Has the battle for channel control already started?
Contents
How to face it through the CMS of the future
In a world where generative AI is starting to mediate purchase decisions, the customer channel is no longer limited to websites, apps, or email marketing. The new channel is called conversation. And it’s no longer controlled by brands—but by large language models.
This reality raises an uncomfortable question for Marketing and IT leaders:
Who controls the customer experience if the transaction happens inside ChatGPT or a voice assistant, not on owned digital assets?
The dissolution of the traditional channel
Historically, brands controlled the digital channel through their CMS or DXP. That’s where content, messaging, experience, data—and crucially, conversion—were managed.
But today, when a consumer asks ChatGPT, “What’s the best tablet under $400?” and gets a direct purchase link or an integrated checkout experience, the entire channel logic changes.
The brand experience doesn’t necessarily happen on the brand’s website anymore.
The new channel isn’t a website or an app. It’s a conversational interface powered by AI, deciding what to show, how, and when.
This is already happening. OpenAI has launched plugins and shopping actions inside ChatGPT with brands like Instacart and Expedia. Amazon is connecting its catalog to LLMs. Shopify is experimenting with native AI shopping assistants. The “channel” is no longer visited; it’s invoked.
Where the CMS fits in this new ecosystem
In this context, the CMS is no longer the entry point—it becomes the structured provider of content, product data, business rules, and experience logic. This demands a complete shift in how CMS platforms are built and used.
- Expose content and products via well-documented, standardized APIs.
- Adopt headless or composable architecture to decouple backend from presentation layer.
- Use semantic structuring (e.g., JSON-LD, schema.org) so AI can interpret content accurately.
- Integrate with AI-based personalization and recommendation engines.
Platform comparison: how key players are responding
Let’s look at how major CMS and DXP platforms are preparing for this new conversational-first paradigm:
- Adobe Experience Manager (AEM): Through Adobe Sensei and Experience Platform, AEM acts as a cognitive backend that delivers real-time, segmented data to any interface—ideal for feeding AI-powered conversations.
- WordPress VIP: While retaining WordPress’ simplicity, VIP is investing in headless architecture and semantic structuring. With tools like GraphQL and ElasticPress, it’s well positioned for content discoverability by AI systems.
- Adobe Franklin: With a lightweight, fully structured approach, Franklin is a strong candidate for AI-first indexing and delivery. It doesn’t control the channel—it amplifies its reach.
- Drupal (headless mode): Thanks to its flexibility and semantic content modeling, Drupal is well-suited for structured content delivery to AI interfaces.
CMS platforms that fail to structure their data for AI consumption will be excluded from the user’s decision journey.
What happens to ROI and KPIs?
If the conversion channel is no longer owned but managed by third-party conversational interfaces, how do we measure CMS/DXP ROI?
Some KPIs will need to evolve:
- Conversational discovery rate: How often is your CMS content referenced by AI assistants?
- API performance: Speed, reliability, and accuracy of exposed content.
- Semantic structure quality: How well content can be machine-interpreted?
- Speed of AI-channel adaptation: How quickly can the platform integrate with tools like GPTs, Gemini, Alexa, or Copilot?
This is no longer about pageviews or bounce rate—it’s about visibility and relevance in channels you don’t directly control.
What’s next: structure or disappear
Soon, publishing content won’t be enough. It will have to be understandable, accessible, and usable by AI-driven interfaces.
A good CMS won’t just manage websites—it will become the intelligence layer feeding those smart channels.
CMSs that focus on publishing pages will fade. Those that prioritize interoperability and structured output will win the channel battle.
References and documentation
