The New Era of App Discovery

For more than a decade, app discovery followed a predictable pattern: users searched, browsed, compared, then clicked. Marketers optimized every step — from keyword rankings to store creatives to campaign funnels. 

But in 2025–2026, that model is dissolving. A new ecosystem is rising, driven not by ads or app stores, but by AI assistants.

Instead of sifting through pages of results, users now ask:

• “What’s the best app for tracking my workouts?”
• “Which puzzle game should I try next?”
• “Recommend a reading app for my commute.”

ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude no longer behave like search engines. They behave like decision engines, compressing the journey from search → browse → click into ask → answer → act.

Decision-making happens faster. Intent becomes higher.
But the path users take becomes almost invisible. For mobile marketers, this introduces a new tension: app discovery is evolving faster than attribution models.

Traditional measurement frameworks were built around ads, impressions, click IDs, and store referrers. They were designed for a world where every install originated from a trackable tap. But when the starting point is a generative AI model, not an ad network, not the App Store, not Google, the old rules fall apart.

What Trends LLMs Are Creating for Mobile Apps

“How do you measure a user journey that starts inside an AI model that does not expose any marketing signals?” - Airbridge Marketing Team

LLMs don’t just add a new channel. They rewrite how users form intent, choose apps, and ultimately install. And because these journeys start inside a closed model, not inside an ad, attribution loses visibility.

New referral paths that never existed before

LLMs output answers, sometimes with links to websites or App Store pages. These aren’t ad clicks, so there’s no metadata. Without intentional tracking, these installs collapse into “organic.”

Zero-click influence is rising

According to Bain, up to 60% of users now stop at the AI-generated answer without clicking through to another site. Ahrefs reports a similar pattern, noting a 34.5% drop in click-through rates as AI results become more prominent.

In practice, a user might search for “top budgeting apps” on Google, read the AI overview recommendation, and then go directly to the App Store to look up the suggested brands, without ever clicking a website link.

Traditional last-click attribution fails here because there wasn’t a last click.
The recommendation influenced the install, but the influence is invisible.

AI reduces measurable impressions

If more users find apps through AI suggestions, fewer will be exposed to paid ads or keyword-based discovery flows. That means marketers will see:

• Fewer impression-based signals
• Lower click volumes
• Higher “organic” install shares
• More unpredictable install spikes

Where Traditional Attribution Fails in the LLM Era

No standardized tracking from LLM interfaces

AI models don’t behave like ad networks. There are no impression logs, click IDs, redirect URLs, or SKAN postbacks, and the recommendation simply appears. If the user clicks the link, you can track it — but everything leading up to that moment is a complete black box.

Invisible or indirect influence paths

Many users don’t click inside the AI interface. They read a recommendation, then hours later:

• search the app on Google,
• type its name in the App Store,
• or click one of your ads elsewhere.

Attribution misses the true origin. The AI has shaped intent, but the data shows an “organic” or “paid” install instead.

Loss of click data breaks last-click logic

Classic attribution depends on a visible “click → install” chain, but LLM discovery often looks like “recommendation → store visit → install.” With no click signal, MMPs classify the install as organic, thus masking an entirely new acquisition layer.

The AI recommendation touchpoint is untrackable

The most important moment in the journey — the AI suggestion — happens outside any measurable environment. You can’t pixel ChatGPT. You can’t track impressions inside Gemini. You have no way to know how many times your app was recommended, in what order, or against which competitors.

Attribution windows need to expand

AI-driven intent is often delayed, as users browse recommendations now, but install later. Short attribution windows fail to capture these lagged behaviors, causing undercounting.

Fragmented metadata from AI answers

LLMs may rewrite your app description, pull outdated screenshots, reorder your key features, or even link to your website instead of your store page. Each variation can cause major swings in funnel performance, and marketers can’t see any of it.

What Mobile Marketers Should Do to Get Mentioned in AI Responses

Before measuring AI-driven traffic, marketers first need to get recommended.

This is where Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) comes in — the practice of shaping your app’s digital presence so AI models naturally surface it in answers.

What is GEO?

GEO is the practice of optimizing your app’s entire digital footprint so AI models can confidently understand, classify, and recommend it. 

Instead of ranking for keywords like traditional SEO, GEO focuses on strengthening the signals LLMs rely on, such as metadata consistency, structured content, review patterns, and brand authority, so your app becomes the most logical answer when users ask an AI for suggestions.

LLMs don’t search the web like Google. They synthesize patterns across public data. To appear in that synthesis, your app needs strong, consistent, and structured signals across every surface AI models analyze.

What influences LLM recommendations?

