South Africa, March 10 -- AI is changing how brands are discovered

A South African consumer opens ChatGPT and asks it a simple question: which electric SUV should I buy?

The response reads like a curated briefing from the country's top motoring journalists. It references expert reviews, independent road tests and third-party comparisons. The brand's own website barely features; their sponsored posts are nowhere to be seen, and their social media is almost invisible.

This is not a hypothetical scenario. It is already happening today, and research from Gartner, a global research and advisory firm, confirms it.

According to Gartner's latest predictions for chief communications officers, the communications function is entering a period of...