The Growth of AI-Assisted Search

Posted by: David Hall

A posting by SEMRUSH just yesterday gives data on the growth of AI-assisted search. It predicts that AI-assisted search will overtake traditional search in 2028. A survey by Pew research in June reports that 49% of adults are using AI chatbots. While that is helpful information, at Infinity Business Web we like drill down into data like that and learn more about what is actually happening. For example, maybe a certain person uses AI for various situations, but did they use it this time—did they use AI to find our client? That’s a different question, and it will tell us how much we need to emphasize AI optimization for our clients.

To get at this data in the dental side of our business, we developed a tool that measures the frequency at which prospective patients of our clients are using AI-assisted search to find them. We began tracking this in February and learned that, at that time, 5% of searches for our clients used AI. In October, this had grown to 15%. Here’s that data. You can see the growth in spurts:

With this new tool, we are also learning about the questions searchers are asking these AI chatbots. Here’s a sampling of questions asked in the past couple of weeks by patients looking for a dentist:

dental perkins rd garden district
Dentists that accept my insurance
Cosmetic dentist Franklin TN porcelain veneers
Best composite bonding in L.A. plus cleaning and whitening
Dr who treats painful bone growth in lower jaw
Best endodontist San Antonio root canal tooth preservation

The bottom line for me on this is that it is time to start getting serious about this and figuring out how to score with these AI search tools. So that is what we are doing. Here are some takeaways about what we are learning about the differences between traditional search and AI-assisted search:

We can’t ignore traditional search. This isn’t a total overhaul of search principles, but an advancement of them. We need to pay attention to the quality of information we are publishing for our clients and making sure it targets the things customers are searching for. That’s what general SEO is about.
Getting links has been an important goal. That is still a good idea, but just getting mentioned elsewhere on the web will boost your ranking in an AI engine.
Reviews are now of prime importance. When anyone is searching for the best business in any category—best dentist, best therapist, best lawyer, best financial advisor—the AI chatbot is going to go to reviews. So clients need to get reviews and keep getting reviews so that they are current and frequent.
Social media is also important. What people are saying about you on social media, plus what you are saying yourself, matter.
There are some coding enhancements to your website that can make it easier for AI engines to retrieve and categorize the information there.
Credibility is important. Do you have credentials to back up your claim, whatever it is? Does what people are saying about you validate your claim? Do you have awards or other credentials? While you might be able to fake some things with traditional search, that is harder with AI-assisted search.

What Are We Doing to Enhance Your Ranking in AI

We call this Generative Engine Optimization. As we are learning what these AI chatbots are doing, we are refining and updating our tactics. Here is an explanation of what we can do for you today to help you get found by AI.

We have updated our basic SEO services

We have updated them to meet the opportunities that AI offers us. Besides having these new AI tools to search, consumer search behavior is changing. They are getting more specific with the questions they are asking. So we are getting more specific information from our clients about their services, and we are training our writers to be imaginative in creating what are called long-tail search terms for our clients.

Local Search is updated

Our Local Search services have always included reputation management, but now we are paying more attention to reviews, making sure our clients have systems in place for encouraging reviews, and watching the responses to those reviews to make sure they are done in a way that enhances them with AI.

We are offering a new GEO-Enhanced Social Media package

In late August, we had an idea for a way to use social media to affect GEO. We figured this out using our research tools, and I don’t want to give away specifics of that strategy, but I will tell you the results. We have a client who we felt has the credentials to be a contender for being the best dentist and the best cosmetic dentist in his city. He decided to let us test out this social media strategy with his account. When we asked these AI chatbots in August who was the best cosmetic dentist and who was the best dentist in this city, we recorded the results. He wasn’t mentioned in either category by ChatGPT or Gemini. After employing this social media strategy for two months, we checked again at the end of October. After what we had done with his social media accounts, he was mentioned first in both categories by ChatGPT. Gemini also listed him first when we asked for the best cosmetic dentist and mentioned him as ranking for “Elite cosmetic and specialized dentistry” when we asked for the best dentist in that city.

GEO-Enhanced Coding

We are also offering a coding package that makes your website friendlier to AI chatbots. It includes adding a Frequently Asked Questions page or pages on your website which we add to monthly.

We’re viewing this AI revolution as an excited time to be in the internet marketing business. We love the challenge of getting on top of these new technologies.