Chapter 2
Journey Design (Which Steps to Take): AI Customer Journey: Four Phases, Ten Steps
When customers find a merchant through AI, how do the four phases and ten steps connect?
Journey Design (Which Steps to Take): AI Customer Journey: Four Phases, Ten Steps
This chapter answersWhen customers find a merchant through AI, how do the four phases and ten steps connect?
Why it comes hereEach audience has its role; the Customer Journey links these roles into a path that can be diagnosed.
Figure 2-1 AI Customer Journey Map: Four Phases, Ten Steps
Read from top to bottom: journey phases, journey steps, the participation of the Marketing Audiences, and Journey Diagnostics; the same column is the same step, linking each role to its results.
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Read top to bottom: journey phase, journey step, who is acting, Journey Diagnostics. The five small cells in each step stand for the Five Marketing Audiences in order: dark green is the lead, medium green takes part, light green is slightly involved, and gray is the remaining roles.
② Journey Design Which steps to take AI Customer Journey Map: Four Phases, Ten Steps From Figure 0-2 Journey Phases Phase One Readiness Phase Two AI Information Acquisition Phase Three AI-Assisted Decision and Action Phase Four Conversion & Return Journey Steps S1 Prepare S2 Crawl S3 Train S4 Index S5 Ask AI S6 AIMention S7 AIAnswer S8 Act S9 Visit S10 Return Who is acting See Figure 1-1 Marketing Audiences Humans Search EngineCrawlers AI Crawlers AI Agent AutomatedBots Humans Search EngineCrawlers AI Crawlers AI Agent AutomatedBots Humans Search EngineCrawlers AI Crawlers AI Agent AutomatedBots Humans Search EngineCrawlers AI Crawlers AI Agent AutomatedBots Humans Search EngineCrawlers AI Crawlers AI Agent AutomatedBots Humans Search EngineCrawlers AI Crawlers AI Agent AutomatedBots Humans Search EngineCrawlers AI Crawlers AI Agent AutomatedBots Humans Search EngineCrawlers AI Crawlers AI Agent AutomatedBots Humans Search EngineCrawlers AI Crawlers AI Agent AutomatedBots Humans Search EngineCrawlers AI Crawlers AI Agent AutomatedBots Diagnostics What this step asks Is the datacomplete? Can theyget in? Can itbe used? Is itindexed? Came toread? Were youmentioned? Did it getit right? Can it getit done? Did theyshow up? Did theycome back? Lead Takes part Minor role Other audiences ID EO Original framework © 2026
How to readRead top to bottom: journey phase, journey step, who is acting, Journey Diagnostics. The five small cells in each step stand for the Five Marketing Audiences in order: dark green is the lead, medium green takes part, light green is slightly involved, and gray is the remaining roles.
Figure 2-2 Journey Diagnostics Gate Map: Ten Steps, Ten Gates
Below the ten steps, each has one gate and one diagnostic question; each later phase builds on the results of the one before. After S10, the next round starts again from S5. Training authorization at S3 is the merchant's choice, and real-time retrieval at S5 answers immediate questions, so each step is diagnosed by its own function.
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Read the journey steps left to right; below each are the gate name and diagnostic question.
Diagnostics See Figure 2-1 Journey Diagnostics Gate Map: Ten Steps, Ten Gates Journey Steps See Figure 2-1 S1 Prepare S2 Crawl S3 Train S4 Index S5 Ask AI S6 AI Mention S7 AI Answer S8 Act S9 Visit S10 Return Ten Gates This step's gate Ready In reach Learnable Indexable Readable Pickable Credible Doable Visitable Recurring Gate asks Is the datacomplete? Can theyget in? Can itbe used? Is itindexed? Came toread? Were youmentioned? Did it getit right? Can it getit done? Did theyshow up? Did theycome back? ID EO Original framework © 2026
How to readRead the journey steps left to right; below each are the gate name and diagnostic question.
Figure 2-3 Five Marketing Audiences Journey Swimlane Diagram
The steps each of the Five Marketing Audiences passes through, and the scope of measured records at each step.
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Each row is one of the Marketing Audiences, with S1–S10 running across; first see which steps it passes through, then the records at each step and the scope of measured tracking.
