People are still searching for businesses like yours – everyday! The only difference is, Google is not the only game in town anymore. AI search engines are quickly becoming the dominant search engine of choice for all search. The good news, Local small businesses can actually outperform nationwide companies if they have optimized their websites properly. In this guide we’ll go through the benefits of AI search engines as opposed to traditional search and we’ll learn how to optimize your website – today – to get you ranking. Read on…
Key Take-Aways
AI vs Search Engine
AI Powered search engines are exploding. Apps like ChatGPT, Bing CoPilot and Gemini are redefining how search is performed and you as a small business owner needs to understand where we are and where we’re going.
The days of typing a query into Google and picking one of the top three or four results are gone. Today’s savvy searchers are quickly learning how AI powered search is so much more versatile then traditional search. Searching now often means speaking into your mobile device and having a “conversation” with the AI bot to get the results you’re looking for…
That’s not to say good old Google search is dead – Google still owns the bulk of the search world but AI is quickly finding it’s way into that world and has the potential to blow the doors off of it.
Here’s why: Traditional search can only return results based on web pages in its index. Ask a question like “How do I fix a flat tire” and Google may return a “snippet” with general instructions on how to fix a flat, then maybe some videos and some websites. Your job is to pick one of the results, once you’ve done that, Google is done. But what if one of the lug nuts holding your tire on is stripped and you can’t remove it. Well, you have to go back to Google, start a brand new search looking for a way to remove that “stripped lug nut”.
This is where AI shines. AI remembers what you’ve been talking about. The AI engine may have just provided you with a set of instructions on how to fix that flat tire, but when your stripped lug nut issue arises, you can just add that to the conversation: “Ahh crap, one of the lug nuts is stripped” and the AI will provide you with a new set of instructions knowing exactly what you were already doing. If you finally give up, trying to fix it yourself (like I probably would), you can just add “is there someone who can help me with this” and the AI, knowing exactly what you’re doing will provide a list of local (yes AI also knows your location) mechanics who it knows fixes flat tires.
The AI scenario above is typical of how AI works, you treat it like an expert in whatever field you need help in (in this case it’s was a car mechanic), then you converse with it back and forth until you’ve reached your ultimate goal (in this case fining someone to fix that flat). AI can be an expert in literally anything!
Properly optimize your website and the AI bot will happily be your sales person twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
The opportunity for a small local businesses is huge, AI knows your location so if someone in your area is searching for a product or service that you offer you can be among the sources that are listed. That potential customer can then converse back and forth with the AI bot about your business and the products you offer. Properly optimize your website and the AI bot will happily be your sales person twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
AI Search Engine Optimization
Here’s our list of the key things you’ll need for AI Search Optimization:
- Properly Structure Your Content
- Use Conversational Words and Phrases
- Optimize for Local Search
- Use Schema and Structured Data
- Create Content that Answers Questions
- Optimize for Mobile and Page Speed
- Create Conversational FAQ’s
- Keep your Content Fresh
- Get Links Pointing to your Site
- Ask for and Display Customer Reviews
Properly Structure Your Content
AI bots actually “understand” what you are saying on your web pages. They read each page and look for context based on what you’ve written. It’s important that you answer questions directly and provides supporting details. AI likes content that is written conversationally but also with authority.
Use heading tags (H1, H2, H3…) to let the AI bots know what parts of your content are more important then others. Your main topic should be your “H1” tag – this is usually reserved for the post title but that necessarily. The “H2” tags should be topic headings that are within that “H1” tag. “H3” would be for topics within the “H2” tags.
You should also have FAQ’s or Q&A sections that address actual questions that customers ask. These should all be conversational – AI is after all designed to be conversational.
Use Conversational Words and Phrases
AI was designed to be conversational. In the real world, people don’t speak in key words – they have actual conversations with other people (and now with AI). AI is trained to “understand” what you are talking about when you speak in a normal way. Your website content should reflect this. Write your content to be informal.
If you’re a “Personal Trainer”, you may be tempted to optimize for “Personal Training Services” and that’s fine but you should also be writing blog posts with titles like: “What should I ask before hiring a personal trainer?” or add FAQ questions like: “Can I get a fitness plan tailored for me at home?“. These types of content are designed to address actual questions that your potential clients will be asking.
