By Charles Lee Mathews. Once billed as the future of search, voice has quietly blended into the background. It is now a tool of urgent ambient discovery, built for brands where speed is everything (think Checkers Sixty60 or the weather bureau).
“Forget the future, voice already peaked,” says Pareen Shah, head of analytics at Rogerwilco. “We taught people to talk to machines, and now machines talk back.” Shah says that voice search is now ubiquitous because it has been absorbed into our phones, our cars, our fridges and of course the AI assistants we increasingly use.
“Voice isn’t competing, it’s converging. When people say, “Hey Google, find a petrol station near me,” they’re not entering a new world. They’re still in Google’s house, just skipping the typing part. We thought voice would reinvent search. Turns out, it just made it hands-free.”
The growing reliance on mobiles
Research reveals that South Africans spend as much as 5 hours and 11 minutes on their smartphones each day — 30% of the time, it is for voice search.
“In South Africa, voice is about practicality, not prophecy. People use it while driving, cooking, juggling kids, not to “shop by voice”. We’re a 92% smartphone nation, “ Shah says.
“Voice doesn’t belong to a brand. It belongs to moments,” she adds. “Voice wins in chaos: “Hey Google, nearest pharmacy.”, “Order pizza.”, “Is there load shedding tonight?” That’s not loyalty. That’s urgency. Voice search is built for impulse, not inspiration. That’s why retail, QSR, travel, and local services dominate. Speed wins. Location wins. Convenience wins,” says Shah.
“Globally, McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Domino’s jumped early, not because voice made them famous, but because voice made them faster. Locally, it’s the same story: Checkers Sixty60, Takealot, Uber Eats. People don’t talk to these brands. They command them,” she explains.
The brand strategy question
Optimisation might look different for different brands. “Nobody’s saying: ‘Hey Google, find me a compassionate financial planner.’ That’s still keyboard work, thoughtful, private, multi-step. Voice isn’t the language of research. It’s the language of now. So no, voice optimisation isn’t for everyone. It’s for brands that sell speed, not stories,” Shah says.
For brands that do lean into voice, Justin Lester, founder and group CEO of Ruby Digital, sees broader potential. “It’s not just about convenience. VUIs have brought forth many other benefits,” he says, explaining that this includes engaging user experience, 24/7 support without exorbitant overheads, accessibility, as well as emotion and personality. The latter, because voice is so rich in tonality.
But the integration doesn’t come without its challenges, Lester cautions. “The language of search has transformed. Searches are no longer limited to short, keyword-specific queries; they’ve become more conversational. Businesses have to adapt to this new paradigm, understanding and optimising for the phrases and questions potential customers might pose,” Lester states.
“But here’s the twist, it’s not just voice anymore,” says Shah. “Tomorrow’s consumer will search by voice, image, AR, or AI, maybe all in the same minute. So don’t optimise for how people speak. Optimise for how they decide.”
Winning the prime position
“Voice assistants typically provide only one or a very small number of answers. For this reason, a brand needs to secure this prime position to maintain visibility. Suppose your competitor’s content is the one read out by the voice assistant. In that case, they will gain that specific ‘share of voice’ for that query,” says Hana Montgomery, director of search experience, digital PR and content at Incubeta.
“Voice search is heavily skewed towards local, ‘near me’ searches. For local businesses, winning the voice search result is a direct path to a customer visit or call. It’s a critical and competitive space,” Montgomery says.
“The most searched segments are local search (the ‘near me’), which is the single biggest driver. Almost 50% of voice searches are aimed at finding local business information. The most commonly searched business is restaurants (51% of voice searchers, according to keywordseverywhere.com), followed by other local services like hotels, doctors, and insurance companies,” she notes.
“Retail/E-commerce does have a significant portion of users who research products via voice (51% of voice shoppers, according to invoca.com) and a smaller, however, growing portion make direct purchases or reorder items,” Montgomery says.
Voice meets commerce
“The rise of voice assistants has not just added a convenient feature to our devices; they’ve altered online interactions. These tools serve as powerful web interfaces, ushering users into the digital realm, facilitated by tech giants,” says Lester.
“As e-commerce continues to experience significant growth, the integration of voice interfaces is reshaping the online shopping landscape. No longer restricted to just typing and tapping, shoppers can now command their wishes aloud, introducing a whole new dimension of interactivity,” Lester states.
He says that businesses quickly realised the potential of VUIs in enhancing product presentation. “Products can now be described, highlighted, or even searched for using voice commands. Major e-commerce players like Amazon have introduced voice search functionalities, making product searches as simple as asking a question,” Lester notes.
“The outcome of such integration has been overwhelmingly positive. E-commerce sites that have embraced voice technology often see heightened user engagement, increased sales, and a more seamless user journey. For instance, a user might casually inquire, ‘Find me a pair of red stilettos in size 6,’ and the voice interface would swiftly curate a list of relevant products. This not only makes shopping more intuitive but also aligns with the evolving consumer behaviours in the digital age,” Lester adds.
Local business boon
What about trends in voice search? “The integration of voice with a screen is growing. This can be, for example, smart displays, mobile phones, or smart TVs. A user asks a question, and the answer is provided verbally and visually. This can be a map or a list of products,” says Montgomery.
“The continuous emphasis on ‘near me’ searches requires hyper-accurate and updated Google Business Profiles and local citations. Voice assistants are moving towards proactive and more personalised recommendations based on past behaviour, users’ location, and time of day,” Montgomery adds.
“The advice I would give to brands is to make your Google Business Profile perfect and keep it updated. For example, if your retail store hours change, update them immediately. Use local keywords in your content and optimise pages for location-specific terms. If you are in retail/e-commerce don’t just list products, create content that answers common pre-purchase questions. Create quick and voice-friendly answers for urgent queries,” Montgomery advises.
Take an integrated approach
“Stop chasing platforms. Start chasing presence,” advises Shah. “Voice isn’t the new social, and it’s not the next SEO gold rush. It’s simply one more way people reach for answers, alongside AI search, Lens, and whatever’s next,” she says.
“The real question isn’t “How do we sound on Alexa?” It’s “Can we be found and trusted, wherever the question happens?” For brands, that means:
- Build for answers, not algorithms.
- Optimise for context, not channels.
- Think utility before creativity,” Shah says.
“No, brands don’t need to sound smarter. They need to be easier to find, faster to trust, and simpler to act on. Because the future of search isn’t about who shouts the loudest, it’s about who answers best,” says Shah, who reckons that marketers chasing “voice optimisation” are five years late to the wrong party.
“Stop trying to be heard. Start being anticipated. Voice won’t own the future. But the brands that master pre-emptive presence, the ones who show up before we even ask, will,” says Shah.
Charles Lee Mathews is a senior editor to MarkLives MEDIA and a senior writer to MarkLives.com, as well as co-founder of The Writers, a writing consultancy.
