Media buyers don't open RFPs anymore.
They ask AI who to shortlist. DeusAds wasn't on it.
The moment a media director at a D2C brand asks ChatGPT for ad optimisation platforms, a shortlist forms before the first vendor call. DeusAds had the product. The integrations. The results. But AI had no signal to recommend them — and so every AI-influenced deal went to louder, older competitors.
"Our clients were finding our competitors through AI before they ever reached out to us. That's backwards. In adtech, being early to a channel is the whole game — and we were late to the most important one. Once we understood that AI was the new media plan for vendor discovery, everything changed."
DeusAds wasn't losing because of its platform.
It was losing because AI sent media buyers straight to The Trade Desk and Google before they ever had the chance to evaluate a platform that could outperform both.
AI Defaulted to Incumbents
Established ad platforms with years of AI-indexed content dominated every shortlist. DeusAds, despite comparable performance data, was invisible at the AI-discovery stage.
Category Confusion
"AdTech" is a crowded category. Without specific positioning around use-case — programmatic, D2C, performance — AI models couldn't surface DeusAds for niche, high-conversion queries.
No Structured Third-party Proof
Peer reviews and case studies existed but weren't formatted for AI retrieval — meaning AI models couldn't cite them as credibility signals when building shortlists.
Outbound-only Motion
The entire go-to-market relied on outbound. There was no inbound channel capturing AI-influenced buyers who had already decided on a shortlist before any outreach began.
Understanding the Media Buyer's AI Journey
We simulated the exact queries a performance marketer or media buyer runs when evaluating ad platforms — not during the RFP stage, but weeks before, when they're building their own informal shortlist to take to their CMO.
"Best programmatic advertising platforms for D2C brands in 2024."
"Google DV360 vs alternatives for mid-market performance advertising."
"AI-driven ad optimisation tools for e-commerce brands with high SKU volume."
"Top adtech platforms used by European performance marketing teams."
"Which ad platforms have the best ROAS transparency and cross-channel reporting?"
AI Share of Voice Shift
4× increase in AI-driven visibility — DeusAds went from an afterthought to a consistent presence in every major media buyer AI journey.
Before Engagement
After Optimization
Business Impact & Revenue Opportunity
+130%
Inbound Demo Requests
$1.4M
Pipeline Influenced
−25%
Cost Per Demo Reduction
−20 days
Sales Cycle
+300%
Third-party AI Citations
15 Journeys
Top 3 AI Appearances
$110K/yr
Equivalent Paid Spend
68%
AI Recommendation Rate
Your buyers' shortlist is built before you ever reach out.
The only question is who's on it.
Every recommendation your business earns is one your competitor doesn't.