AI Is Changing Search Engines—Here’s Why That Matters for You

Dive deep into AI, SEO, and the Future of Being Found for Service-Based Businesses

“​​Unlike in the past, where SEO was primarily about matching keywords, modern search algorithms focus on understanding the meaning behind queries. This shift means that businesses need to create content that provides real answers and value, not just check a box for keywords.” – Forbes

Thanks to Artificial Intelligence (AI), the way people are searching for services on the internet is evolving faster than ever before. Now that AI Overviews (AIOs) are becoming more and more commonplace, the majority of people are simply reading what the AIOs say, rather than clicking into an actual website for more information. 

In this way, AI is becoming more ingrained in our search and answer process. It is not only affecting the answers that we see, but the way that we initiate our searches. According to Backlinko, only 9% of Google searchers make it to the bottom of the first page of results. This means that if you are not showing up near the top of the page, hardly anyone is going to find you. 

The Rise in Voice Search

Traditionally, searching the internet meant typing a query into a search bar. However, we now have many different ways to search the internet using voice search, including using our smartphones, asking questions while driving, and talking to Alexa devices. 

Voice Searches are no longer the minority – it is estimated that over one billion voice searches are made each month. Voice Searches rely on both Local SEO and AI to help complete those searches.

Getting your business to show up in voice search results may take some tweaking, but as long as you are following all the standard SEO practices, you are in a great position to be found.

It all starts with your content. Be sure you are writing content that is meant to be read for humans – not just for robots and AI crawlers. For blog articles, make sure your blogs include short and targeted introductions and quotable sentences. Blog posts should also be succinct and focused on the topic.

Be sure to include well written FAQs that help answer questions about your business. The question-answer format perfectly mirrors how people ask and receive info while using voice search. The more conversational your FAQs are, the better they will perform as well.

It is highly important that your business information is consistent across all channels, including your website, social media platforms, and online directories including Google Business Profile and Bing Places. This means that your NAP – Name, Address, and Phone Number – needs to be listed the same everywhere they show up online. If you have any inconsistencies in your information, including your business hours, search engines won’t be confident in what information is correct. These inconsistencies could be costing you business, especially if your competition is being provided to potential customers over your own.

Finally, in terms of schema, there are several schema types that are helpful to set up to help those using voice search find your content. For those with products, the product schema helps to highlight specific products. The more specific the title and description, the better. You should also be utilizing FAQ schema as another way to highlight your most important questions and answers. The HowTo schema is great for step-by-step guides such as instructions or recipes. This format works well with voice as it is structured and easy to read aloud. Then, the LocalBusiness schema helps search engines learn all about your business, including your hours location, phone number, and more. While there are many more types of schemas, these four can really help search engines relay your information back to the searcher.

All About AIOs

At the beginning of 2025, we wrote a blog post about how AI Overviews are changing Zero-Click Content. Of course, AI Overviews are just one type of Zero-Click Content, although nowadays it is by far the most prominent.  

When it comes to Zero-Click Content and AIOs, the challenge has always been to determine how people learn about you if the answer is found right on the search results page. According to PEW research, the vast majority of the time, the AIOs pull information from Wikipedia, Reddit, or YouTube. In other words, Google is more likely to pull from a bigger, more trusted source, than from smaller websites, even if the information on your website is better than the other sources. And even if you are used as the source, the chances of someone clicking into your website is still quite low.

While this may be discouraging, the worst thing you could do is to stop posting content. Instead, you need to be posting more authoritative content. You should be utilizing as many channels as possible as well, including your website, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and even sources like Reddit and Quora. By consistently posting well-written and informative articles, both AI and real people will start to recognize you as a trusted source. By doing this, you will become a thought leader in your industry. 

It is also important to ensure your SEO is optimized on certain pages of your website. These include your service pages and FAQ pages. Ensure that these pages are informative and easy to read. A well-designed layout also helps readers digest your content, so consider using bullet points and short paragraphs. You should also consider using video to help people learn about your services and the results they provide. Because, at the end of the day, while people are looking for a specific service, the end goal will always be the outcome of what the service provides.

While AIOs have become quite prominent, there are many instances where an AIO is not generated, such as when someone is searching for a specific service, like a dentist or a plumber. While AIOs can help with a specific issue, your local businesses are still the best place to go when you need a service. This means that if you are a service-based business, you have a better chance at standing out simply for this reason. So, take advantage of this by becoming a thought leader in your industry. The good news is that your customers are not going away. As long as you keep up with the latest trends and take the time to review your content and messaging, you will continue to stand out in your industry. 

Become a Thought Leader

Nowadays, one of the best ways to stand out from the competition and from all the noise is to become a thought leader. There are several ways to do this, and all do not involve you showing your face and speaking on camera. There are many ways to showcase your offerings by using voice or text that is overlaid over an informative video. 

Either way, whatever method you choose to use, be sure you are posting consistent, informative content that your audience wants to consume. A consistent schedule helps to ensure people are coming back at regular intervals.