How the Five Marketing Audiences move through S1 to S10 (2026/3/3–10/8) Solid boxes = measured records; dashed boxes and hatched fill = Black Box (inside AI Platforms); arrows = direction of flow. Numbers from different sources, periods, and units are shown separately. Legend Measured records: our site + Google/Bing Bing-provided records Black Box: inside AI Platforms Hatched fill = inside AI Platforms Source dots at the top-right corner of each box S1 Prepare (requests) S2 Crawl (requests) S3 Train (requests) S4 Index (requests/pages) S5 Ask (requests) S6 Mention (times) S7 Answer (times) S8 Act (requests) S9 Visit (clicks/visits) S10 Return (Tracking) AI Crawlers Meta, Anthropic, OpenAI, Amazon… AI Agent Errands & lookups SearchCrawlers Google, Microsoft, Apple Humans OrganicTraffic From searchor AI Bots AutomatedInfo Services Ourwebsite Whole site 197M Requests From 2/12 To 10/8 Crawler arrivals 56.84 million Requests AI Crawlers Copies backfor training 52.2 million Requests Anthropic 24.48 million Builds AI index 3.99 million Requests Our AI Search 2.82 million Taken for training and indexing Live Retrieval 651,000 Requests Largest: OpenAI Black Box How AImentions you (in AI firms) AIAnswer 31,711 times Source: Copilot citations Visit Arrival sourcesbeing tracked Direct visits; browsing counted separately Act for Users 18.09 million Requests Black Box In-platform:Tracking Visit Trackingin Progress Search index Applebot 24.62 million Google 3.41 million Microsoft 12.05 million req. Indexed pages 657,000 pages Google 282,000 Bing 375,000 Trackingin Progress Are we in? What rank? Searchimpressions ~8.22M times Google+Bing approximate Organic Traffic Arrival sourcerecords Google 267,700 Microsoft 20,100 clicks Visit from search or AI to our site 309,826 Organic Traffic Arrivals 7.23M req. AI tools7.08 million Tracking150,000 Black Box Trackingin Progress S10 Return Trackingin Progress 1. Period 2026/3/3–10/8; whole site 196,702,526 requests, period2026/2/12–10/8; AI Agents (automated browsing) listed separately, 2026/8/26–10/8. 2. AI Crawlers: copied back for training 52,203,119 times, built the AI index 3,991,283 times, retrieved in real time 650,528times; Search Engine Crawlers that build the search index and produce AI Overviews are the same batch, 41,261,941 times. 3. Indexed pages are September 2026 Bing 375,000 + Google 282,000; searchimpressions about 8.22 million; cited in Copilot answers 31,711 times. 4. Organic Traffic from Humans 309,826 visits; Automated Bots 7,231,923 requests = AI tools7,079,310 + Tracking in Progress 152,613; AI Agents act for people and look up addresses. ID EO
How to readEach row is one of the Marketing Audiences, with S1–S10 running across; first see which steps it passes through, then the records at each step and the scope of measured tracking.
Figure 2-4 Journey Coverage Map of AI Platforms: The Furthest Step Each Has Reached
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Read the ten steps left to right and follow each company's arc to its end point; the column where it ends is the farthest step this figure shows for each AI platform.
