AI Search Playbook: How to Rank in 2026

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In this episode of Marketing by Design, Michelle Bourbonniere breaks down how AI search actually works under the hood — in plain English.

We unpack the five-step process:

Prompt → Personalization → Expansion → Draft → Linking

She explains why AI citations are often unreliable, what most B2B marketers misunderstand about “ranking,” and what to focus on instead of chasing links.

If you care about being recommended by OpenAI, Google AI Mode, or Perplexity, this is the “stop guessing, start engineering” playbook.

Connect with Michelle

Michelle Bourbonniere
Website: https://www.wordsontherise.com/
AI Search Cheat Sheet: https://www.wordsontherise.com/ai
Newsletter: Subscribe on-site

Connect with Andy

Andy Milligan
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mmgdesign
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulmilligan
Website: https://www.mmgdesign.net/
Production by MMG Design: https://www.mmgdesign.net/

Key Takeaways

• Why “AI search” is mostly search + synthesis, not magic
• The real KPI isn’t clicks from citations (yet)
• How to optimize for background queries, not individual prompts
• Why passages matter more than pages in AI results
• The simplest way to reverse-engineer why you’re getting recommended

Timestamps

00:00 — Creator Science, SEO influences, and what changed
01:21 — From “AI writes content” to “how do I get found?”
02:15 — Michelle’s mindset shift: AI as a ranking game
05:10 — Why AI used to break content marketing
06:32 — The turning point: chatbots got search indexes
07:01 — Research sprint: patents, papers, and what matters
11:11 — The 5-step AI search model
12:38 — Personalization: location, history, what’s coming
15:26 — Expansion: multiple background searches happening for you
18:16 — Why AI citations are stitched on last
19:35 — Don’t chase links — chase mentions + clarity
27:00 — Optimize for the fire, not the spark
33:00 — The timeless principle that matters most
37:11 — Ask customers for their chat logs

Resources Mentioned

Michelle’s site: https://wordsontherise.com
AI cheat sheet: https://wordsontherise.com/ai
Platforms: OpenAI, Google AI Mode, Perplexity AI
Concepts: Google patents, AI Overviews, AI Mode, passages not pages, personalization, background queries

Marketing by Design

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mmgdesign