By Lizzy Young, CFE, Tidehouse

With the new year just around the corner and over 400 new franchise brands each year (according to FRANdata), the franchise marketing landscape is more competitive than ever.

With more digital channels, higher content standards, and AI at the forefront of it all, franchisors are also being challenged to evolve their marketing strategies like never before.

Discussing these five considerations with your team can help you get ahead of your competition in 2026 — rather than scrambling to catch up:

  1. Setting the Foundation for AI Success

From your website to social profiles, earned media, and local listings, AI evaluates both the quality and consistency of your content across the board.

Much like SEO, GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), or how your brand appears in AI results, evaluates  your brand’s E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Factors like channel diversification, authentic storytelling, executive thought leadership, media coverage, and user-generated content play a critical role. Investing in your integrated digital presence ensures your brand is not just represented in AI, but that it’s represented accurately.

If your website’s content is inconsistent, irrelevant, or overly jargony, you risk losing AI visibility. Think about what makes content easily scannable and trustworthy for humans: AI favors clear headlines, bulleted lists, shorter paragraphs, real data with cited sources, images, infographics, videos, and social proof like real customer and franchisee experiences. Q&A formats perform particularly well — if it’s easy to follow, it’s easy to pull from.

  1. Where SEO Meets GEO: Navigating Search Generative Experience

Search engines are now using AI-powered tools like Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) to summarize answers directly on the results page, meaning fewer users are scrolling or clicking through links.

For example, a search for “How many franchise brands are there in 2025?” now displays the answer directly at the top of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP), reducing traffic even for top-ranking sites. These AI-generated summaries, also known as featured snippets, are redefining what it takes to appear in search results.

Your site’s Domain Authority (DA), a score that predicts how well your website ranks, plays a key role in whether customers or franchise prospects discover your brand or a competitor’s. To stay competitive, your keyword strategy must evolve, since longer, more specific phrases now drive better visibility.

Like today’s AI-driven search algorithms, DA is influenced by relevant content, strong PR, and technical factors such as ADA compliance, mobile optimization, page speed, and overall user experience. Updating your site once a year, or even once a quarter, is simply not enough to stay on top.

  1. Simplifying AI Success: Leveraging Your Existing Brand

Great content doesn’t have to mean starting from scratch. My mantra in franchise marketing? “Don’t overlook what is right in front of you.”

“Content” gold is often right under our noses. Most do not realize how unique and powerful real stories and insights from founders, executives, or franchisees are until they’re shared. Your people are the heart of your brand — their trials and triumphs resonate with customers, prospective franchisees, and AI alike.

Another way to continuously build authority is by linking brand milestones, media coverage, and recognition on your website’s blog or “press” page. Even small updates, like adding new testimonials or awards, help AI and search engines recognize your brand as a top franchise.

  1. Optimizing Locally: What’s Changed, and What Hasn’t

 Some of the most valuable low-hanging fruit for local AI visibility comes from , which now goes far beyond local news. User-generated content, influencer mentions, local awards, and reviews all act as third-party signals of reliability and authority, boosting your AI visibility without placing a heavy, long-term lift on your team.

To generate more of this earned content, try social media contests that encourage users to tag your business, use a campaign hashtag, or share experiences. Small incentives, like freebies or discounts, can dramatically increase engagement.

Brands that bridge the gap between on-site and digital marketing have a competitive advantage. Traditional tactics like on-site signage still work, especially when paired with QR Codes inviting users to “Leave a review” or “Follow you on social media.”

Signage can solicit additional user-generated content with prompts like “Share your favorite [product/service] on social media” or “Tell us why you love [your brand].” Similarly, investing in “picture-perfect” displays, murals, or pop-ups often yields higher ROI via social media shares and local visibility.

Service-based franchises can adopt these tactics with before-and-after photo contests, automated SMS review requests, and social media decals on vehicles.

Finally, grassroots marketing remains evergreen. Franchisees who actively participate in community events, partnerships, online forums, and local listings or social profiles are often top performers, and their efforts can boost local AI visibility through social mentions, engagement, and press coverage.

  1. Keep Testing the Waters: AI’s Not Going Anywhere

As always, the best way to gauge marketing performance is through data. Audit your content, monitor competitors, adjust your strategy, and if something isn’t working, be willing to pivot.

Test your efforts at least once a quarter by stepping into your target audience’s shoes. What would they type in on search engines or in AI platforms? Try it. Are you showing up? Are competitors?

If you’re unsure how to get to where you want to be, don’t hesitate to ask your franchisees, industry peers, and vendors for help. Franchising is an open, tight-knit community with a wealth of knowledge and specialized resources, and 2026 is poised to be its biggest year yet.

 

Lizzy Young is a Certified Franchise Executive, Certified Franchise Marketer, and Chair of the Chicago Women’s Franchise Network. She has spent nearly her entire career immersed in the franchise industry, partnering with hundreds of franchisors and franchisees along the way. Her multifaceted experience gives her a unique, system-wide perspective on what it takes to drive meaningful change within franchise organizations. As Director of Strategic Marketing at Tidehouse, Lizzy helps franchisors stay ahead of the curve in both franchise development and consumer marketing. For more information about IFA supplier member Tidehouse, please visit franchise.org/suppliers/tidehouse-agency/.

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