AI Is Changing How Customers Find You. Is Your Small Business Ready?

Jun 12
3 min read

Something quiet but significant has been happening to small business websites over the last 18 months. Traffic is down. Not because businesses are doing marketing worse, but because the way people search is fundamentally changing.

When someone used to Google 'best HVAC company in Indianapolis,' they got a list of ten links and clicked one. Now, many of those same searches return an AI-generated answer at the top, and the links below it get fewer clicks than ever.

Website traffic is expected to continue declining in 2026. That is not a prediction to panic over. It is a signal to adapt.

"The businesses that adapt to AI search now will own their category locally by 2027. Those that wait will spend that time recovering lost ground."

What AI search actually looks like

Think of the old search engine as a librarian who hands you a stack of books and says Good luck.' The new AI-powered search is a librarian who reads all the books for you and gives you the answer directly....with a footnote about which book it came from.

That footnote is where your opportunity lives. When AI tools like Google's AI Overviews, ChatGPT search, and Perplexity answer a local business question, they are pulling from specific, authoritative content - usually business listings, review platforms, and well-structured website pages.

If your content does not clearly answer the specific questions your customers are asking, you will not be the footnote. Someone else will.

Four things small businesses should do right now

You do not need a technical team or an SEO agency to adapt. You need to do four things with intention:

1. Answer questions, not just describe services

Most small business website pages describe what the business does. AI search rewards pages that answer what customers want to know. There is a difference.

Instead of: 'We offer residential landscaping services in the central Indiana area.'

Try: 'How much does landscaping cost in central Indiana?' followed by a genuine, specific answer.

Structure your pages around the questions your customers ask you most. FAQ sections, blog posts, and service pages written in plain question-and-answer format are exactly what AI tools surface.

2. Keep your Google Business Profile active

For local businesses, the Google Business Profile remains the single most important piece of digital real estate. AI tools pull business hours, photos, reviews, and service descriptions directly from it. A stale or incomplete profile is invisible.

Update your hours any time they change, including holidays.
Add new photos at least twice a month.
Respond to every review. AI tools see engagement as a signal of trust.
Use the description field to include the specific words customers use to find you.

3. Get more specific reviews

Generic reviews like 'great service!' are nearly useless for AI search. Specific reviews that mention your service type, your location, and the customer's problem are gold.

After every positive interaction, ask customers directly: 'Would you mind leaving a review? It helps a lot if you mention what brought you to us and what we helped you with.'

That specificity is exactly what AI tools scan when answering a local search query.

4. Write one helpful article per month

A single blog post per month, written to answer one specific question your ideal customer asks, compounds over time. After 12 months, you have 12 assets that work around the clock - appearing in AI search results, surfacing on Google, and building trust with every new visitor who finds them.

You do not need to be a writer. Record yourself answering the question out loud, transcribe it, and clean it up. Authenticity beats polish every time.

"Businesses that combine thoughtful use of technology with consistent, human-centered communication are better positioned to build lasting relationships and stand out."

At Steele Digital Marketing Solutions, we help small businesses audit their AI search visibility and build a simple content plan that puts them in front of the right customers, even as search continues to evolve.