The Impact of AI on Search
Posted by: kaycie
With the ever evolving landscape of digital marketing, artificial intelligence (AI) is recently emerging as a transformative force, reshaping how businesses need to approach search engine optimization (SEO). AI-powered tools, such as ChatGPT, have significantly influenced the way users interact with search engines and how businesses need to optimize their online presence and this includes local search strategies.
AI’s Role in Search
AI models like ChatGPT, provide answers to queries like “best piano tuner near me” by analyzing vast amounts of data. But can these AI platforms get the data wrong? First lets understand what data is used.
What Algorithms Consider in “Best of” or “Top” Local Searches
When AI models or search engines serve up results for phrases like “best business attorney in Mesa, AZ” or “top sushi restaurants near me,” they rely on a combination of data points and signals to determine which businesses are most relevant and authoritative. These typically include:
- Review volume, ratings, and actual review content
- Reputation across the web
- Business proximity and relevance
- Website content
- Engagement metrics
- Google Business Profile completeness
- Social media activity
- Brand mentions on Reddit
Each factor contributes to the overall ranking, but the formula is not public and not perfect.
To level the playing field, businesses must take control of their digital presence. Here’s a to-do list:
- Claim and complete all major listings (Google, Yelp, Facebook, etc.)
- Ask customers for reviews
- Post regularly on social media, add photos to business profiles, and add FAQ’s to your website
- Ensure that address, hours, and contact details are consistent across the web
- Use schema markup and location signals on your website
Even with these efforts, it’s essential to understand that visibility in AI-driven “best of” lists isn’t always a reflection of actual quality—it’s a reflection of digital signals. And those signals can be managed, but not fully controlled.
While AI models aim to provide fast, helpful local business recommendations, the reliability of these results can vary widely depending on how current, complete, and visible the underlying data is.
AI favors businesses with digital footprints: frequent posts, schema markup, mobile-friendly websites, and high-profile backlinks. Many small businesses simply don’t have the resources to maintain this level of online engagement, which means they can be overlooked entirely, even if they outperform competitors in real life. That is where we can help. We provide assistance with all of these tasks and can monitor results to see how effective they are.
Conclusion: AI Has Changed Search
AI has dramatically changed how local business recommendations are delivered, offering a more conversational and context-aware experience. However, this shift also exposes gaps in reliability—especially for lesser-known or underrepresented businesses.
While AI and search engines attempt to surface the “best” options, the reality is that great businesses are still being missed due to digital blind spots. Location inaccuracies, outdated contact info, and algorithmic preferences for high-volume data, including what appears to be AI errors, can all lead to misleading results.
For users, it’s a reminder to dig a little deeper than the first AI-generated list. For businesses, it’s a call to action to take control of their digital footprint—because the difference between being found and being forgotten increasingly comes down to what the algorithms can (and can’t) see.