WSI consultant to brief Toronto business leaders on AI search visibility

WSI Consultant Brandie Kelly will speak at two World Trade Centre Toronto executive programs on Nov. 5 about how AI assistants are changing how customers choose vendors. The session is designed to help business owners see whether their companies show up in AI search and what evidence they need to improve their odds.

Why it matters: - AI assistants are becoming part of the buying process, which means businesses can lose a sale before a customer ever reaches their website. - The shift creates a new visibility gap because AI may shortlist only the companies whose claims it can verify. - Business owners and marketing leaders need a new way to measure whether their brand is being recommended in AI search.

What happened: - WSI Consultant Brandie Kelly will speak at two World Trade Centre Toronto Executive Certificate programs on November 5. - Kelly will present The Disappearing Decision at both "AI-Powered Marketing: From Strategy to Execution" and the women-only "Grow Smarter: AI-Powered Marketing for Women Entrepreneurs," offered with the Scotiabank Women Initiative. - World Trade Centre Toronto has also published expert tips from Kelly on LinkedIn ahead of the session. - Registration and event details are available on World Trade Centre Toronto’s Events page.

The details: - Kelly will walk attendees through a live check of their own business, a competitor, and their category in AI tools. - Participants will ask the AI what evidence it needs to recommend their business instead. - The session will give attendees a monthly scorecard they can keep using without new software. - The approach draws on WSI AdaptiveSEO®, the subject of WSI founder Dan Monaghan’s book, The AI Search Revolution. - Kelly spent more than two decades at AOL, MSN, Bell, Meta, and LinkedIn helping businesses get found and chosen by customers. - Nearly half of Canadians use AI tools every week, according to the Association for Canadian Studies. - CIRA says 52% of AI users search with AI.

Between the lines: - The core message is that AI search rewards verifiable evidence more than ad spend. - Kelly’s framing suggests smaller businesses can compete if they build the right proof points, not just bigger budgets. - WTC-T is tying the sessions to a broader push to use AI for business growth and decision-making.

What's next: - Business leaders attending the November 5 programs are expected to leave with a repeatable process for testing AI visibility. - WSI and World Trade Centre Toronto are positioning the session as part of a wider set of AI-focused executive workshops. - WTC-T says the series is offered through the AI Business Catalyst and supported by the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.

The bottom line: - As more customers ask AI who to buy from, businesses may need to optimize for AI recommendations the same way they once optimized for search engines.