UNITED KINGDOM / AGILITYPR.NEWS / January 13, 2026 / Firney, the UK-based conversational search and hyper-personalisation specialist, has warned that brands targeting more website traffic and bigger numbers could be missing a trick in the new era of AI-powered search. 

Firney’s conversational search experts say the next frontier of AI browsing calls for a deeper focus on intent, intelligence, and real customer outcomes rather than traditional traffic metrics as shoppers become more AI-search savvy.

While vanity metrics often dominate dashboards, they rarely reflect meaningful progress. Page speed scores, time on page, and even simplistic conversion averages can mask the reality of how effectively a website helps customers make decisions.

AI-confident consumers are increasingly asking natural-language questions, expecting personalised guidance, and moving fluidly between channels. This shift requires more sophisticated measures of performance. Brands need indicators that don’t just show whether visitors convert; they need advanced KPIs that show *why* they’re converting. 

“As browsing behaviour evolves, the old rules no longer apply,” says Marc Firth, Co-Founder of Firney. “Gen Z users don’t search the way millennials do - they ask conversational questions, expect context-aware answers, and look for guidance influenced by technology and real-time relevance. If a platform can’t understand customer intent and adapt its structure and content accordingly, it simply won’t convert, no matter how many people land on it.”

Building a sales-driven platform in this new landscape starts with understanding those behaviours. Firney’s engineering team blends UX research, data science, and conversion psychology to design sites that reduce friction at every stage of the journey. That means intelligent search for large inventories, AI-driven product suggestions that adapt based on behaviour, and page structures that shift depending on the customer’s past behaviour and funnel position, from informative top-of-funnel content to clear, calls to action for users ready to buy. The ultimate goal is to help visitors find the right answer faster, with as little cognitive load as possible, facilitating a natural, seamless conversion. 

This shift is especially important right now as AI browsing increasingly becomes the norm. Customer expectations are evolving, with buyers now looking for websites that guide them like a human salesperson: anticipating questions, predicting needs, and offering personalised content across multiple visits. With economic pressure mounting more than ever and pushing brands to prove return on investment from every digital channel, companies can no longer afford platforms that look good but fail silently at the point of decision.

Firney’s technology is built for this reality. By combining conversational search, hyper-personalisation, and real-time behavioural insight, the company helps organisations turn intent into action, and clicks into real, measurable results.

For more information, visit www.firney.com.