How far each one goes: the AI Customer Journey of the major AI Platforms (S1→S10) Crawl period 2026/3/3–10/8; whole-site period 2026/2/12–10/8. Arc thickness represents that platform's cumulative crawl requests. S1 Prepare 197 million Requests S2 Crawl 105 million Requests S3 Train 52.2 million Requests S4 Index 45.25 million Requests S5 Ask 651,000 Requests S6 Mention about 8.22 million times S7 Answer 31,711 times S8 Act 17.95 million Requests S9 Visit 309,826 clicks S10 Return Tracking S9 Organic Traffic sources (clicks) Google 268,000 Microsoft 20,000 Yahoo Japan 10,000 Meta 9,388 DuckDuckGo 1,049 Baidu 713 All other sources total 611; source clicks and crawler requests are counted separately. Major AI Platforms (crawl requests) Apple Farthest S4 24.62M Anthropic Farthest S5 24.49M Microsoft Farthest S9 12.05M OpenAI Farthest S5 12M Meta Farthest S9 11.58M Amazon Farthest S3 5.45M Google Farthest S9 3.56M Our AI Search Farthest S4 2.82M Yandex Farthest S4 511,000 ByteDance Farthest S4 256,000 AI Agents browsing Farthest S8 17.95M Farthest: | To S9 : Google , Microsoft , Meta | To S8 : AI Agents browsing | To S5 : Anthropic , OpenAI | To S4 : Apple , Our AI Search , Yandex , ByteDance | To S3 : Amazon Dot size follows the square root of each step's volume; solid dots are requests, hollow dots are platform impressions, citations, and Organic Traffic; each metric is shown in its own unit. The AI Platforms' arcs show the main crawl purpose; S9 is listed separately by Organic Traffic source, and the same platform's cumulative crawl volume is counted once in each. S6 search impressions are approximate; S7 citations cover Copilot 7/22–10/8; S8 automated browsing covers 8/26–10/8; S10 is still being tracked. S9 Organic Traffic and crawler requests are counted separately. ID EO
| Item | Farthest: | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Apple | Farthest S4 | 24.62M |
| Anthropic | Farthest S5 | 24.49M |
| Microsoft | Farthest S9 | 12.05M |
| OpenAI | Farthest S5 | 12M |
| Meta | Farthest S9 | 11.58M |
| Amazon | Farthest S3 | 5.45M |
| Farthest S9 | 3.56M | |
| Our AI Search | Farthest S4 | 2.82M |
| Yandex | Farthest S4 | 511,000 |
| ByteDance | Farthest S4 | 256,000 |
| AI Agents browsing | Farthest S8 | 17.95M |
How to readRead the ten steps left to right and follow each company's arc to its end point; the column where it ends is the farthest step this figure shows for each AI platform.
Figure 2-5 4 Ways AI Mentions You + the Final Gate
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The top shows the two situations and the four ways, each with its crawler type and step; the colors of the progress bar below match the top: S3 for ①, S4–S5 for ②③④, S6–S7 for ⑤.
4 Ways AI Mentions You + the Final Gate When AI mentions you, it usually either remembers you already, or looks you up online right then. AI already remembers you ① AI learned you Read your public pages during training Crawler｜AI Crawlers (training) Step｜S3 Train AI looks you up online ② Finds your website Reads what you wrote about yourself Crawler｜Search Engine Crawlers, AI Crawlers Step｜S4 Index, S5 Ask ③ Finds you on platforms Reads what others wrote about you Crawler｜Search Engine Crawlers, AI Crawlers Step｜S4 Index, S5 Ask ④ Finds a third-party verification page Reads facts someone has verified Crawler｜Search Engine Crawlers, AI Crawlers Step｜S4 Index, S5 Ask ⑤ Final gate: AI picks you and gets you right Findable → Picked → Right Step｜S6 Mention, S7 Answer S1 Prepare S2 Crawl S3 Train S4 Index S5 Ask S6 Mention S7 Answer S8 Act S9 Visit S10 Return aeo.idaeo.ai
How to readThe top shows the two situations and the four ways, each with its crawler type and step; the colors of the progress bar below match the top: S3 for ①, S4–S5 for ②③④, S6–S7 for ⑤.
Key Points of This Chapter
| Claim | Why |
|---|---|
| AI Customer Journey: Four Phases, Ten Steps—S1 Merchant Readiness, S2–S4 AI Information Acquisition, S5–S8 AI-Assisted Decision and Action, S9–S10 Customer Conversion and Re-engagement. S1–S10 are diagnostic checkpoints, not a sequence every customer must follow. | Preparation in the early phases supports use in the later ones, and the four phases align marketing responsibilities with results. AI Impressions come first; only then does the rest of the journey follow. S2–S4 get content read by AI, building the foundation for the mentions, citations, and customer visits from S5 onward. |
| Each step has a diagnostic question to check where the merchant is getting stuck. | Each step maps to one question, so improvement work has a clear place. |
| In S1 the merchant prepares its information; S2–S4 are led by crawlers; S5–S7 are human–AI interaction; in S8 AI Agents act; S9–S10 are customer conversion and re-engagement. | Each step has a different lead actor and needs different support. S8 moves AI from answering to acting for customers; visits by AI Agents have been observed, and their scale is still being tracked. |
| S10 loops back to S5, forming a continuous cycle. | When the customer raises a need again, the next round of AI-assisted decision-making begins. |
| Crawls in S2–S5, site arrivals in S8, and customer visits in S9 are measured first-party by IDAEO; indexing and search impressions (not AI mentions) come from search platforms; mentions and answers in S6–S7 are tracked by IDAEO live tests. | Each source represents a different touchpoint; the numbers only make sense when placed back in the journey. In the figure, S6 lists search impressions (not AI mentions), meaning the number of times you appear in search results. The mention rate in AI answers will be published later. |
Terms
- S1–S10
- The ten steps are S1 Prepare, S2 Crawl, S3 Train, S4 Index, S5 Ask, S6 Mention, S7 Answer, S8 Act, S9 Visit, and S10 Return. S1–S10 are diagnostic checkpoints, not a sequence every customer must follow. S3 means crawling for training, and S4 means crawling for indexing. Neither confirms that the content has been used for training or indexed.