When looking for questions to answer look to your existing clients – go through your old support emails/texts see what specifically people have asked in the past. There are also tools like AnswerThePublic that help find the types of questions searchers are asking. The point is, don’t just post some questions that you “think” people will ask, research and try to use your clients language.
Optimize for Local Search
Just like search engines, the AI engines know where you are! Sounds scary but it’s true. They use your Geolocation to understand more about you – beyond just what you’re asking. You need to make sure you Local SEO is on point.
That means making sure you have a Google Business listing (it’s free) and you’ve filled out all of the business information (it asks for things like your business address, hours of operation etc.). Bing also has a similar service called Bing Places (also free).
You should also include location specific phrases on your site. Things like “Best landscaper in Farmingville”. I also like to blog about local businesses and events in my local area. This allows me to get various locations on my website in a more natural way.
Finally, make sure you are using the “localBusiness” schema on your site (more about that a in the next section).
Use Schema and Structured Data
Structured data like Schema is a way for AI bots to quickly digest what your pages are about. Schema is part of your HTML, it’s not visible to your visitors, but the bots can see it. Schema provides the context of your pages in a way that AI bots can quickly digest. Having this on your pages improves the chances that your content will be referenced directly in the AI results.
Make sure to use the following Schema Types:
- LocalBusiness Schema
- FAQ Schema
- Product Schema
- Event Schema (if you host local events)
Create Content for Answering Questions (AI-Friendly Content)
AI loves to answer questions. Where search engines are concerned with “key words” AI is concerned with questions. While AI is much smarter then an old-school search engine and can understand what you are asking when you are conversing with them, it does help to give them additional context in the form of Questions and Answers.
Your posts, FAQ’s and guides should address pain points and questions that your audience has. The closer you can get to answering your visitors questions on your website, the more likely the AI engines will return you content when a question is asked.
Write content that is clear and concise, it should really reflect the natural questions your visitors have. Your products and services should have clear descriptions and key information should be summarized for easy consumption. I like to start most of my posts with a “Key Take-Aways” section that links to the most important topics that I’m writing about, this allows both the AI bots and my readers to scan my posts to focus on what is most relevant to them.
Optimize for Mobile and Page Speed
Back in the day, websites were all the same. We would develop a site and test it on the top three or four browsers and as long as it rendered properly on all of them, we were good to go. This all started to change when Smartphones and other devices became “web enabled”. That beautiful website that you see on your desktop is virtually impossible to read on your little smartphone screen.
Each year, more and more web traffic comes from non-desktop computers. We use a technique called “Responsive Design” to optimize the look of a website across multiple devices. The website will generally present the same information but it looks different depending on the screen size the visitor is viewing it on.
Today, with more and more searches originating from mobile devices, having a mobile responsive website is essential. It’s been long known that Google gives preference to responsive sites when it returns search results. AI engines are the same!
Optimizing site speed is also crucial. Your visitors may be trying to view your site using an overcrowded public WIFI or from their phone with only spotty cell service. A slower connection means your page will load more slowly. It’s crucial that you do everything you can to ensure that your pages loads as quickly as possible. Doing things like compressing images, minifying your code and using caching is no longer optional, it’s a necessity.
Create Conversational FAQ’s
AI engines often return FAQ answers to respond to user questions. This is why, several times in this post I’ve mentioned the use of FAQ’s. But, beyond just having FAQ’s your questions should be written in the actual language your visitors use.
Going though previous support tickets, emails and other customer inquiries is a great way to find out not just what your users are asking but also how they are asking them – what language do they use.
We all of the tendency to write more formally then we speak – while your 10th grade English teacher may like that, in the real world your visitors probably aren’t English teachers, they are probably just people looking for an answer to something. Also, keep in mind more and more people are using voice search to find answers. With voice especially, people tend to be much more informal.
Key Take-Aways:
- FAQ Questions: Write your FAQ questions using the language of your visitors. This improves your chances of having the AI engine use your Q&A directly as a response.
- FAQ Answers: Answer your FAQ questions in a clear, authoritative voice that helps to convey your expertise.
