When I first started using ChatGPT, it was giving Wikipedia energy. Then it quickly felt more like a search engine with that morning hit of caffeine. But sometime over the past six months, it became something else entirely: my personal advisor.

I’m not saying I talk to it more than my bestie…but I’m also not saying that. Here are just a few ways AI is now firmly planted in my daily and weekly life. And honestly, I’m not sure how I ever managed without it.

Meal Planning & Grocery Mastery (Yes, Me.)

If you know me, you know I’ve spent the better part of the last two years eating out, every. single.meal. Cooking wasn’t exactly my comfort zone. When you grow up with a Mom who loved to cook, loved to bake and treated the kitchen as her personal getaway…you don’t really learn to fend for yourself in there.

But life changed. Dad got a health diagnosis that required aggressive dietary changes, pescatarian and veggie-forward eating became non-negotiable. So I turned to ChatGPT and asked: What should someone eat with a CAC score of 1006?

And just like that, my new advisor stepped in with a meal plan. Sure, the first round was a little too “Top Chef” for Dad’s taste, but a couple prompts later, “He won’t eat that” or “Make it air-fryer simple” and I had an entire weekly plan we could actually use.

From there, it became:

• Meal Planner
• Grocery List Organizer (Life-saving hack pulls out the ingredients in your meals and gives you a list organized by Produce, Meat…you get it!)
• Kitchen Coach

And I have to say…while cooking most meals for 2025 was not on my bingo card…neither was walking out of a grocery store without doing 1000 laps or forgetting an item.

First-Step Financial Advisor

Recently, I sold a house and had cash on hand. Not quite “buy a yacht” cash but enough that I wanted to be intentional about it. I prompted ChatGPT with a snapshot of my financial situation and asked for smart investment strategies.

The suggestions were solid, not to replace a financial planner, but enough to spark ideas I hadn’t considered. That’s what made the difference: having a thinking partner to guide the initial steps.

Next up: health insurance

I’ve bought private insurance for years a self-employed individual, and the rates rise like clockwork. This year, I asked ChatGPT to help me explore alternatives – high-deductibles plans, HSAs, local brokers. And, surprise, it delivered options I hadn’t come across yet.

In short: it’s not replacing professionals, but it’s helping me ask better questions and feel more prepared when I meet with them.

My (Very Honest) Personal Stylist

This one’s just fun.

About a year go, I learned I was a Light Summer in the seasonal color world and cleaned out most of my closet to match the colors recommended. Think Easter egg basket, yup that’s me.

That same month, I found Lauren on Etsy who tests makeup and nail polish for each color season. Fast forward to this Memorial Day, my SIL , niece and I went shopping at Mayfaire, and I asked if they knew their seasonal color types.

They didn’t. But I did what any AI user would do: snapped their photos and asked ChatGPT to identify their season.

Boom, accurate guesses, do’s and don’ts, and color palettes. Then we got home, went online shopping, and asked for feedback on specific outfits. Would this dress work for a True Autumn?

Not only did it answer quite bluntly like your good friend would but, it offered better suggestions. It wasn’t just acting like a stylist. It was the stylist I always said I’d hire.

What AI Has Become For Me

• My Wikipedia
• My Search Engine (mostly!)
• My Meal Planner
• My Grocery List Organizer
• My Financial First Step
• My Health Insurance Navigator
• My Stylist
• And honesty, my Time Saver

In just 2 years, it is absolutely wild for me to think how deeply AI has woven into my personal life, handling the little things I used to procrastinate, avoid or outsource.

If my habits have changed this much, your audience’s habits probably have, too.

As a marketing strategist, I help businesses understand that AI isn’t just about creating efficiency, it’s reshaping how people search, discover, and decide.

The journey doesn’t always start with Google anymore. Sometimes it starts with AI. And sometimes AI leads them to Google. Either way, you still need to show up.

I work with local businesses to make sure they’re visible in those shifting search paths, whether that means:

• Optimizing content to answer AI-fed queries
• Structuring websites for relevance
• Or building content that stands up as a source AI would actually cite

If AI is already acting like a personal advisor for people like me, then your brand needs to start thinking about how to meet your audience where they now go for advice. And spoiler, it’s not just the traditional search engine anymore.

And no if you’re wondering, AI isn’t my therapist or my accountant (Hi Dustin!!).

But in 2025, it is the advisor I didn’t see coming.

And it turns out, I really needed one.