Kia Ora Digital and The Collagen Co won Best Use of AI in Search at the Global Search Awards 2026.
This is the second time the same campaign has taken this category in one year, after the APAC Search Awards win in February. Two independent panels, two regions, the same verdict.
For the announcement, read Two Wins at the Global Search Awards 2026.
What the judges said
"Using AI to solve genuine search challenges rather than generate content, this campaign stood out for its intelligent, evidence-led approach."
Why it matters
The judges drew the line in the first eight words.
Most AI-in-search entries are about production: more content, faster. This one was judged on the opposite, using AI to work out what the problem actually was. "Rather than generate content" is the panel explicitly separating the two.
"Evidence-led" is the other half. The award was decided on what the work proved, not on how sophisticated the tooling sounded.
Read alongside the APAC panel's phrase for the same campaign, a "predictive growth engine", the two verdicts describe the same thing from different angles: search that anticipates rather than reacts, judged on commercial outcome.
The service is AI search optimisation; the client work is the Collagen Co case study.
