How AI search is changing the way people find and compare businesses
Imagine you run a small online shop. The checkout is awkward on mobile, you need to change payment providers, and you want someone who can maintain the site afterwards.
You could search for developers and open a handful of websites. You could also ask an AI assistant:
I run a WooCommerce shop in Estonia. Who could help improve the checkout, connect a new payment provider and provide ongoing support?
With web search available, the assistant can help look for providers and compare information about them. Follow-up questions can narrow the options. Does this person work with existing stores? Is there relevant experience? What should I ask before hiring them? [1]
By the time you visit a developer’s website, you may already have a shortlist and a fairly clear idea of what you want. The businesses left out of that conversation may never get the chance to make their pitch.
For a business owner, that is a good reason to think about what customers can learn about you before they arrive.
More of the research can happen inside the answer
AI gives people a way to describe their situation in detail and keep asking questions as they work out what matters. A search can become a conversation about the decision itself.
There is evidence that people are bringing this behaviour into shopping. Adobe’s July 2026 survey of more than 5,000 U.S. respondents found that 42% had used AI assistants for online shopping. The survey does not tell us how often they used them. [2]
Pew Research Center also examined AI summaries within Google. In its study of browsing by 900 U.S. adults in March 2025, traditional results received clicks in 8% of visits associated with an AI summary, compared with 15% without one. That comparison does not establish cause and effect. [3]
Meanwhile, Google reported continued growth in search queries in its July 2026 earnings remarks. AI use and overall search activity can grow together. Fewer clicks on a particular kind of result do not necessarily mean fewer searches. [4]
For businesses, the useful distinction is between someone researching a purchase and someone visiting a website. An AI conversation can handle part of the research that would otherwise involve opening and comparing several websites.
Your first impression may be a summary
On your own website, you decide what comes first. You can lead with your strongest project, show your personality and explain your approach in the order you choose.
In the shop owner’s AI conversation, the first impression might be a few sentences about your experience and whether you seem suitable. The customer may ask for a comparison before seeing your homepage at all.
That creates a practical question: what would you want that short introduction to say, and where could someone find evidence for it?
Your website is only part of the picture. I would also check how the business is described in public listings and customer reviews.
You cannot control every summary of your business. You can take responsibility for the information you publish.
Vague promises give people little to compare
Consider these two hypothetical service descriptions:
We create innovative digital experiences for ambitious businesses.
We improve WooCommerce stores, including checkout fixes, payment integrations and ongoing maintenance.
For the shop owner in our example, the second sentence answers an immediate question about suitability. It names the work they need done.
The first could describe almost any digital agency. It gives the reader very little help choosing one.
I would apply that test across a business website. Could a prospective customer explain what you do after reading the page? Could they tell whether their problem is something you handle? Which claims can they actually check?
What I would improve on a business website
Describe the work in terms customers recognise
Start with the situations that bring people to you. A customer might need an existing website repaired, an internal dashboard made easier to use or a store that works properly on mobile. Explain which of those problems you solve and what the work involves. Give each substantial service enough space to make sense.
Give project examples some context
A screenshot shows how something looks. Add the problem, your contribution and what changed. For a developer, explaining a complicated form or a payment integration can be more useful than another device mockup. Use measurable results where you have them. A clear account of the work is still worthwhile when you do not have a percentage to attach to it.
Answer the questions that come before an enquiry
Think about what someone needs to know before contacting you. Do you take over existing projects? What affects the price? What happens after launch? Explain your process and any meaningful limits. Where a fixed price would be misleading, describe what determines the estimate. The aim is to help a suitable customer recognise that a conversation with you would be useful.
Make the important information accessible
Google’s guidance for its AI search features still points to familiar foundations: accessible text, internal links and pages that can be crawled and indexed. It also recommends keeping business information current and making structured data match the visible page. Google does not require a special AI text file or special schema to appear in these features, and inclusion is not guaranteed. [1]
My practical starting point would be to check that your essential service information is available as readable page content. Keep the visual personality of the site, and give people a clear explanation they can use alongside it.
Look beyond the traffic total
Visits still matter, particularly when your business depends on enquiries or sales through the website. I would look at those outcomes alongside the visitor count.
Ask new customers how they found you. Check referrals from AI services where your analytics can identify them. Someone might first discover your name in an assistant, then search for you separately or type your address directly. In that situation, the final visit will only reveal part of the journey.
You can also try a few realistic customer questions in an assistant that searches the web. Check which sources it uses and whether the information about your business is accurate. Use that exercise to find missing or unclear information. One answer cannot tell you how often your business appears in everyone else’s conversations.
Give people a reason to choose you
I still want a website to look good and feel good to use. It should also give someone enough information to decide whether the business behind it can help.
AI adds another reason to take that content seriously. A potential customer may encounter the explanation through a conversation before they encounter the design.
Start with one service page. Think about the questions a good customer would ask before getting in touch, and make sure the answers are there. If you keep explaining the same thing in introductory emails, give it a place on the website.
Sources
[1] Google Search Central — AI features and your website
[2] Adobe Digital Insights — AI Traffic Trends Report, August 2026
[4] Google — Alphabet earnings call Q2 2026, July 22, 2026
Turning search visits into useful next steps?
Useful content needs a clear website behind it. I can help improve page structure, performance and the path from an article to your services, products or enquiry form.
