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), why AI citations are often unreliable, and what B2B marketers should do instead of obsessing over links. If you care about being recommended by OpenAI, Google AI Mode, or Perplexity AI, 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: https://www.wordsontherise.com/ (subscribe on-site)

Connect with Andy

Andy Milligan

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/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 the fire” (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 - The shift: from “AI writes content” to “how do I get found?”

02:15 - Michelle’s mindset switch: AI as a new ranking game

05:10 - “Gloom to glee”: why AI used to break content marketing

06:32 - The turning point: chatbots got search indexes

07:01 - The research sprint: patents, papers, and what matters

11:11 - The 5-step AI search model (simple version)

12:38 - Personalization: location, history, and 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 more now

37:11 - The unconventional move: ask customers for their chat logs

Resources Mentioned

- Michelle’s site: https://wordsontherise.com

- AI cheat sheet: https://wordsontherise.com/ai

- Tools/platforms discussed: OpenAI, Google AI Mode, Perplexity AI

- Concepts: Google patents, AI Overviews/AI Mode, “passages not pages,” personalization, background queries

Connect with Marketing by Design

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