Everyone is Talking About AI. But is Your Business Actually Showing Up When Buyers Use it?

By Courtney Chalmers, Chief Brand & Communications Officer, Boats Group, an MRAA Strategic Partner

It seems like every week there’s another announcement about artificial intelligence transforming the boating industry. New AI-powered marketplaces, smarter search and revolutionary technology that promises to change how boats are bought and sold.

There’s plenty to be excited about, but I think we’re overlooking a much bigger shift.

It’s one thing to build a website that uses AI. It’s another thing entirely to build a marketplace that AI actually uses.

The Shift from Searching to Asking

Think about how someone shops for a boat. Traditionally, a buyer might start on Google, visit a few marketplaces, browse inventory, read reviews and compare brands.

Now, a buyer can open ChatGPT or Google AI and ask, “What’s the best center console for a family who wants to fish and wakesurf?” or “Which cruising yacht offers the best value under $500,000?”

Instead of searching through dozens of websites, AI is doing the work for them: researching brands, comparing models and ultimately recommending boats that fit the buyer’s needs.

Those recommendations can influence which brands and boats make it onto a buyer’s shortlist before that buyer ever visits a marketplace or dealership.

That’s a big change in how people find products. And there’s an important difference between using AI on your website and making sure buyers can find your business when they search using AI.

AI Visibility is Becoming Measurable

According to third-party Similarweb data, Boat Trader and YachtWorld attracted significant traffic from AI platforms between July and September 2026, demonstrating how AI is becoming an increasingly important part of the boat-shopping journey.

Who is actually getting traffic from AI?

Average monthly U.S. AI-referred visits · July–September 2026

The disparity is significant and dealers and brokers should be paying attention. As AI becomes a bigger part of how consumers discover boats, it’s increasingly important to understand whether their marketplace investments are helping their inventory get discovered through AI-powered search — not just traditional website traffic.

While AI-referred traffic doesn’t capture every instance in which a marketplace appears in an AI-generated answer, it provides a measurable indication of whether AI-powered discovery is actually bringing consumers to a marketplace.

As AI becomes a bigger part of the buying journey, that measurement deserves a place alongside traditional indicators of marketplace performance.

AI Technology Doesn’t Equal AI Authority

Here’s what I believe the industry needs to understand. AI chatbots, smarter search tools and AI-powered website experiences are becoming standard capabilities. They’re useful and they’ll continue to improve. But having AI technology doesn’t automatically make a marketplace a source that independent AI search engines rely on.

AI discovery depends on relevant, credible and accessible information. Comprehensive inventory, accurate specifications, original reviews, useful buying guidance, regularly updated content and an established digital presence all help make a marketplace more discoverable.

And credibility isn’t something that can be built overnight.

Consider established brands like Boat Trader, YachtWorld and boats.com. These brands have spent decades building destinations that consumers and the marine industry know and trust. Together, they attract 16 million visitors on average every month, reflecting years of investment in inventory, content, data quality, technology and relationships.

That foundation is becoming more valuable as AI changes how people search. Trust attracts audiences. Sustained engagement builds digital presence. And credible, comprehensive information creates more opportunities for AI-powered discovery.

Technology is an important part of the equation, but it’s not a substitute for the credibility, content and consumer reach that make a marketplace valuable in the first place.

What Does This Mean for Dealers, Brokers and Manufacturers?

For the marine industry, this shift has real business implications. Dealers and brokers invest in marketplaces to get their inventory in front of buyers. Manufacturers invest in visibility because they want to make sure their brands and models are considered.

Increasingly, those decisions are being influenced earlier in the research process, sometimes before a buyer ever visits a dealership or marketplace. Buyer research conducted by Boats Group found brand loyalty rates ranging from 6% to 13% across the segments analyzed. That reinforces the point: manufacturers can’t assume buyers will return to the same brand. Brand preference has to be built and earned throughout the buying journey.

And when AI tools are helping consumers decide which boats and brands to consider, being discoverable through those tools becomes even more valuable.

This changes the questions industry partners should be asking about their marketplace investments. It’s no longer enough to ask whether a marketplace offered AI-powered features. The more important questions are whether it’s generating measurable traffic from AI search, whether its inventory and content are positioned for discovery and whether it’s helping brands reach buyers earlier in the decision-making process.
The technology matters. But the ability to connect buyers with boats matters more.

The Future Is About Being Found

The next phase of AI discovery is already taking shape. Boats Group, for example, is extending its reach through direct integrations with ChatGPT and Meta’s AI ecosystem, making customer inventory, manufacturer information and industry expertise discoverable beyond its own marketplaces.

It’s part of a much broader shift in consumer behavior. Buyers aren’t necessarily going to start their search on a marketplace website. They may begin with Google, ChatGPT, social platforms or the next generation of AI-powered search.

And the ability to reach them at those moments is becoming increasingly important.

I believe the marketplaces best positioned for this future will be those that combine technology with something much harder to build: trust, credible information, comprehensive data and meaningful consumer reach.

AI will create tremendous opportunities for the boating industry. But as the technology evolves, our definition of digital marketplace performance needs to evolve with it.

The goal isn’t to have the most impressive AI story. It’s to make sure buyers can actually find your boats.

And ultimately, that’s the distinction that matters.

Being AI-first is a claim. Being AI-visible is a competitive advantage.

About the Author

Courtney Chalmers is the Chief Brand & Communications Officer at Boats Group, overseeing brand strategy, lifecycle and product marketing and OEM partnerships for its online marketplaces. With over 20 years in digital and marine industry marketing, Courtney is recognized for her expertise in customer lifecycle strategies and digital transformation. Her strategic insights have helped Boats Group become a leading digital partner in recreational boating. Outside of work, Courtney is an avid equestrian and enjoys boating, tennis and taking in the Miami sunshine.

Editor’s note: MRAA publishes partner-contributed articles to provide marine retailers with practical education, subject-matter expertise and industry perspective. MRAA maintains editorial oversight of partner-contributed content and may edit submissions for clarity, relevance, AP style, search visibility and alignment with MRAA’s dealer-first educational standards. Recommendations should be considered alongside each dealership’s goals, processes, team capacity and business needs.