisition campaigns can't buy.
For Irish businesses, values aren’t abstract. They’re tangible to consumers: local sourcing, good treatment, transparent process. They’re how you show care when no one’s watching.
When Your Values Don’t Fit the Feed
The hardest part of being consistent is doing it on platforms that reward chaos. Algorithms push outrage. Subtlety sinks. Social media is brilliant for reach but brutal for nuance.
If your story only lives there, it’s shaped by rules you can’t control. The tone changes to suit the feed, not the business. And over time, your voice starts to blur.
That’s the real cost of rented visibility — you don’t just rent attention, you rent interpretation.
Neutrality is safe. But safe is forgettable.
Safe doesn’t build trust. Authenticity, ownership and consistency do.
In Practice: Making Your Brand Values Visible to AI
Structure your data. Keep your product and service information clean and consistent — clear names, prices, availability, and descriptions.
Add proof of values. Include sourcing details, certifications, and sustainability notes in your product or service pages. These become machine-readable signals of trust.
Use owned systems. Your website, CRM, and email list hold the first-party data that AI search relies on. Keep them updated and aligned.
Stay consistent. Match tone, messaging, and factual information across every owned channel. Inconsistency weakens both brand and data integrity.
Keep it fresh. Update metadata, product details, and blog posts regularly — AEO tools rank recency as reliability.
The businesses that act now will own the next decade. The ones waiting will be playing catch-up in a game where the rules already changed. The old model of "pay to be discovered" was never sustainable.
Owned channels build lasting businesses. And you control the relationship, the data, and the message.
The Last Word
Reach fades as algorithms shift, but values carry further… and last longer.
Values make you believable. Structure makes you findable. Together, they build trust, with people - and with machines.
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When your values are documented through structured data — like sourcing details, ethical certifications, or transparent pricing — AI systems can interpret them as proof of credibility. This improves how your business appears in answer-based search results.
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Your website, email system, and CRM. These hold your clean, first-party data and allow you to present consistent information that AI and customers can trust.
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Yes. Clear alt text, readable structure, and short paragraphs make content more accessible to users and more legible to AI crawlers. Accessibility and AEO both reward clarity.
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At least twice a year. Refresh key facts, pricing, and statistics, and update the “last modified” date in your site settings. AI models favour current, maintained sources.
Written by Cara Hickey, marketing consultant specialising in brand strategy and AI-driven communication for Irish small businesses.