Is your business ready for AI search?

The shift towards AI-powered search is changing how businesses compete for customers online, with City of Moreton Bay operators being urged to review whether their websites provide enough information to be found and understood.

Web-Sta Web Design founder Karen Ahl said traditional Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO, remained important, but the way customers searched was evolving.

Generic searches such as “pest control North Lakes” remained relevant on Google and Bing, but Karen said people were increasingly using longer, conversational questions through AI platforms.

“Users are treating AI literally as an answer engine, hence the new term AEO,” Karen said.

Answer Engine Optimisation, or AEO, focuses on making online information clear and useful for AI-powered search tools responding to customer questions.

Karen said businesses that relied on their websites to generate enquiries could not afford to ignore the shift, even if they were reluctant to embrace AI.

“Websites that once enjoyed a lot of organic traffic risk losing some of that to AI,” she said.

Business owners can also conduct a basic check of what AI platforms know about their business without specialist software.

Does AI know your business?

Karen suggests asking an AI platform these four questions:

• Brand test: “What can you tell me about [Business Name] in [Suburb]?”
• Service test: “What services does [Business Name] offer?”
• Local discovery test: “Who provides [service] in [suburb]?”
• Recommendation test: “Recommend [service providers] around [location].”

If the responses are unclear or inaccurate, Karen recommends checking whether the business’s website and other online profiles are current and clearly communicate its services.

Karen said websites should explain what a business does, where it operates, who it serves and, where appropriate, what it charges. FAQs, detailed product descriptions, reviews, case studies, industry memberships and licences can also provide trust signals.

Three things businesses can do now

1. Ask for Google reviews regularly. Encourage satisfied customers to share their experience.
2. Check your details everywhere. Keep contact details, addresses and services consistent across your website, social media and other online profiles.
3. Build a comprehensive FAQ page. Answer the questions customers commonly ask about your products, services, process and pricing.

“Doing nothing is the worst thing you can do,” Karen said.

“Prospective customers want and deserve answers and AI is making it easier to search, compare and choose from businesses who are making the effort to offer those answers.”

For City of Moreton Bay businesses, online visibility is increasingly about more than securing a high Google ranking. Businesses also need to make it easy for customers, search engines and AI platforms to understand who they are, what they offer and where they operate.