What Saudi Arabia’s AI Push Means for Marketers
This has been originially published on WARC
Overview
Saudi Arabia is rapidly emerging as an AI powerhouse, and this transformation significantly impacts marketers who must now adapt strategies to capitalize on AI-driven opportunities.
Why It Matters
Saudi Arabia’s accelerating investment in AI is reshaping:
- Discovery
- Content production
- Performance measurement
Marketers who understand these shifts will be better equipped to lead in an increasingly AI-driven landscape.
Key Takeaways
- Saudi’s AI investment offers early access to infrastructure and insights.
- Marketers in the Kingdom have a first-mover advantage to experiment, learn, and lead.
- Search is fragmenting—marketers must optimize for both recommendation and answer engines.
- Content must work across predictive feeds and conversational queries, and drive conversion.
- Tools that automate creative tasks offer time savings, but ROI is the true metric.
- Arabic-focused AI enables local relevance and leadership.
- LLM optimization is the new SEO: Think natural questions, structured content, schema markup, and AI-friendly language.
AI Becomes the New Engine of Saudi’s Economy
At the Saudi-US Investment Forum (May 2025), $600B in deals were signed, mostly in AI and infrastructure:
- DataVolt (PIF-backed): $20B in AI infrastructure
- NVIDIA: Supplying 18,000 GB300 Grace Blackwell chips
- Humain (Crown Prince-led): Launching Arabic-focused LLMs
- Google, Amazon, Oracle, Uber: $80B in joint AI projects
Saudi Arabia is building an AI-first economy by aligning hardware, software, and strategic partnerships.
Search is Splitting
Search is evolving along two paths:
1. Recommendation Engines
Platforms: TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook
Focus: Predictive feed content
Strategy: Recommendation Engine Optimization
2. Answer Engines
Platforms: Google, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Meta AI
Focus: Natural-language queries
Strategy: Answer Engine Optimization
📊 As of April 2025:
- 65% of consumers discover new businesses via social and recommendation platforms
- 33% still use traditional search engines
- ChatGPT ranked the #1 free app in Saudi Arabia
Implication: Visibility is not enough. Content must convert.
AI and the 10x Productivity Shift
Marketers now use AI to:
- Instantly generate copy variations
- Optimize campaigns in real time
- Automatically segment audiences
- Dynamically produce creatives in multiple formats
But: Speed alone means nothing without measurable business impact like:
- Cost savings
- Increased conversions
- Higher ROI
- Faster time to market
The Pitfalls of Blind AI Use
AI is powerful but flawed. Many marketers use AI outputs without critical thinking, leading to:
- Misleading or inaccurate content
- Clean structure but incorrect facts
- Over-reliance on tone without verifying substance
Always verify. Always edit. Always own the result.
“Today is the worst AI will ever be. It will improve.”
LLM Optimization Is the New SEO
Traditional SEO (keywords, backlinks) is no longer enough. To succeed with AI:
- Structure content around natural questions
- Use schema markup to clarify meaning
- Write in a clear, human tone
- Create Arabic content reflecting local context
Platforms like TryProfound help with this. With Arabic LLMs from Humain, local brands have a strong head start.
Reminder: Visibility is not the goal—results are.
Saudi Arabia’s Unique Advantage
With centralized leadership and vast capital, Saudi Arabia can:
- Rapidly deploy large-scale AI investments
- Develop long-term infrastructure and partnerships
- Deliver faster access to tools and intelligence
- Accelerate measurable business outcomes
The Public Investment Fund is laying the foundation not just for tools—but for lasting AI competitiveness.
What Marketers Should Do Now
Here are five immediate actions:
- Optimize for LLMs
- Structure content for recommendation and answer engines. Prioritize natural language and user intent.
- Work in Arabic AI Environments
- Test your content in local models and train teams on prompting and localized content production.
- Automate Repetitive Tasks
- Use AI for generation, tagging, summarization, and distribution. Track cost and time savings.
- Track AI Traffic Patterns
- Include AI-driven platforms in attribution and analytics to get the full picture.
- Create Adaptable Content
- Design strategies that can evolve with user signals—not just campaign schedules.
Final Thought
Saudi Arabia is building the infrastructure, talent, and capital for an AI-first economy—and rewriting the playbook for how content is created, discovered, and monetized.
AI is only useful if it drives business outcomes.
Build for performance. Build for today’s discovery engines. And stay agile—this is just the beginning.
