Taiwan AI Marketing – Are your customers searching for suppliers on ChatGPT?
In April this year I attended an SEO conference in Singapore hosted by AHrefs which was focused on AI and the impact it was having on search results and how customers are looking for new suppliers.
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Back then, the general view of the experts was that although AI search was growing fast, it was still such a tiny percentage compared to all other search methods, that it was not worth worrying about yet. We were told that traditional search and SEO was still ruling search results and that we could reassure customers that appearing in AI search results was not a priority for them at that time.
My experience in 2025 with B2B customers tells a different story. In this article I will explain why I think AI search is critical for Taiwan manufacturers to improve B2B sales. I will also offer you some practical advice on how to help your company appear in those search results and attract more leads.
What did the experts get wrong about AI Marketing and AI Search Results?
The first thing I should have considered is that the conference was run by a company selling SEO software. They are a great company, and I really like their software, but they could not stand up and say we should now focus on AI search instead of traditional SEO.
The second thing is that they were looking at the total search volume for different platforms (Google, Bing, Duck Duck Go and GPT). I don’t think this was the best way to look at the data and this caused many of us to believe that AI search was not something to worry about.
To understand why I think the data is misleading we need to look at how people are using AI search or AI search results and also which kind of searches it is particularly helpful for. This will then give us a clearer picture of why this type of search could be far more important for B2B sales than for many other areas.
Are B2B customers using AI search engines?
I always ask customers who contact us how they found us and this year my company is receiving high quality customer inquiries directly from GPT search engines here in Taiwan. But why is this happening? We normally think only high tech companies would be using AI search engines, but that is not my experience at all. I will tell you exactly why.
When a company is looking for potential international suppliers, they have a difficult time finding really good search results through Google as they can only enter a few keywords into the search box. But with AI search engines like GPT they can explain exactly the type of company they are looking for, the products they need, and then the AI search engine will provide them with a list of potential suppliers that is probably quite different to what they would find on Google.
This is perfect for purchasing teams who have complex requirements such as experience, certifications, specification and allows them to rapidly filter potential suppliers and find better results that match their needs more efficiently.
Here is an example of this type of search:
And here is another example that I particularly like 🙂
Key Points to Remember:
- B2B Purchasing departments are using AI search
- AI search is better for their needs than “normal” search results
- Your company needs to be seen in AI search results
What do you need in order for your company to show up in AI search results?
We are not able to look at the actual algorithm, but we do know how AI large language models work, and this gives us a clear indication of what they might be doing to determine which companies to surface in search results.
The most important things you need on your website to appear in AI search results are:
Key AI Search Factors for Your Website
- Well-structured SEO content – Pages with descriptive titles, meta descriptions, and glossary-style explanations tend to rank higher and appear in search results.
- Up-to-date content – Active blogs, case studies, and recent news tell both search engines and me that the company is active and trustworthy.
- Clear service descriptions – If you state explicitly what services you provide (e.g., “IATF 16949 certified suspension control arms for North America”), those keywords are easy to match.
- Certifications & standards listed – If requirements like ISO, IATF, CE, etc., are clearly published, they get picked up by AI search engines.
- Industries and markets served – A company that says “serving North America / Europe customers” is more discoverable than one with no regional mention.
But in addition to the content on your website, you also need to be seen and mentioned in other places around the web:
Key AI Search Factors Outside Your Website
- Business directories and trade platforms (Taiwan Trade, Industry Forums): If a company is listed with complete info, it increases the chance I’ll find them.
- Press releases, trade shows, or partner mentions: These provide additional signals of relevance.
- Backlinks and citations: If others reference the company, they are more likely to surface.
This is actually what we are already doing for our customers at GlobalSense. Unfortunately many Taiwan manufacturers are still working with outdated template websites with little written content, poor SEO and few updates which is hurting their search visibility and causing them to miss new business opportunities.
This means that international competitors who are investing properly in their digital marketing are able to take advantage of this switch to AI search for sourcing and take business that could have been yours.
AI Marketing – A great opportunity for Taiwan manufacturers
Digital marketing is evolving very fast and one of the most important things that you can do to help your manufacturing company is to review your marketing regularly to make sure you are doing the things that work.
If you still have an old catalog website with little content, you are likely losing business opportunities to competitors in Taiwan and other countries who have taken the time to create useful high quality written content for their websites. So you need to start a business blog and start adding new written content to your web pages as soon as possible.
If you are not sure whether you need to do this or not, go to chat GPT, pretend you are a customer and ask some detailed questions to see if you appear in search results for your industry. The difference in results from GPT versus the results from Google may surprise you.
Try this search in GPT:
“I am looking for a reputable manufacturer of CNC machining centers in Taiwan. Please give me a list of the companies who have the best online reviews for their products and services”.
Try this search in Google:
“Taiwan best cnc machining center manufacturers”
When you look at the results you will see a couple of companies that appear in both lists, which is great. You will however see a much wider range of companies on the list from GPT and it is worth checking these out as they probably match your requirements more closely.
AI Marketing for your Taiwan Manufacturing Company
In this article we are not talking about how you can use AI to market your company, but rather how you can take advantage of AI search to market your company to more customers. In 2025 there are still many marketing companies trying to sell AI produced content to put on your website but this does not work and Google is actively demoting pages that are created with AI content.
At GlobalSense we focus on creating excellent, useful content that will turn visitors into customers. Our content works well with AI search engines and we also provide a range of other services such as website AI chatbots that can also have a huge impact on your company’s visibility on the internet.
If you would like to find out more about what we can do for your company, then please contact us.
Here are some recent blog articles on related topics that you might find useful:
Customer First Digital Marketing for Taiwan Manufacturers
Is AI Generated Content Helpful for Your Website Ranking?
B2B Website Content Creation – How to Get Your Digital Marketing Right