Is Your Website Ready for AI Search? Don't Get Left Behind

Imagine a customer in Birmingham searching for exactly what you do. Google does not show them a list of ten websites to choose from. It writes them an answer, names two or three businesses, and the customer picks one.

If your business is not one of the names in that answer, they may never know you exist.

That is not a prediction. It is already happening, and this week I have the screenshots to show it.

In this article

• Search has changed
• What it costs you to ignore it
• See it for yourself
• How I get websites ready for AI search
• The honest bit
• Three quick checks you can do today
• Quick answers
• Do not wait until your competitors have moved first

Search has changed

For twenty years the game was simple. Rank on page one, get the click, win the customer.

Now Google puts an AI written answer at the top of the page. Google said in June 2026 that its AI Overviews have more than 2.5 billion monthly users. People are also asking ChatGPT and other AI tools to recommend local businesses, and those tools read websites to decide who to name.

I wrote about the wider picture in SEO and AI Search in 2026. This post is the practical follow up: what it means for you, and what I am seeing in the real results.

What it costs you to ignore it

The uncomfortable truth is that AI answers only have room for a handful of names. A few years ago you could sit on page two and still pick up the odd enquiry. In an AI answer there is no page two.

If your website is slow, vague or hard for a machine to read, then:

• The AI may not understand what you do, so it names someone else.
• Your competitor gets the call that should have been yours.
• You will not see this in a report. The customer simply never arrives.

Every month a competitor spends making their site easier for Google and AI to understand is a month of enquiries you are quietly losing.

See it for yourself

Two of my most recent websites are showing up in Google’s AI results, in two of the most competitive markets around.

The first is Jamie Gibson Masonry, a Birmingham bricklayer and chimney specialist. I built his site this autumn. When I searched for “specialist bricklayer in birmingham”, Google’s AI Overview listed him first under its top specialist bricklayers.

Google’s AI Overview for “specialist bricklayer in birmingham”.

The second is my own site. Searching “web designer in birmingham” in Google’s AI Mode, I am named first among the freelance specialists, described as building fast, custom coded websites optimised for page speed and AI search.

Google’s AI Mode for “web designer in birmingham”.

Both searches were taken on my own device, so your results may differ depending on where you are and when you look. But in two crowded markets, both sites made it into the answer. I do not think that is luck.

How I get websites ready for AI search

There is no magic trick. It is a set of unglamorous jobs done properly, on every site I build:

• Speed. Fast pages are good for visitors and good for Google. I build with modern tools so pages load almost instantly.
• Plain, clear wording. Each page says what you do, where you do it and who it is for, in language a person (and an AI) can understand straight away.
• Structured data. Hidden labels in the code tell Google exactly who you are, what you offer and where you work, so it does not have to guess.
• Local pages. Dedicated pages for the places you serve, so you show up when someone searches for you in their area.
• A matching Google Business Profile. The same name, address, phone number and services everywhere, so Google trusts what it finds.
• Real reviews and real photos. Evidence that you are a genuine business that does good work.
• A human check. Everything is reviewed by a developer with 20 years of experience before it goes live.

None of this is new. What is new is that it now decides whether an AI names you or your competitor.

The honest bit

I cannot promise you a place in the AI answer. Nobody honestly can. AI search is changing fast, Google does not say exactly how it chooses who to name, and results vary from person to person.

What I can tell you is this. Google’s own guidance says the basics still matter: a fast site, clear content and a trustworthy business. Sites that are easy to read and understand give Google and AI tools the best chance of recommending them. Doing nothing means leaving that to chance, while your competitors may not.

Three quick checks you can do today

1. Search for yourself. Type what you do plus your town into Google, then try AI Mode. Are you named? Who is instead?
2. Ask an AI tool. Ask ChatGPT or Gemini for the best business like yours in your area. Note who it recommends.
3. Test your speed. Put your website into PageSpeed Insights. A slow mobile score is a warning sign.

If you do not like what you find, that is useful information, and it is fixable.

Quick answers

What is AI search optimisation?

It means making your website easy for Google and AI tools to read, trust and recommend. That covers fast pages, clear wording about what you do and where, structured data, a matching Google Business Profile and genuine reviews.

Is AI search optimisation different from SEO?

It builds on SEO rather than replacing it. AI answers still draw on search results, so the fundamentals still matter. The difference is that there are far fewer places in an AI answer than on a page of search results.

Can you guarantee my business will appear in Google’s AI answers?

No, and nobody honestly can. AI search changes quickly and results vary from person to person. What you can do is make your website as clear, fast and trustworthy as possible, which gives you the best chance.

How long does it take to see results?

It varies. A well built site can be picked up within weeks, but it depends on your market, your competition and how well your Google Business Profile and reviews are set up.

Do not wait until your competitors have moved first

The businesses that act early are the ones that get named. The ones that wait tend to find out when the phone stops ringing.

If you would like an honest look at how your website shows up in Google and AI search, I am happy to check it for you. No jargon, no hard sell, and I will tell you plainly what is worth doing and what is not.

Take a look at my website packages, or get in touch by emailing hello@darrenhodson.co.uk or using the contact form.