With the meteoric rise of artificial intelligence, it’s no surprise that there’s been a fundamental shift in marketing and media strategy, and the foodservice segment is no exception. At FoodMix Marketing, we plan and place media for both B2B and B2C foodservice decision-making. Many of our insights gleaned from consumer media strategies can also be employed with the foodservice segment. So let’s take a closer look at how operators, chefs, and procurement teams are actually using AI-enabled search—and how media strategies must evolve to keep pace while still delivering measurable ROI. 

The convergence of AI and SEO 

AI and SEO strategies are undoubtedly key to keeping an updated presence online. Making them work together within your marketing strategies is the key to generating reach and engagement. Naturally, there’s a lot of confusion and misunderstanding in this constantly evolving field. The real question for foodservice marketers is not whether to use AI, but how to integrate it with SEO into a structured media strategy that still drives qualified demand. 

Understand How AI Is Being Used 

Today, AI is most often used as a research accelerator. Operators and foodservice decision-makers are using tools like ChatGPT to quickly compare manufacturers, validate capabilities, and understand category options, often before engaging directly with a brand’s website. 

Unlike traditional keyword-based search, AI-driven discovery is conversational and contextual. In fact, 90 percent of B2B buyers report clicking through AI-cited sources to validate responses (TrustRadius). For foodservice marketers, that reinforces the importance of being viewed as a credible, authoritative source, not just a visible one. 

Generative AI and SEO Serve Different—but Complementary—Roles 

Generative AI is currently optimized for information gathering, not transaction-driven search for products or services. Most AI-generated results are sourced from broad platforms such as Quora, Reddit, YouTube, and Wikipedia, many of which are either opinion or general information sites. As a result, they account for a relatively small share (1-2%) of downstream website traffic.  

Organic search, by contrast, continues to capture the vast majority of high-intent engagement. Studies show that while AI-driven and sponsored placements together represent a single-digit percentage of clicks, more than 90 percent of traffic still flows through traditional organic search. For foodservice brands, SEO remains the most reliable driver of qualified site visitors. 

Another interesting tidbit is that while Google still dominates search, as of September 2025, it accounted for 90% of all search traffic, down from 92% in January 2023. While it’s not a significant drop, it’s one to watch. 

AI Results in Fewer Website Visits, but Increased Engagement.  

While AI summaries may reduce top-line website visits, they are simultaneously improving visitor quality. Casual researchers are increasingly satisfied at the AI level, while users with purchase intent continue through to brand sites. AI is filtering out potential visitors to the site that have no intention of buying or contacting you but are simply looking for quick information. They find the answer and move on to something else. 

For foodservice marketers, this is a net positive. A smaller pool of highly engaged visitors—operators actively evaluating products or seeking supplier information—delivers more value than high volumes of low-intent traffic. We would rather send 100 qualified buyers to a site than 1,000 information-only visitors. AI is quietly helping make that distinction. 

The biggest challenge the industry faces will be to fight false information that can occasionally be generated in AI results. Think of this as search engine spam being picked up as reality or authority, then presented to the searcher. Making sure a website is up-to-date and optimized for easier crawling with correct information is the best way to battle this problem. 

Appearing in AI Results May Not Be Your Goal. 

Depending on business objectives, appearing in AI results is not always the goal. If you’re looking to attract a serious buyer that will contact you for information or look for a specific product, it’s important to attract them directly to the website. If the objective is to appear in the AI results, they are drawn from high-quality, authoritative websites found ranking highly in the search engine index, so you still need to provide the information from which AI generates results—making SEO as important as it has always been.  

Best Practices for AI-Ready, Foodservice-Focused Content 

• Employ long-tail keywords. Instead of “butter,” consider “cultured butter for restaurant baking.” This assures that your keywords align with user questions and increase your chances of inclusion.  

• Create original, quality content. AI prioritizes unique and well-written answers to questions that accurately address user intent.  

• Build strong, natural backlinks with this content: Reliable backlinks signal authority, making your content more likely to be included.  

Looking Ahead: Where AI and SEO with Purpose 

Generative AI will continue to influence how foodservice audiences discover and evaluate information, but it will not replace the role of search. Instead, AI is increasingly dependent on the same high-quality, well-structured, and authoritative content that strong SEO has always required.  

For foodservice marketers, the opportunity lies in alignment, not trade-offs. AI optimization should never exist in isolation from SEO or broader media strategy. When search optimization is built around real operator intent and supported by disciplined media planning, brands can attract fewer—but far more qualified—visitors, improve engagement, and ultimately drive better business outcomes. In this way, SEO remains the backbone of digital performance, with AI serving as an amplifier for brands that get the fundamentals right.

Need assistance optimizing your SEO and AI efforts?  Give us a call.