#264: How AI decides which brands get found with Lavinea Morris, Managing Director EMEA at M&C Saatchi Performance

Brand visibility is no longer just about winning the attention of consumers — it's about being eligible to exist in the spaces where discovery happens.

In this episode, we speak with Lavinea Morris, Managing Director EMEA at M&C Saatchi Performance, about what it really takes for brands to show up in an AI-driven world.

Lavinea introduces the concept of "eligibility" — the idea that before an ad is ever seen, brands must first earn the right to appear. She explains how the rise of AI and generative engine optimization is reshaping discoverability, why performance marketing is now an organization-wide responsibility, and what the "eligibility tax" costs brands that aren't paying attention. From taxonomy and content to trust signals and data feeds, she makes the case that getting found is no longer the job of one team — or one channel.

If you work in performance marketing, growth, or brand strategy, this is a timely conversation about what it means to be visible when the machines are doing the filtering.

Today’s topics include:

• Why attention metrics are more romanticized than useful — and what to measure instead
• Brand eligibility: what it takes to be visible before an ad is even shown
• The eligibility tax — the compounding cost brands pay for not showing up in AI-filtered spaces
• How M&C Saatchi Performance's role has evolved from media buying to full-stack brand consulting
• Why generative engine optimization (GEO) is becoming as critical as traditional SEO
• Why performance marketing is no longer just the performance marketer's job
• Why waiting is never a strategy — especially in a challenging economic climate

Links and Resources:

• Lavinea Morris on LinkedIn
• M&C Saatchi Performance
• Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry

Quotes from Lavinea Morris

“It depends what attention means to you. Every brand or client will consider attention differently... I think it's a slightly romanticized metric. We have to be thinking about what happens before the ad was seen. How eligible is your brand? How are you able to be seen in the ecosystems that we're operating in?”

“Legibility tax is what I like to talk about — the price that brands pay for not being eligible. The reality is we're seeing rising costs, and it's not always because of the performance media. It's actually how you're showing up in these spaces. And are other brands doing better than you, getting that first mover advantage? What does that cost you?”

“We've spent so many years talking about getting the attention of the humans — be it creative, putting the ads in the right place at the right time. I think now it's so exciting: how do you get the attention of the machines? And that is a new space, but an easy space for us to be working in.”

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Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry since 2012