- Journey Phases
- Merchant Readiness, AI Information Acquisition, AI-Assisted Decision and Action, and Customer Conversion and Re-engagement.
- Ten Diagnostic Gates
- Each of the ten steps has its own gate: Ready, Reachable, Learnable, Indexable, Readable, Selectable, Credible, Actionable, Visitable, Returnable.
- Journey Diagnostics
- Confirm progress and improvement priorities by journey step and performance metrics.
FAQ
Q: How are the four phases divided?
A: By task: Merchant Readiness, AI Information Acquisition, AI-Assisted Decision and Action, and Customer Conversion and Re-engagement. Each phase has a different lead actor and different results; dividing into phases lets you arrange support and verify progress.
Q: Who decides whether to allow S3 Train?
A: The merchant decides training permissions and configures information acquisition paths as needed. Crawling for training, crawling for indexing, and real-time retrieval each have their own function; the merchant can arrange them according to marketing goals.
Q: Is S5 led by people or by AI?
A: In S5, a person raises a need and AI then retrieves the information to answer. Both asking and content use happen at this touchpoint, so journey diagnostics look at demand and retrieval results.
Q: Why is S6 “AI mentions a few merchants”?
A: S6 is the step where a brand enters the customer's consideration set. AI picks relevant merchants within the limited space of an answer; being mentioned is the selection signal.
Q: Are the ten steps a merchant's to-do list?
A: The ten steps describe the full journey of a customer finding a merchant through AI; the merchant's focus is getting S1 ready and supporting later use. S2–S8 involve both AI and the customer, each with its own tasks.
Q: Why is the journey a cycle?
A: Customers still have new needs after making a choice; S10 Return loops back to S5 and starts the next round of AI-assisted decision-making. The customer journey theory in Figure 8-2 (IDAEO Theoretical Foundations Map) covers ongoing contact, and re-engagement is also the starting point of the next round of needs.
Q: What are the ways AI comes to mention you?
A: Roughly two situations. AI already remembers you: ① it previously crawled your public pages for training (S3). AI looks you up online right then: ② your website, ③ you on other platforms, ④ a verification page from a Third-Party Source (S4–S5). All four ways must finally pass S6–S7: AI names you and gets you right. See Figure 2-5.
Q: Which of the four ways should come first?
A: ② Your website is under your own control: first state clearly who you are, what you do, and why you can be trusted. ③ is written by others and ④ is confirmed by a Third-Party Source; these connect to Chapter 4, Trust and Verification.
This Chapter in Three Sentences
- The AI Customer Journey has four phases and ten steps. These are diagnostic checkpoints, not a sequence every customer must follow.
- There are four routes to an AI mention: content AI read during training, your website, your presence on other platforms, and verification pages from Third-Party Sources.
- Each step has a diagnostic question to identify where the merchant is getting stuck.
Three Things You Can Do This Week
- Make clear on your website who your business is, what it does, and why it can be trusted.
- Check that your business information is correct across platforms and external verification pages.
- Work through the diagnostic questions and mark the step where you are currently stuck.
Next ChapterIn the next chapter, you will see actual crawl and site-visit activity from different AI Platforms across the Customer Journey.
Self-CheckA merchant has already been mentioned in S6 and next needs to confirm its business hours are correct; name the corresponding journey phase, journey step, and diagnostic question.
Related questions
- Chapter 2 key pointsJourney Design (Which Steps to Take): AI Customer Journey: Four Phases, Ten Steps
- Figure 2-1AI Customer Journey Map: Four Phases, Ten Steps
- Figure 2-2Journey Diagnostics Gate Map: Ten Steps, Ten Gates
- FAQ 2-1How are the four phases divided?
- FAQ 2-2Who decides whether to allow S3 Train?