Agentic AI represents a fundamental shift in how consumers interact with the web, moving from AI as a response engine that finds information, to an execution engine that completes tasks on their behalf. For search marketers, this means the traditional funnel is being compressed: discovery, consideration and purchase can now happen in seconds, driven by an agent rather than a human. Written by the IAB Australia Future of Search Working Group, this report explains what’s changing and provides a practical roadmap for agencies and brands to get agentic-ready.
What’s inside
01 What is agentic AI in search
02 Why it matters to consumers
03 Why search marketers should care
04 Considerations on traditional paid + organic search journeys
05 The new metrics to evaluate agentic search
06 Priority actions for agencies and brands
What’s changing for search marketers
Five things every search marketer needs to understand about the agentic era:
From response engine to execution engine. Agentic AI completes tasks, it doesn’t just surface results. Discovery, consideration and purchase can now collapse into seconds, driven by an agent acting on the user’s behalf.
Discoverability is the new awareness. Agents evaluate brands based on data and signals, not emotion. If your brand isn’t structured for machine-readability, it won’t be considered, regardless of creative or media investment.
Product feeds must be rebuilt for agents. Traditional feeds are built to drive clicks. Agent-ready feeds require complete mandatory attributes, plain factual titles and real-time inventory via API rather than daily batch updates.
New metrics are needed. CTR and bounce rate become irrelevant. The emerging framework measures four stages: Consideration, Confidence, Completion and Continuation.
Trust is the primary currency. Only 14% of Australians trust organisations to use AI responsibly. Transparency, control and auditability are now brand requirements, not nice-to-haves.
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