The Four Ps of Marketing Are Becoming Five. Meet Prompt.

From searching to asking

Traditionally, the customer journey was relatively predictable.

Someone needed a new product, searched Google, compared a few websites, read some reviews and eventually made a purchase.

Of course, that journey has evolved through social media, influencer marketing and platforms like TikTok. But AI is introducing another layer.

Instead of searching for "best running trainers", someone might ask ChatGPT to recommend comfortable trainers for under £100 that are suitable for beginners and available for next-day delivery.

Or rather than scrolling through endless websites for a weekend away, they might ask AI to recommend a reasonably priced hotel in Cornwall with good restaurants nearby.

Suddenly, the customer isn't necessarily looking for a particular brand.

They're looking for an answer.

And whichever brands appear in that answer have an opportunity to influence their decision.

According to Forrester's 2026 research, Google and Amazon remain the dominant platforms for product discovery, used by 75% and 55% of surveyed online adults respectively.

So traditional search isn't disappearing.

But with AI-assisted discovery growing, brands have another place where they need to be visible.

The brands already appearing in AI answers

Some familiar names are already establishing a strong presence.

Semrush's October 2026 AI Visibility Index analysed millions of prompts across ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI search experiences.

It found that brands including Tesco, Argos, Asda and Marks & Spencer appeared consistently among the most visible businesses across the platforms studied.

But the interesting part wasn't simply which brands appeared.

It was how differently the platforms behaved.

On average, any two AI platforms shared only 63 to 70 of their 100 most-mentioned brands in the research.

Meaning a business could feature regularly in ChatGPT recommendations but be far less visible through Gemini.

The research also found that being mentioned by AI and being cited as a source were two very different things.

For example, Tesco and Asda both consistently appeared among the leading brands mentioned across all four platforms. Yet in July 2026, Tesco ranked 25th among ChatGPT's most-cited domains, while Asda ranked 606th.

That's a considerable difference between two businesses operating in the same market.

And it demonstrates why simply having a recognisable brand doesn't guarantee consistent AI visibility.

So what does the fifth P actually mean?

The original Four Ps focus on what a business sells, how much it costs, where customers can access it and how it's promoted.

Prompt adds another consideration.

When a consumer asks AI to solve a problem, does your brand become part of the answer?

This is where AI visibility, sometimes referred to as Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), becomes increasingly relevant.

It's about ensuring information is clear, accurate and credible enough for AI-powered platforms to find, interpret and potentially recommend.

That might mean having detailed product descriptions, transparent pricing, useful FAQs, independent reviews and content that answers genuine customer questions.

But it also extends beyond a brand's own website.

Semrush's research found that news and information publishers played a particularly important role in AI-generated answers, accounting for an average of 29.5% of citations among ChatGPT's 100 most-cited domains in its British-market analysis.

That makes credible media coverage, third-party recommendations and a strong digital reputation increasingly relevant.

In other words, what other people say about a brand can be just as important as what the brand says about itself.

And that brings PR, content marketing and search visibility into an even closer relationship.

Could AI eventually become the customer?

Perhaps the biggest shift is that consumers aren't necessarily planning to stop at asking for recommendations.

Adyen's 2026 research found that 44% of consumers would consider letting AI handle their entire shopping journey, including completing purchases once their preferences and budget were established.

Among millennials, that figure reached 49%.

And 84% of retailers surveyed were open to enabling AI to complete purchases on a shopper's behalf.

That doesn't mean nearly half of consumers are already handing their bank cards over to a chatbot.

There are still substantial concerns around payment security, mistakes and accountability.

In fact, the same study found that 34% of shoppers prioritised knowing who would be responsible if AI purchased the wrong item, while 32% wanted the ability to review or cancel purchases.

But it does suggest that AI's role could evolve from helping consumers discover products to actively participating in purchasing decisions.

Which raises a new challenge for brands.

How do you market to a customer when an AI assistant is helping decide what they see?

Are the original Four Ps becoming irrelevant?

No. And Prompt shouldn't be treated as an officially established replacement for the traditional marketing framework.

A poor product won't suddenly become successful because ChatGPT mentions it.

An overpriced service won't become more competitive because its website has been optimised for AI.

And businesses still need effective distribution and promotion to reach their customers.

But the way those four elements are discovered and evaluated is changing.

The fifth P is a useful way of recognising that shift.

Rather than replacing established marketing principles, Prompt adds another question that businesses need to consider as part of their digital strategy.

Because it's no longer enough to think exclusively about how a brand appears on Google, social media or traditional advertising channels.

Businesses also need to understand how they're represented in the answers consumers increasingly receive from AI.

And as we've explored previously in Humans First Bots Second, the answer isn't to replace human creativity or strategic thinking with technology.

It's about understanding how technology is changing consumer behaviour and adapting accordingly.