What Agentic AI Really Means for Marketers

Everyone is talking about “agents,” “assistants,” and “autonomous AI;” however, few marketers have a good understanding of what these systems truly do, or what they mean for how consumers discover and interact with brands. In the third episode of The Visibility Brief, Rebecca Colwell, SVP of Marketing at Yext, and Christian Ward, Chief Data Officer, discuss one of the most trending concepts in AI today: agentic AI. They discuss the real definition of agentic AI, how these systems behave, and how marketers can prepare for a world where AI doesn’t just answer questions, it takes action.From executing tasks to personalizing decisions, agentic AI represents a major shift in how brands show up, compete, and stay visible today.Christian and Rebecca break down:What agentic AI actually is. Christian explains what agentic systems are and how to distinguish simple automations, guided assistants, and fully autonomous agents, and why that difference matters.How AI agents will reshape consumer behavior. We explore the emerging reality of AI assistants researching, recommending, and even completing tasks for consumers, and what that means for visibility throughout the buying journey.Why structured data determines your visibility. Recent Yext research across more than 6.8 million AI citations reveals a huge finding: your website, and how you structure your data, is now the strongest signal large-language models (LLMs) use to answer questions about – and eventually take actions on behalf of –  your brand.How memory and personalization shape results. Christian unpacks how AI agents leverage chat history, use location, loyalty, and context to build preferences on behalf of users to determine which brands to surface.How to evaluate “agentic” tools. Christian shares the key questions every marketer must ask to separate true agentic AI from marketing fluff.In this episode, Rebecca and Christian provide a practical, non-technical guide to understanding agentic AI, and how it will fundamentally reshape search, loyalty, and the customer journey.If you’re a marketing or digital leader preparing for an AI-driven future where AI agents actually take action on behalf of consumers, this episode is for you.