Advertising to AI agents: make your brand facts machine-ready

Most of the conversation about AI search focuses on getting cited in ChatGPT or Copilot answers. A newer question is now emerging: if software agents are doing more of the browsing, can you advertise to them directly? Some publishers and brands are already trying.

What's happening

Marketing Brew reports that companies are starting to think beyond answer engine optimisation (AEO) and towards engaging AI agents directly. It cites a Human Security report finding automated traffic grew almost eight times faster than human activity last year.

Time magazine's chief operating officer, Mark Howard, told Marketing Brew the publisher is seeing more days when bot traffic outnumbers human traffic. Time has partnered with ad-tech platform Mobian on "Agent Ads". Agents visiting the site are routed to a simple page containing sponsored, brand-verified facts and a clear disclosure, before they continue to the article. These ads are shown to an allow list of around 70 agents and bots. Howard described the goal as getting brand facts into "that knowledge layer of the AI".

Wayfair's chief technology officer, Fiona Tan, said agent traffic is still nascent for the retailer, but it is adding more detailed product attributes to help agents make recommendations. The article also notes new visibility tools from Adobe and Cloudflare aimed at showing brands how AI systems crawl and recommend them.

What it means for B2B and technology marketers

Paid agent advertising is very early, and few Australian B2B brands need to buy it today. The underlying idea, though, matters right now.

AI tools hold a version of your brand. When a buyer asks an assistant to shortlist Microsoft partners or compare software vendors, the answer depends on what the model has absorbed about you. If that information is outdated, inconsistent or missing, you may be described wrongly or left out.

Facts beat flourish. Agents look for verifiable details: what you do, who you serve, where you operate, your credentials and your proof points. Marketing copy full of adjectives gives them little to work with.

Consistency is a signal. If your website, LinkedIn page, Microsoft partner profile, Marketplace listing and directory entries all describe you differently, AI systems have to guess. Aligned descriptions make you easier to retrieve and harder to misrepresent.

Not every bot deserves access. Time's allow list approach is a reminder that you can decide which crawlers reach your site. That's a decision for marketing and IT together.

How to put it to work

1. Write a brand facts sheet. Capture your company description, core services, industries, locations, partner designations, certifications, key customers you can name and headline outcomes. Keep it factual and current.
2. Publish those facts on your site. Put them on your about, services and contact pages in plain language, supported by Organization and Service structured data.
3. Align every profile. Update LinkedIn, your Microsoft partner profile, Marketplace listings and industry directories to match the facts sheet.
4. Check what AI says about you. Ask several assistants to describe your business and recommend providers in your category. Note errors and missing details.
5. Fix gaps at the source. Where assistants are wrong, find the page or listing that likely misled them and correct it.
6. Review crawler access. Work with IT to understand which AI crawlers can reach your site and agree a policy.
7. Watch the paid option. Keep an eye on agent ad formats from publishers in your sector, but treat them as a test, not a priority.

For software development companies (ISVs), product attributes in Marketplace listings play a similar role to Wayfair's product data.

How UBE can help

UBE helps B2B technology brands and Microsoft partners make their brand facts consistent and visible across search, AI assistants and partner channels. Explore our AI marketing services or contact our team for an AI visibility review.