What AI search means for small business websites
People now ask assistants, not just search engines, where to eat or who to call. Here is how to make sure they can describe you accurately.
More people now ask an AI assistant, or read an AI summary at the top of a search page, before they click anything. The assistant answers with whatever it can confidently find about your business. If your website does not say it clearly, the answer may come from somewhere else, or not at all.
Say the basic facts in plain text
What you do, where you are, when you are open, how to book and how much things cost. Put them on the page as words, not only inside images or PDFs. Assistants and search engines read text far more reliably than pictures of text.
Add structured data
Structured data is a short block of code that labels those facts for machines: your business type, address, opening hours, phone number and services. In our research, 47% of Yorkshire small business websites had none. It is invisible to visitors and takes minutes to add.
Keep it consistent everywhere
Your name, address and phone number should match across your website, Google Business Profile and directories. Conflicting details make an assistant less confident about you.
Answer the questions people actually ask
A short FAQ that answers real questions (do you take walk-ins, is there parking, do you cover my area) gives assistants something specific to quote.
Our free website check now looks for structured data and the other signals assistants rely on, and compares you with what customers expect in your sector.
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