Zoom is expanding its creator marketing strategy as it looks to improve how the brand appears in AI-generated search results and reposition itself beyond video meetings as an AI-first workplace platform.
The technology company is experimenting with creator partnerships as part of a wider strategy to build authority and credibility across the web, signals that could influence how AI platforms surface brands when responding to user queries.
Zoom is not abandoning paid advertising in the process. The company is participating in ChatGPT’s advertising pilot, but it is also looking beyond paid placements to understand how third-party content could strengthen its presence in AI-generated answers.
The approach comes as consumer search behaviour increasingly extends beyond traditional search engines to AI platforms that synthesise information from multiple online sources. This shift is pushing marketers to consider generative engine optimisation, or GEO, alongside conventional search engine optimisation.
For Zoom, the strategy is closely connected to a broader brand challenge. While the company became widely associated with video conferencing, it has expanded its portfolio across workplace collaboration and artificial intelligence. Its marketing is now tasked with changing how consumers and businesses perceive the brand.
Zoom CMO Kimberly Storin told Digiday that there is currently no explicit link demonstrating that creator partnerships directly improve AI visibility. Instead, the company views creators as a way to strengthen authority and credibility, which could help brands become more relevant to AI systems.
As part of the strategy, Zoom partnered this summer with journalist, filmmaker and podcast host Nayeema Raza, who hosts “Smart Girl Dumb Questions” and has more than 30,000 followers across Instagram and YouTube.
Raza appears in campaign content across Zoom’s social channels, while the company is sponsoring a six-part series of her podcast. She is also scheduled to appear as a keynote speaker at Zoom’s annual conference in October. Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed.
The strategy signals a potential change in how brands evaluate creators. Traditionally, creator selection has focused heavily on metrics such as audience size, engagement and reach. AI search is introducing another consideration: whether a creator’s content is viewed as sufficiently authoritative or relevant to be surfaced or cited by large language models.
Joseph Levi, CEO and co-founder of Noise Media Group, told Digiday that brands are increasingly interested in creators who are being cited by LLMs, rather than selecting them solely for their reach.
Zoom is not alone in testing the relationship between creator content and AI visibility. Priceline has increased social spending with an emphasis on influencers and creators for storytelling, while agencies are also exploring creator campaigns designed to generate organic online attention.
The shift comes as marketers assess the impact of AI-generated search on website traffic. Digiday research involving 142 brand and agency professionals found that 37% reported decreases in upper-funnel search traffic linked to AI, while 21% reported declines at the lower funnel.
For Zoom, creator marketing therefore serves two purposes: helping reshape perceptions of the company and testing whether credible third-party voices can strengthen its visibility as discovery moves into AI interfaces.
Whether those partnerships translate into measurable gains in AI search remains uncertain. Zoom’s strategy nevertheless illustrates how creator marketing and search optimisation are beginning to converge as brands adapt to an increasingly AI-mediated discovery environment.