Content Strategy: Content that gets found, read and quoted

Executive summary

Gartner predicted in 2024 that traditional search engine volume will drop 25% by 2026, as people turn to AI chatbots and other virtual agents.¹
Pew Research Center found that Google users clicked a result on 8% of visits when an AI summary appeared, against 15% when it did not. Links inside the summary itself were clicked on 1% of visits.²
Most buyers are not ready to buy at any given moment: the Edelman–LinkedIn 2024 report cites Ehrenberg-Bass research that 95% of business clients are not actively looking for goods or services.³
Content therefore has two jobs: be the source AI assistants quote, and stay in the minds of buyers until they are ready.
A content strategy decides what to publish, for whom, in which formats, and how success is measured, before anything is written.

01Market context

For twenty years, content strategy meant ranking in a list of ten blue links. That model is changing. Gartner expects traditional search volume to fall by a quarter by 2026 as AI assistants answer questions directly.¹ Pew Research Center’s analysis of real browsing in March 2025 shows what that means in practice: when Google showed an AI summary, people clicked through to a website about half as often.²

Exhibit 1 Visits where a Google user clicked through to a website

Search results with an AI summary8%

Search results without an AI summary15%

Clicks on a link inside the AI summary1%

Source: Pew Research Center, browsing data from 900+ US adults, March 2025.

Visibility now depends on being the source those answers are built from. That rewards content that is specific, current, well structured and clearly written by someone who knows the subject.

02The challenge

Publishing without a plan. Posts go out when someone has time, on topics nobody asked about.
Writing for the wrong reader. Content describes the company instead of answering the buyer’s question.
Invisible to AI assistants. Thin pages, no clear answers and no structure give AI nothing to quote.
No measure of value. Likes and page views are reported; enquiries are not.

03Our point of view

Good content starts with the questions your buyers actually ask, at each stage of a decision. We map those questions, decide which ones you can answer better than anyone, and build a plan around them. Every piece has a job, a format and a measure. Because most buyers are not in the market today, the plan also keeps you visible until they are.³

04How we work

Listen. Search data, sales conversations, competitor content and the questions AI assistants already answer in your category.
Plan. Topics, formats and channels, with one owner and a realistic publishing rhythm.
Produce. Briefs your team or our studio can write from, with sources and structure built in.
Measure. Visibility in search and AI answers, engagement, and the enquiries content brings in.

Exhibit 2 A content strategy in four steps

Listen
Questions buyers and AI ask

Plan
Topics, formats, rhythm

Produce
Briefs and content

Measure
Visibility and enquiries

The Market Concepts.

05What you receive

An audience and question map by buying stage.
A 90-day editorial calendar with topics, formats and owners.
Content briefs for the first month.
Structure guidelines so pages can be read and quoted by AI assistants.
A measurement plan tied to enquiries, not just traffic.

06Measures of success

Visibility for priority questions in search results and AI answers
Organic and referral visits to the pages that matter
Time spent and return visits
Enquiries and downloads attributed to content
Publishing kept to plan

07Risks and governance

Accuracy. Facts and figures are sourced and checked before publishing.
Claims. Regulated topics such as health, finance and property get extra review.
Data. Audience research uses aggregated data, handled in line with the UAE PDPL.⁴

This paper is general guidance and not legal advice.

08Illustrative scenario

ILLUSTRATIVE — NOT A CLIENT CASE STUDY

A Dubai property consultancy publishes two news posts a month and gets few enquiries from its website. A question map shows buyers search for service-charge comparisons, off-plan payment plans and visa rules for owners, and that none of the firm’s pages answer them.

The 90-day plan replaces the news posts with eight structured guides and a monthly market note. Each guide answers one question clearly, cites its sources and ends with a relevant next step.

09Frequently asked questions

Do we need a strategy before we start writing?: A short one, yes. Even a 90-day plan avoids months of content that answers nobody’s question.
Can our team write the content?: Yes. Many clients write in-house from our briefs; others use our studio.
How do we show up in AI answers?: By answering specific questions clearly, keeping pages current and structured, and being cited by others. There is no shortcut.

Content Strategy