Hey, it’s Alex.

In today’s issue - I want to share with you “The Story of the Chinese Farmer” by Alan Watts, and what you can learn as an employee, business owner, or brand from this story.

I personally love this story, and often refer to it during ups and downs in business as a reminder to just keep going - it’s about the journey.

Enjoy.

Once upon a time, there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbours came around to commiserate.

They said, “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.”

The farmer said, “Maybe.”

The next day the horse came back, bringing seven wild horses with it. In the evening, everybody came back and said, “Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events! You now have eight horses!”

The farmer again said, “Maybe.”

The following day, his son tried to break in one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbours then said, “Oh dear, that’s too bad,” and the farmer responded, “Maybe.”

The next day, conscription officers came around to draft young men into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Once again, all the neighbours came around and said, “Isn’t that great!” Once again, he said, “Maybe”

“The whole process of nature is an integrated process of immense complexity, and it’s really impossible to tell whether anything that happens in it is good or bad — because you never know what will be the consequence of the misfortune; or, you never know what will be the consequences of good fortune.”

— Alan Watts

Most of your future customers won’t find you by searching on Google.

They’ll be given an answer. 

From ChatGPT, from Gemini, from Perplexity - AI answer engines are increasingly becoming the first point of truth (minus the hallucinations). 

Unlike traditional search, these AI engines don’t reward who shouts loudest or pays the most. They reward clarity, specificity, and a broader signal of trustworthiness.

In June this year, ChatGPT became the fifth most visited site globally. Daily usage hit 2.5 billion prompts - edging ever closer to Google’s 14 billion daily searches. 

Meanwhile, Google is quietly re-shaping itself around AI Overviews, which now appear in over 13% of search results - twice what it was at the start of the year.

In short: your potential buyers are asking AI what to buy, who to trust, and how to decide. If you're not mentioned in the answer, you may as well not exist.

This is what the AI pros are saying - but, I believe, you need to consider your industry, market and positioning. If your brand is built around trust, quality, and results in long term loyalty - then buyers who want this aren’t going to be buying something instantly on ChatGPT without going to your website.

But if you are mentioned?

These tools can become your fastest-growing, most invisible source of growth for new business. No vanity clicks. No attribution headaches. Just a sudden, consistent swell in demand.

So how do you appear in the answers that matter?

I’ve summarised a few strategic principles to help you position your brand for AI discoverability - without compromising your integrity or flooding the internet with keyword-stuffed filler.

1. Decide what you want to be known for

Like SEO, AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) begins with clarity. What questions should your brand be the answer to? Think in terms of relevance, differentiation, and intent.

For my design company Studio Almond, it’s not “best web developers”. It’s more specific: “best Shopify agencies for premium lifestyle brands”, “ecommerce studios that fix technical debt”, “how to build a high-performing Shopify site without stress”.

These are the conversations already happening. Being deliberate about which ones you want to lead is the first step.

2. Write with precision, not just polish

AI tools aren’t browsing your website - they’re parsing it.

That means they favour structure over style. Specificity over sentiment. Write clearly, break things into lists and tables, and cover a topic thoroughly enough that the engine doesn’t need to look elsewhere.

In our world: a guide comparing Shopify templates for high-ticket brands, or a checklist for diagnosing technical debt, will likely be surfaced more often than a portfolio gallery.

3. Make yourself quotable - in the places that matter

Consider that platforms like Reddit and YouTube, and niche blogs are some of the most cited domains in AI responses. Your brand doesn’t need to dominate the web. It needs to show up in a few trusted corners of it.

That could mean sharing real insight in a relevant subreddit. Publishing a well-reasoned comparison on LinkedIn. Or partnering with an overlooked blog that AI tools increasingly lean on.

It’s not a backlink arms race. It’s a quiet compounding of proof.

4. Measure influence, not impressions

AI-driven discovery is mostly zero-click. People ask a question, receive an answer, and move on. That means your traffic may stay flat - even while your pipeline grows.

So the metrics need to evolve. 

Track share-of-voice, brand mentions, and attribution from fields like “How did you hear about us?”. These signals can often reveal the true impact before Google Analytics catches up.

5. Treat visibility as a moving target

Unlike traditional rankings, AI citations shift rapidly. One month you’re the top pick. Next month, you’ve vanished.

Which means two things: refresh your content regularly. And don’t become reliant on a single platform or prompt.

Adaptability will outperform authority.

Final word

This isn’t about gaming algorithms. It’s about understanding how your customers are now making decisions - and being there with the answer that earns their trust.

You don’t need to speak louder. Just clearer.

We’ll be implementing these principles in our own content at Studio Almond and Almond Labs. Quietly testing, adapting, and helping our clients show up in the answers that matter.

If you’re curious about how this shift could impact your growth strategy - or want help navigating it - feel free to reach out.

In the meantime, stay sharp. And stay visible.

Until next time.

Alex Murton
Shopify for Lifestyle Brands
Co-Founder @ Studio Almond & Almond Labs.