Lastly, regarding your FAQ’s make sure you are using the FAQPage schema to help the AI engines find you.
Keep your Content Fresh
AI engines favor current, up to date information. Just like Google and other traditional search engines, AI engines want to reply with the most relevant information. Things change so quickly in all aspects of life that any page you wrote a year or two ago almost definitely has some outdated information or is missing new information that came to light after the original page was written.
Periodically giving your old content a “refresh” is a great way to keep both traditional search engines and AI engines happy. Add new questions to your FAQ pages, update product information, change our service offerings etc.. Fresh content is more likely to be returned when a visitor is looking for something that you offer.
The good news is also that your Schema has both an original post date and a “last updated” date, so the engines can see right away when you’ve updated a page.
Get Links Pointing to your Site
Ever since Google became the search engine of choice, backlinks (hyper links pointing to your webpages) have been a crucial part of SEO. Google’s earliest algorithms used these links as an indicator of website “authority”. In a nutshell, the more links pointing to a page, the more “important” Google believes the page to be.
Over the years, Google has gotten smarter and smarter so while backlinks are still important, Google (it’s believed) will filter some based on various factors. Anyway, backlinks are still important to both SEO and AEO. You should always be on the lookout for the opportunity to obtain links to your web pages.
Some things you can do:
- Join your local Chamber of commerce – most have a directory of its members with a link to their website and social media pages. Pro Tip: Don’t just use your membership for the link, get involved, your next client may be sitting next to you at the meeting.
- List your business with other local directories and trade associations. Their may be a fee for some of these but if you’re say a plumber and your website is listed on a plumbing trade association, it not only helps with your websites credibility but also it helps define to the engines that you’re a plumber.
- Collaborate with other local businesses, offer to write a “How-to” guide that they can post on their website, giving you a link back to your website. You can probably meet some of these businesses at you local chamber meeting.
- Create “sharable” content – infographics, guides or case studies are great pieces of content that other websites may happily link to.
Ask for and Display Customer Reviews
Customer reviews provide “social proof” that you are a legitimate business. You should consider your reviews as “assets” that will help you get your next client. Every time you have a good experience with a customer or client, you should immediately request a review. Also, make it as easy as possible for you customers to give you a review. Provide them with a link to your review page. I use my Google Business page to collect reviews but sites like Yelp, Bing and others allow customers to review business they’ve used. The point is the more positive reviews you get the better your “standing” will be.
Not everyone you ask will take the time to post a review but the more people you ask (and the quicker you do it after your business is concluded) the more likely it is that they’ll post one.
And don’t stop with just getting the review. Respond to every review you get (whether negative or positive). Give a genuine response, thanking them and try to include something specific about the transaction or the review they posted. If it was a negative review, don’t argue or fight with the customer -apologize and address their specific concern/compliant – ask how you can fix the issue. Let anyone who reads the review know that you are taking the problem seriously and aren’t just making excuses. Remember to display the reviews on your website. I like to have a review widget as close to the top of the page as possible. This is not just to help the bot’s know about the reviews but let your potential clients see the happy clients you have.
Frequently Asked Questions
I can’t say for sure but AI search offers so many benefits over traditional search that I would imagine that it will keep growing over the next few years. I’m sure traditional search will still be around but it will evolve to have more AI features in it.
Originally, most AI engines worked using static information they obtained in their “training”. As AI has evolved many of the engines new search the web. Among the ones that can do this are: ChatGPT, Bing AI, Google BARD and Perplexity. This is not an exhausted list, I’ve just listed the most popular ones.
That question really depends on what you’re looking for with AI. I like ChatGPT the best but I’ve been using it the longest. If you’re working on a technical paper, Perplexity may be a better choice. For real-time search Google or Bing are good choices as well.
Google Search relies on BERT and MUM to do the heavy lifting when it comes to understanding what you’re looking for. BERT helps break down the meaning behind natural language, like when you type out a full question instead of just keywords. MUM takes it further by pulling info from text, images, and even videos to give you richer results. Google also uses RankBrain to figure out what you really mean and Neural Matching to connect related ideas—so it’s not just matching words but actually understanding them.