• Clean, structured metadata: LLMs rely heavily on well-defined information. Remember to ensure consistency across: App Store / Play Store descriptions, Feature lists, Category placement, or Keyword themes. 
• Strong public web presence: AI models pull from Websites, Reddit and Product Hunt threads, News articles, or Third-party comparisons. The more consistent and credible your presence is, the more confidently LLMs include you in responses.
• Positive, consistent sentiment: LLMs detect review patterns at scale. High volume, high-quality reviews increase the likelihood of being recommended.
• Structured content formats: Schema-marked FAQs, how-tos, and product info give AI models clearer semantic anchors, improving how accurately they describe your app.
• Brand authority signals: Thought leadership, credible mentions, and strong social proof help LLMs judge your app as trustworthy.

Practical GEO steps marketers can take today

To increase your visibility inside AI answers:

• Strengthen semantic consistency across website, store listing, PR, and social.
• Participate in communities where LLMs scrape data (Reddit, Product Hunt, Quora).
• Create Q&A-style content that mirrors common AI prompts (“best budgeting app for students”, “top running app for beginners”).
• Align ASO with intent language commonly used in AI queries.
• Use CPPs to match the themes LLMs associate with your category.
• Maintain unified branding to prevent AI from misclassifying your app.

After Getting Mentioned, How Marketers Can Attribute LLM-Driven Traffic?

Once your app starts appearing in AI answers, the next challenge is knowing how much it actually influences installs. Here’s how to approach attribution in this new environment.

Use link parameters where AI provides clickable URLs

When an AI platform includes a link to your website or landing page, ensure that link carries:

• utm_source=chatgpt
• utm_medium=organic_ai
• utm_campaign=recommendation

Even though you can’t track the interaction inside the AI itself, you can track everything that happens after.

Rely on deeper funnel signals to validate AI influence

LLM-driven users often convert better because they arrive with clearer intent.
You should monitor AI-originated cohorts for sign-ups, trial starts, purchase/subscription rates, or retention curves.

These downstream signals help you confirm that the uplift is coming from AI-led discovery, even when the “click” is missing.

Look for uplift correlations

If your app appears consistently in AI answers, you’ll notice patterns:

• organic searches for your brand increase
• direct store visits increase
• category ranking improves
• install spikes align with changes in AI responses or model updates

Optimize your store journey to capture indirect LLM referrals

Because many users jump from AI → App Store directly, or search for your app manually, your store listing becomes part of the attribution layer.

Improve the handoff by:

• aligning metadata with AI intent keywords
• maintaining consistent visuals
• using Custom Product Pages for AI-driven themes
• tagging deep links with UTM context

Where Airbridge Comes In: Measurement for the LLM Era

Airbridge’s strength in the LLM era comes from its web-to-app attribution system, which preserves context even when no ad network is involved. 

Instead of relying on click IDs, Airbridge captures the user’s journey across web, app store, and in-app events, letting you attribute installs directly to ChatGPT, Gemini, or any AI interface that outputs a link.

Here’s how the flow works.

1. The AI model outputs a link — you embed UTM parameters

Any link that may appear in an AI response should include UTMs such as:

utm_source=chatgpt
utm_medium=organic_ai
utm_campaign=recommendation

When a user lands on your site from that AI-generated link, Airbridge captures the parameters instantly through its web SDK.

2. Airbridge carries UTMs through the website session

As the user explores your webpage, Airbridge retains the UTM context.
This ensures no information is lost between the AI recommendation and your install CTA.

3. When the user clicks CTA “Install,” the UTMs are passed into the app-open link

Airbridge automatically injects the session metadata into:

• mobile deep links
• App Store redirect URLs
• deferred deep links

The UTM parameters move with the user into the store.

4. When the app opens, Airbridge attributes the install back to the AI source

The SDK reads the deep link context and assigns the install correctly:

Source: chatgpt
Medium: organic_ai
Campaign: recommendation

Future Outlook: The Next 12 Months of AI-Driven Discovery

LLM-driven discovery is still early, but the trajectory is unmistakable: AI assistants are becoming a primary gateway for how people decide which apps to download next. Over the coming year, this shift will accelerate — and it will reshape how mobile marketers think about visibility, optimization, and measurement.

Here’s what’s coming, possibly.

1. LLMs will become real acquisition channels

AI platforms are already experimenting with embedded links, app suggestions, and sponsored answers. Within 12 months, marketers should expect:

• attribution-ready AI referral surfaces
• paid placement models
• AI-first recommendation ad formats

2. “AI Store Optimization” workflows will emerge

Just as ASO and SEO matured into core marketing functions, GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) will evolve into a structured discipline. Teams will optimize:

• metadata for AI comprehension
• structured content for model parsing
• brand authority for recommendation ranking

3. MMPs will integrate directly with AI platforms

To give marketers better visibility, measurement partners will begin:

• ingesting AI-driven referral metadata
• supporting dedicated AI source types
• introducing attribution windows optimized for AI-driven journeys

Visibility will become the differentiator between modern and legacy measurement stacks.

4. AI-native ad formats will mature

Expect to see:

• conversational CTAs
• personalized app suggestions
• in-chat deep links
• intent-based recommendation units

These formats will outperform traditional banners because they appear inside the user’s decision moment.