The Channel No One Was Watching Just Became the One That Matters Most

A year ago, AI-generated traffic to websites was the worst-performing marketing channel across the entire digital economy.

Today it's outperforming all of them — by 48%.

That stat comes from Adobe Digital Insights, which analyzes trillions of data points across the digital economy. And buried inside it is a problem most businesses haven't confronted yet: a third of all online content still can't be read by AI systems at all.

Which means a third of businesses are becoming invisible — not because they stopped marketing, but because the way people search and buy just changed underneath them.

This isn't a 2027 problem. It's a right now problem.

What This Means for Detroit Businesses

SEO optimized for Google worked because Google indexed everything. Generative AI doesn't work that way. It surfaces what it can read, understand, and trust. If your website, your content, and your digital presence aren't structured for that, you don't show up.

Law firms. Nonprofits. Credit unions. Small businesses. Every sector I work in across Detroit is running on content strategies built for the last decade. The ones who move now will own the next one.

From the MRJ Desk

This week an attorney connected with me at a family gathering and confirmed interest in a one-on-one AI consultation before 48 hours had passed. No cold email. No ad. Just a reputation that travels. That's what consistent thought leadership builds over time — the conversation happened at a picnic, but the credibility was built here, on LinkedIn, over months.

We also received our first AI Readiness Audit Stripe payout this week. Small number. The infrastructure works.

Detroit Spotlight

Black Tech Saturdays just announced their Spring 2026 Cohort — 20 Detroit founders selected for a six-month residency at Michigan Central Station in partnership with Michigan Central. That's not a program. That's Detroit deciding what it wants to build next. If you're one of those founders, or you know one, I'd love to connect.

The channel no one was watching just became the one that matters most. The businesses that adapt now won't need to catch up later.

— Redic Grant, Founder & CEO, MRJ Consulting. Detroit, MI · Est. 2008