AI search and localization are starting to overlap. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is described as optimizing content so AI systems cite it or feature it in direct answers across tools such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and Copilot. But for global companies, that definition is incomplete unless it includes language.

Let's face it, marketing and localization occasionally have an uneasy relationship. And that’s even if organizations have their marketing localization support well set up – whether through a dedicated in-house team or an external partner. This is often because these two teams have divergent goals, different mindsets, or just speak a different language (pun intended).

Localization can build a competitive moat, in good times as well as bad What do tech companies such as Pinterest, Slack, Figma, Canva, Notion, Loom, Miro or Spotify have in common? Turns out, quite a bit… but one key aspect is that their massive growth over the past several years – including internationally – has been fueled by their adoption of the product-led growth (PLG) strategy.

A lot of marketing thinking has recently shifted from talking about marketing funnels to marketing flywheels. This offers opportunities for how and when companies enter international markets with global content or products. In fact, some organizations may already use this concept — a global marketing flywheel — to drive their localization decisions without even being aware of it.

The rise of marketing automation platforms (MAPs) like HubSpot, Marketo, Oracle Eloqua and Salesforce (Pardot) seems unstoppable. Globally, this market has been growing by double digits, and Forrester estimated the penetration of MAPs in the B2B space to be 58% in 2018. HubSpot alone grew their customer base by 36% in 2018, adding some 15,000 new customers during the year.