Is Your Station Website Ready for AI Browsers

There’s a quiet but massive shift happening online—and it just got louder with the release of AI browsers like Perplexity Comet and the new ChatGPT-powered Atlas browser. With these browsers, users can now ask questions and get intelligent, AI-powered answers without ever clicking on a website.

This isn’t just a change in how people browse—it’s a fundamental shift in how information is discovered. And if you’re running a radio station website today, it’s time to ask: What happens when the website is no longer the first destination for your audience?

AI browsers is not the future—it’s becoming the new normal, right now.

It’s a complete reimagining of what a browser is. And it means we all need to rethink how our websites work—and how we reach listeners online.

Browsers are becoming answer engines

AI browsers like Atlas and Comet aren’t just search tools—they’re curated experiences – answer engines. The user asks a question, and the browser reads the web, summarizes it, and delivers the result. There’s often no need to click anything.

So if you’re thinking, “Our homepage gets plenty of traffic, we’re good”—I’d urge you to pause because fewer people may ever land there in the first place.

This isn’t science fiction. These tools are here now. Atlas just launched. Comet is gaining users fast. And more are coming. AI-first browsing is the next chapter of how people consume information.

What should you start doing right now?

Make your content visible to machines—and promote it to humans.  If your content isn’t structured for AI—tagged correctly, updated frequently, and machine-readable—these browsers may skip over it. This includes ensuring your pages have the proper structure, that images have alt and title tags, that events are schema-tagged as “events” and not “posts”, and so forth.

And if you have a brochure website that never changes, those will be the first ones to experience a dramatic drop in visitors.  Eventually, you’ll wonder why a website is necessary – that’s when you really need to worry about how new listeners will find you.

Even if your content is optimized, you can’t count on discovery through search or AI alone. That’s why it’s more important than ever to diversify your content and—this is key—promote it actively:

• Use your on-air talent to tease stories or events on the site.
• Mention your online obituaries, local news, or swap shop items live.
• Share content across social media.
• Diversify your social media sharing on multiple platforms.
• Send an email newsletter daily.
• Use push notifications if you’ve got a mobile app.

I see too many stations doing the hard work of creating content… but not telling anyone it’s there.  With AI tools inserting themselves between you and your audience, it’s time to focus on increasing direct access points:

1. Increase mobile app downloads
2. Get more newsletter subscribers
3. Focus on podcasts subscribers
4. Increase social followers – all platforms
5. More integrated smart speaker actions.
6. More on-air calls to action to specific website content

This is how you keep control of your audience relationship, even as the web landscape shifts.  Ensure you are watching analytics to see what’s working and what isn’t across all of these access points.  Do more of what is and less of what is not.  Just remember that everything points to your website.  The more visitors you have to your website, the more these AI agents will trust your site in their searches.

Future-proof your Online Revenue

If fewer people hit your homepage, you might see a drop in ad impressions. Now’s the time to diversify how your digital content makes money:

• Sponsored content or local features
• Podcast ad inventory
• Newsletter banner ads
• Job boards and business directories
• Featured content placements

Don’t just sell banner ads—sell visibility and value.  Create a “Digital Inventory List” that incorporates every conceivable online sponsorship opportunity (website ads, sponsored pages, newsletter ads, podcast sponsorships, etc.). Ensure your sales team knows each one and their value.

Final Thoughts

Here’s the big takeaway: the website is still important—but it’s no longer the starting point for your audience. So shift your mindset. Build great content, yes. But also promote it boldly. Make it machine-readable. And don’t wait for visitors—go get them through every tool at your disposal.

AI-first browsers like ChatGPT Atlas and Perplexity Comet are changing that. And more are on the way, and it’s only a matter of time before they are commonplace.

If today’s episode sparked some ideas, I’d love to hear them. And if you’re already thinking about how to adapt your site for this AI-powered future, you’re ahead of the game.

Do you have a website that is ready for this kind of shift? If not, reach out to us. We’d love to help.