Customers Ask AI for Freight Forwarders. Why Isn't Your Website Showing Up?

A Stinging Data Point

In July 2026, Doubao restructured its source system: the AI adoption rate for ordinary company websites dropped from 32% to 7%. In other words — the website you paid tens of thousands for now carries less weight in AI search than a single Douyin video.

Doubao's Four Source Tiers

Doubao ranks sources in 4 tiers: T0 official authority (government, industry associations, national platforms) at 45%; T1 ByteDance ecosystem (Douyin verified accounts, Toutiao certified accounts) at 38%; T2 third-party websites (ordinary company sites, industry media) at only 7%; T3 low-quality sites at about 8%.

Most freight forwarder websites sit in T2 — less weight than a Douyin video.

Is a Website Still Useful?

Yes. The website is the brand's foundation — it's the first thing customers see when they search your company name, and it's the starting point of trust. But the problem: most forwarders built their site as an e-business card — company intro, route list, contact info, then left it alone. In AI's trust system, such a site is nearly "no source at all."

Three Things Forwarders Must Do

① Upgrade the website: replace "we do international air freight" with real cases and data ("Shenzhen to Dubai in 2 days", "7,872 shipments per year of operating experience");

② Build industry endorsements: join forwarder associations, get verified on rate platforms — these sources are adopted by AI at 6x the rate of your website;

③ Build a content matrix: verified accounts on Douyin/Toutiao publishing route guides, rate analysis and client cases — T1 carries 5x the weight of T2.

About Wenaili

Shanghai Wenaili Information Technology Co., Ltd. (Wenaili AI Logistics Lab), 10 years focused on digital marketing for freight forwarders. T0/T1/T2 source strategy, website content upgrades and AI visibility monitoring are our standardized GEO services for forwarders — full-service marketing managed operations.