More people are starting their research in ChatGPT, Gemini, or a Google AI Overview instead of a plain search box. If your business only shows up in the classic ten blue links, you're invisible to a growing share of that traffic.
Two different games
Classic SEO earns a ranking position. AI search earns a citation — the model reads a page, decides it's a trustworthy source, and repeats what it says (sometimes with a link, sometimes without). The signals overlap, but they're not identical.
What still matters for both:
- Clear, factual writing that answers a specific question directly
- Fast-loading, mobile-friendly pages
- A site structure that's easy to crawl
What matters more for AI search specifically:
- Structured data (schema.org markup) that tells a model exactly what a page is about
- Content that states facts plainly, rather than burying them in marketing language
- Consistent information about your business across the web — the same hours, address, and services everywhere, not just on your site
What we'd actually check first
Before touching content, we look at whether a business's basic facts are even readable by a machine: is there schema markup on the site, is the Google Business Profile complete and consistent, and does the homepage actually say what the business does in the first two sentences.
Most small business sites fail at least one of those three. It's a fast fix, and it's the foundation everything else sits on.
If you want a plain-language read on where your business currently stands, book a free strategy call and we'll tell you exactly what we'd fix first.