AI and agency shortlists – a moment of opportunity

If you’ve not done this yet, you should. The results are often quite surprising. Typically, the usual big names appear, but there’s also a number of agencies you’ve never heard of. Crucially, ChatGPT has heard of them, and is recommending them to your potential clients.

This matters simply because more and more of those clients are entering that prompt. A year ago a few were doing it, today most are. While there are no specific figures on the percentage of design buyers who are using generative AI as a tool in the buying process, according to a November 2024 report from Forrester, 89% of all B2B buyers overall have adopted it.

It’s not removing due diligence in choosing an agency – but it is reframing the top of the funnel. We’re at a tipping point where agency discovery now starts with a prompt rather than a pitch. More than anything, this is an opportunity for design agencies. It’s such a new area, that even the smallest agencies can stand out. Look at all those agencies that you’ve never heard of appearing on your ChatGPT search.

Here are five steps every agency should be taking right now to seize this moment of opportunity.

How to get recommended by ChatGPT

1. Begin with an audit.

Run a GenAI search and see what comes up. Where are you? Look more closely into the firms that do come up. What are they doing that you can learn from?

2. Get your website in shape

Your owned channels are the best place to start. This is primarily your website. Ensure it explains clearly what you do. Show your best work. Demonstrate its impact. Set out why you are good at what you do. Include testimonials where possible. 

3. Build a trusted profile on community forums

When it searches for evidence, GenAI looks for the most trusted sources. So, in making recommendations it relies heavily on forums like Reddit, Quora and Medium where comments are moderated and members are rated. Substack is less influential because it lacks the community moderation aspect.

Note that building a trusted profile on the forums is highly time consuming. If you are an agency leader who has time to do it then you should, without doubt, do it. It will significantly increase the likelihood of you appearing in the lists of agencies GenAI recommends.

4. Gain media exposure

GenAI does not use social media very much. It uses only bio information and ignores posts, making LinkedIn and Instagram far less important in this new age of agency reputation building.

On the other hand, the agencies that find a way to get appearances in respected, credible media outlets will be more recommended by GenAI than those that don’t. This sort of media coverage has always been valuable to agencies, but more from a reputation, positioning and credibility perspective – GenAI gives it a much more direct new business purpose.

Key areas to look at are: think pieces, op-eds and profile pieces in business publications like Fast Company, and Forbes, or marketing ones like AdAge and Campaign, or specialist sector titles like The Grocer and Vogue Business; work getting shown in creative media outlets like Creative Review and It’s Nice That; appearances on high profile podcasts or appearances at industry conferences on panels or even keynote speakers.

It is not easy for brand design agencies to gain this sort of media exposure, but it can be done. 

5. Use awards, rankings and reviews

GenAI recommends agencies that appear on lists like the Creative Boom Top25 and D&AD rankings. So, try to get included on them. At the very least, anyone can get a Clutch listing, so do it.

In the same way, GenAI is influenced by reviews and awards, so encourage clients and employees to leave reviews. There are many issues with Glassdoor, but GenAI uses it, so positive reviews from employees there will make a difference. And enter awards, especially the most highly regarded, and celebrate your achievements.

Making invisible design visible

AI tools aren’t replacing referrals or RFPs but they’re quietly shaping the shortlist, and brand design agencies need to react.

After all, brand design has to work harder than most to get noticed. While building, fashion, furniture and product design are all quite literally seen, brand design is invisible. It doesn’t get credited on pack or at the end of ads. Clients are too often reluctant to acknowledge its contribution.

Finding ways to get recognised for the work we do – the value we bring – is essential for success, and no one running a design agency today can afford to ignore generative AI.