How AI Continues To Change The Way Consumers Discover Businesses Online

AI search is extremely popular, and it has changed the way consumers use the internet. Instead of Googling something the traditional way - and then deciding which websites to click on - users turn to various AI tools to begin their search journey. It’s still not quite nudged Google as the number one search source online, but there are some undeniable changes to the ways in which consumers look for and discover businesses.

Whether this is for better or worse remains to be seen; the important consideration is that startups and all businesses understand what these changes are and the impact they can have on marketing strategies.

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Consumers Ask More Questions

When you look at the traditional approach to discovering businesses online, consumers would normally type in a few keywords like “best restaurants near me.” This would throw up the local search results on a map with the most relevant businesses shown. Of course, it would also involve a good local and traditional SEO strategy, but there’s been a shift in the way people start these types of searches.

Rather than relying on keywords or phrases, consumers turn to AI and ask more conversational questions. Instead of “best x near me”, prompts could look like this:

• Can you recommend the best restaurants in my area that cater to a vegan diet?
• Are there any good local Italian restaurants in London?
• Find me some hidden gem local restaurants near me

Consumers are adding more context to their queries, and this completely changes the way that businesses are discovered. There’s less of a keyword focus and more emphasis on ensuring that your business can answer these specific questions through its online presence.

Reputation Becomes More Important

Because consumers use AI to question things or ask for advice, there’s a slightly different algorithm at play that determines which businesses are mentioned in the AI responses. The traditional tactics you’ve been deploying for SEO might not work as effectively anymore. To appear high up in search engine results, you need to focus a lot of effort on making your website easy to use, easily searchable, and providing content that fits keywords.

Appearing in AI search results or getting referenced by AI chatbots in their answers requires a different approach. One AI SEO agency notes that reputation becomes the most critical factor for AI searches. AI platforms will prioritise sources from reputable companies that they can trust - and this means that businesses need to focus on building a better online reputation.

Things like generating lots of positive online reviews, getting mentions in traditional media, and being listed in local business directories can all contribute.

The Need For Website Clicks Diminishes

Rewind ten or twenty years ago, and it would sound absurd to tell budding startups that the need for website clicks isn’t that important anymore. Of course, even with AI search, the final goal is to get consumers to complete an action, and that may involve clicking on your website to buy products, make bookings, subscribe, etc.

The key point here is that AI has altered how people find and take in information online. There’s no need to ask Google a question and then scroll through the results so you can click on websites and read their content. Instead, it’s all about the idea of zero-click searches, which provide the consumer with all the information they need without getting them to click on multiple websites.

People find the answers to their queries through Google AI Overviews - or by asking an AI chatbot platform. It means that marketing strategies no longer need to be built around web traffic as a key metric. You may receive a fraction of the traffic that you once got, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s more about focusing on the conversion rates of your traffic and trying to get your website referenced by AI responses.

Visual Search Grows In Prominence

The idea of visual search has been around for several years, but it’s only really gaining a reputation due to the developments in AI technology. Consumers can now open their phone cameras to take pictures of things and then run a Google search of that specific image. Research shows that 36% of consumers are now doing this when shopping online, as opposed to the traditional way of typing in search queries.

How does AI fit into this? AI technology enables visual search to function better. It empowers tools like Google Lens - or ChatGPT - to analyse visual images and provide better context. You can take a screenshot of a jacket that you’ve seen someone wear online, and AI can analyse that image, detect the item of clothing, and then point you right to the websites that sell that product.

For businesses, this means that the visual elements of a marketing strategy are more important than ever. You need good-quality imagery from lots of different angles so AI tools can match your image to any images that people are uploading as part of their search.

Your Online Presence Is Less About Search Rankings

When you bundle all of the changes that AI has made to consumer discovery, the underlying theme is that your online presence is less dependent on search rankings. Is traditional SEO no longer important? Of course not. It is still necessary for the consumers who do still search for things in the more traditional way. For example, most consumers are still likely to search for typical retail products using Google because it’s less of a conversational topic. You can ask ChatGPT to recommend restaurants or to find things for you to do, but you wouldn’t really ask it to suggest some clothing to wear.

SEO and search rankings still matter, but they’re no longer the prime directive for every business. Companies need to focus on developing a better AI search presence at the same time, and that involves making content that answers questions, while also building your brand as a trustworthy source of information.

Technological changes always come around and influence the way that consumers conduct themselves, and artificial intelligence is no different. It’s all about learning how to adapt so your business isn’t left behind.