AI is the new storefront. Trust leaves your site.

In the second episode of Assistant to the CMO, Lexie Meskouris speaks with Will Nash and Harjot Singh about whether AI now choosing what people buy opens a door for challenger brands or locks the biggest brands further ahead.

A Bain and Walpole study found that 82% of high spend luxury shoppers now start with an AI, and both hosts agree the front door has moved. The real shift is trust. Buyers now lean on their own ChatGPT, which already knows their history and preferences, over a brand's own website. They agree the trust has left the brand's site, and they part ways on what that means next.

One read is that AI keeps recommending the same trusted names, so the biggest brands get locked further in. The other is that AI is still easy to influence today, so a smaller brand with clean, clear product data can muscle past a 100 year old name. Either way the takeaway is the same. Make your product information clean and legible in the places the AI already looks.

Highlights of this Episode Include:

• The Front Door Moved: 82% of high spend luxury shoppers now start with an AI, and both hosts call it a real signal.
• Buyers Trust Their AI: People now trust their own ChatGPT, which holds all their context, over your on site finder tool.
• Trust Lands Where You Don't Own It: AI does not value content on your own site, so the place buyers trust is no longer yours.
• Level the Field or Lock It: The core split, where AI either lets a clean challenger break in or keeps the same big names locked in.
• Lazy But Not Blind: The one point both hosts agree on, that AI grabs easy spec data but can still hold imprecise info without dropping you.
• Influencer Spend the AI Can't Read: Models read text, not Instagram comments, so a decade of influencer investment sits stranded.
• Same Homework Either Way: Whichever way it goes, the first move is the same, make your product data clean where the AI already looks.

Listen and subscribe: https://AssistantToTheCMO.show

Learn more about Aloudable: https://aloudable.com/

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New episodes of Assistant to the CMO land every Thursday.

In the first episode of Assistant to the CMO, Lexie Meskouris speaks with Will Nash and Harjot Singh about two opposite moves happening in AI and marketing: OpenAI putting ads directly inside ChatGPT answers, and brands loudly promising they do not use AI at all.

The episode starts with what ChatGPT ads actually look like. They are not banners off to the side. They are sponsored cards that appear underneath an answer, inside the same conversation users already trust. Harjot sees a major opportunity: people tell ChatGPT things they would never type into Google, creating a new kind of intent signal for advertisers. Will is more cautious. The signal may be rich, but the controls are still thin, the measurement is limited, and the ad can feel uncomfortably close to a recommendation.

The second half turns to the anti-AI backlash. Aerie, Equinox, McDonald’s, and Anthropic all become examples of brands trying to work out what “human-made” actually means. Harjot argues that the enemy is not AI, but slop. Will argues that “no AI” can work if it is rooted in a real brand history, as Aerie’s is, but becomes dangerous when it turns into a promise the company may not be able to keep.

Highlights of this Episode Include:

• ChatGPT Ads Are Not Banners: Sponsored placements appear inside the trusted experience, underneath the answer, which makes them feel materially different from traditional display ads.
• Intent Plus Trust Is the Bull Case: Harjot argues that ChatGPT captures unusually rich context because users explain what they want in full, not just through keywords.
• The Controls Are Still Thin: Will pushes back on the current product: limited targeting, no retargeting, weak measurement, and no clear way to know whether early spend creates durable advantage.
• Before You Buy the Ad, Check You’re in the Answer: Will suggests turning ChatGPT memory off and asking it to recommend products or services in your category before spending money on sponsored placement.
• The Anti-AI Backlash Is Really an Anti-Slop Backlash: The episode argues that bad AI work is not bad because AI was involved. It is bad because there was no taste or judgment in the process.
• “No AI” Is a Risky Brand Promise: Aerie’s claim has history behind it, but broader “made by humans” positioning can become a trap if the brand later needs AI to stay competitive.
• The Work Is the Point: Whether a brand uses AI or rejects it, the label matters less than whether the final work has taste, clarity, and substance.

Listen and subscribe: https://AssistantToTheCMO.show

Learn more about Aloudable: https://aloudable.com/

Book a demo: https://aloudable.com/get-a-demo

New episodes of Assistant to the CMO land every Thursday.