Why community is the antidote to AI overload in search marketing

In 2025, people aren’t just searching for answers anymore.

They’re looking for genuine responses from the people they trust most: 

• Creators.
• Communities.
• Fellow brand supporters. 

In many ways, community has become an algorithm of its own.

AI-powered tools like Google Gemini, ChatGPT, and Perplexity have made knowledge more accessible than ever. 

But in doing so, they’ve also flattened it. 

Answers feel repetitive, citations pull from the same limited sources, and brand voices risk becoming interchangeable.

That’s where community comes in. 

While generative AI commoditizes information, community restores individuality. 

It offers what no model can compress into tokens: 

• Authentic connection.
• Lived experience.
• Trust.

When democratized information becomes homogenized

I can still remember when Google – and later YouTube – made information feel democratized, putting knowledge at our fingertips like never before.

But with the rise of AI, that same accessibility now comes at a cost: everything starts to sound the same.

Every brand competing for similar keywords risks becoming interchangeable, sounding the same in AI-generated summaries that deliver information without distinction. 

Meanwhile, authority is concentrated into a small set of repeatedly cited sources, so users encounter little variation in what LLMs surface.

In some ways, this is similar to traditional SEO. 

But there’s an important difference: websites once gave us the chance to “get our brand over” and show what made our solution unique. 

That’s what feels lost in an AI-driven search experience.

Still, within this sameness lies opportunity. 

While brands fight for visibility inside an AI Overview, those with the strongest communities can not just stand apart – but truly stand alone.

Dig deeper: SEO for user activation, retention and community

Community as the differentiator

AI responses are built around compression – getting audiences to an answer as quickly and concisely as possible. 

Community, on the other hand, expands.

AI platforms tend to generalize first, then personalize only when prompted. 

Community works the opposite way: it personalizes from the start.

In my view, that’s the kind of user experience audiences will ultimately prefer – and it’s how brands will become the choice within their niche.

Think about:

• A Reddit thread that discusses your product specifically. That’s not just another citation. It’s a living testimonial, open to being challenged or reinforced in real time.
• A Discord server filled with engaged users doesn’t just provide customer support – it showcases the culture and identity your brand is building.
• Social comment threads around a creator’s content show personality, emotion, and authenticity that no LLM can replicate.

Ultimately, your community gives your brand the one thing AI can’t compress or flatten into tokens: individuality. 

In a world of sameness, community is what gives your brand its voice back.

UGC? Hello, UGT! 

User-generated content (UGC) has long been viewed as central to search marketing – a key driver of discoverability.

That’s still true, but the conversation has matured. 

It’s no longer just about “content.” What truly matters now is user-generated trust (UGT).

This may sound like a subtle mindset shift, but it changes everything. 

Search marketing teams should focus on the real, ongoing conversations within communities that validate products and learn how to leverage those conversations wherever possible.

That’s where genuine user advocacy emerges. And it’s advocacy that increasingly shows up in SERPs and AI responses.

Whether it’s a YouTube video featured in search results, a Reddit thread highlighted in an AI answer, or a TikTok creator’s series, UGT creates organic momentum. 

It sends signals to both people and algorithms that your brand is credible, trustworthy, and the preferred choice.

Backlinks can be gamed, and citations scraped or manufactured.

UGC is about output. And UGT? It’s about advocacy and credibility – and that’s exactly what search marketing teams need to drive lasting results.

Dig deeper: Advanced tactics to maximize the SEO value of user-generated content

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How owned and earned communities build trust

When thinking about your brand community, there are two key considerations.

Owned communities

These are spaces where conversations and culture consistently reinforce or evolve your positioning and shape how you’re perceived.

They include:

• Brand Discord channels. 
• Slack groups.
• Reddit forums.

Earned communities

These are the building blocks your brand participates in – where authenticity can either strengthen or undermine trust.

Think of:

• Reddit threads not owned by your brand.
• Facebook groups.
• Quora discussions.
• Comment threads.
• Other spaces where people gather independently. 

Both owned and earned communities play a critical role in the smartest strategies. 

By seeding and nurturing conversations where your community and broader audience already gather.

By cultivating a “home” that is uniquely yours, you protect your brand against the homogenizing effect of AI-driven search.

Dig deeper: The rise of forums: Why Google prefers them and how to adapt

Why community is the secret sauce of search everywhere

Here’s a sobering thought: AI is only going to get better. 

They’ll become more skilled at surfacing consensus and amplifying shared rhetoric.

But consensus doesn’t drive differentiation. Community does.

A backlink can be replicated. A feature in a listicle can be matched. That’s just search marketing ping-pong.

A community, on the other hand, can’t be scraped, cloned, or copied.

Brands that invest in their communities today aren’t just building engagement.

They’re building something much more powerful: a moat of differentiation and individuality.

Community resists the sameness of AI-driven search. It’s what ensures your brand’s voice doesn’t just show up, but truly stands out.

LEGO Ideas: Community in action

One brand that proves the power of community as a competitive advantage – especially in an AI-driven world – is LEGO.

Through its LEGO Ideas platform, the company has turned its community into a creative engine for product ideation and a discovery layer that informs both content and product development.

Fans submit their ideas and vote on their favorites. The best and most popular are turned into real products. 

Everything from pop culture tie-ins (recently, a Wallace and Gromit set was greenlit) to architectural replicas has emerged through this process.

So why is this powerful from a search perspective?

There are two key reasons.

Authenticity at scale, organically

Every submission, vote, and comment is UGT in action. 

The community validates which ideas deserve attention, creating a visible signal of credibility long before a set hits the shelves.

Fan conversations fuel visibility

The conversations, forums, and social amplification around these fan-led projects fuel organic visibility. 

A single fan concept can spark thousands of blog posts, Reddit threads, YouTube videos, and TikToks – surfacing LEGO in contexts no AI citation list could ever replicate.

While competitors battle for presence in AI summaries or listicle roundups – vying to be labeled “Best Construction Toy” – LEGO has built differentiation through something much harder to copy: a living, breathing community that fuels product innovation, search visibility, and brand preference.

No amount of AI summarization can flatten a brand’s individuality when its users are constantly creating new stories about it.

Dig deeper: How to use social and forum data to inform next-level SEO strategies

From presence to preference: Why community wins

The future of search can’t be about simply being listed. 

Visibility alone is no longer enough.

Brands need to feel alive – human – and that happens through community.

AI can summarize anything, but it can’t replicate belonging. 

That’s why the brands investing in their communities today will be the ones that win tomorrow.

They won’t just be seen; they’ll be chosen. They’ll become the preference.

So, start by asking: where is my community already thriving? 

Listen, nurture, and amplify. 

That’s how you turn presence into preference in a world where every brand shows up.