AI Search
| Source: NP Digital NP Digital
Toronto, Dec. 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In today’s AI world, consumers don’t browse internet the way they used to. They are not clicking through websites or scrolling endless search results, instead they are relying on AI tools, taking cues from trusted voices, or considers real time recommendations long before they even reach a brand’s website. Discovery has moved and the brands that haven’t moved with it are already feeling the impact – lost traffic, weakened trust and shrinking revenue.
That’s why NP Digital Canada, is sharing its 2026 Digital Marketing Predictions to help marketers understand where discovery is happening and what it takes to stay visible in an AI-first world. The goal isn’t to predict some distant future; it’s to spotlight the changes happening right now. Because if the brands are still optimizing for the old customer journey, it’s time to pick the pace.
The industry is entering a new reality. Campaign and creative automation are accelerating execution, the democratization of technology is enabling challenger brands to emerge overnight, and pressure for budget efficiency continues to intensify. Layered on top of this, content has exploded across social media and AI-powered feeds, fragmenting attention and changing how consumers discover and evaluate brands. In fact, Forrester’s 2024 Buyers’ Journey Survey shows that 89 per cent of B2B buyers have already adopted generative AI as a core source of self-guided information across every stage of their buying process – reinforcing just how dramatically AI is reshaping discovery and decision-making.
This fragmentation has given rise to what NP Digital Canada identifies as a Decoupled Discovery Journey, a seismic shift in how Canadians explore, evaluate, and choose brands. Today, consumers conduct their research off-site: in Reddit threads, LLM chats (Large Language Models), influencer reviews and social media platforms. By the time they reach a brand’s website, they are no longer researching, instead they are completing a transaction. That final visit is short, direct, and misleading from an analytics perspective, often masking the fact that most of the decision-making happened elsewhere. As a result, traditional attribution systems are failing, leaving brands blind to the real moments of influence driving purchase decisions.
“The challenge for brands isn’t just standing out, it’s being understood in an environment where discovery is fragmented and context is constantly lost,” said, Ronnie Malewski, Managing Director, NP Digital Canada. “As AI takes over more of the customer journey, brands need to simplify their message, strengthen their identity, and make sure every signal reinforces who they are, even when a consumer never sees their website.”
“Consumers aren’t giving us more time or attention; they’re giving us less,” Malewski added. “In 2026, the brands that succeed will be those that meet people where decisions are truly being made: in conversations, communities, and AI-powered environments where value is immediate, relevant, and impossible to ignore.”
To win in 2026, brands must master AI discovery, social storytelling, consumer trust, and paid strategies that keep them visible and credible. NP Digital Canada’s experts highlight the top trends to watch.
In 2026, visibility is no longer a given, it’s earned through trust, creativity, and strategic precision. To stay ahead, brands must unify paid, organic, digital PR, content and creative strategies that build real authority and deliver meaningful experiences across every digital touchpoint. Brands must take deliberate steps to rebuild their creative and strategic foundations for an AI-mediated landscape.
Here are key action items for brands looking to elevate their digital and brand marketing in 2026.
For additional images and infographic, please click here.
About NP Digital:
NP Digital is a global digital marketing agency focused on enterprise and mid-market challenger brands. Underpinned by its proprietary technology division and platform Ubersuggest, NP Digital is regarded as one of the fastest-growing, award-winning end-to-end digital marketing agencies in the industry. NP Digital views marketing through a consultative lens that takes a holistic view when applying specialist execution to build meaningful partnerships. These partnerships include some of the world’s most prominent Fortune 500 brands in addition to mid-size, direct-to-consumer (DTC) challenger-type organizations. For more information, visit npdigital.com/ca/.
For more information, please contact:
Sreeja Joshy
647.212.3121
Sreeja.joshy@npdigital.com
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