⚡ QUICK SUMMARY
Customers now ask ChatGPT and Perplexity for business recommendations instead of scrolling Google results. AI search optimization (AEO) is the new skill your business needs. A company called Profound just raised $96 million to help brands show up inside AI answers. Here is what this means for your business - and what to do about it today.
Something big just shifted in how customers find businesses. And most business owners have no idea it happened.
For years, the game was simple. You ranked on Google. Customers clicked your link. You got the call. That system still works - but a new layer just showed up on top of it. Customers are now asking AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's own AI Overviews for answers. And those AI tools are picking favorites.
The question is: is your business one of those favorites?
What Is AI Search Optimization?
AI search optimization goes by a few names right now. You might hear AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) or GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). They mean the same thing: making your business show up when AI tools answer customer questions.
This is different from regular SEO. With SEO, you want your website to rank in a list of search results. With AEO, you want your business to be quoted inside the AI's answer . The customer never sees a list. They see one answer - and your business is either in it or it is not.
| OLD WAY - SEO Rank in a list Customers scroll through ten blue links and pick one |
NEW WAY - AEO Get quoted by AI AI gives one answer and your business is either in it or invisible |
Why This Matters Right Now
This week, a company called Profound raised $96 million from some of the biggest investors in tech - Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, and Kleiner Perkins. Profound helps brands track whether AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity are recommending them. Target, Walmart, and Charlotte Tilbury already use it.
That is serious money chasing a simple idea: brands need to know if AI is talking about them. And if it is not, they need to fix that fast.
$96M
Raised by Profound for AI search tracking
Series C led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, July 2026
At the same time, a platform called CiteLens just launched a tool that tracks your brand's visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews. And Alli AI released a WordPress plugin that makes your website visible to over 50 AI crawlers - the bots that feed content to these AI systems.
The market is moving fast. If you are still only thinking about Google rankings, you are already behind.
How AI Search Affects Local Businesses
Think about how your customers search right now. Someone needs a plumber at 9 PM. They used to type "plumber near me" into Google. Now some of them are asking ChatGPT: "Who is the best plumber in Springfield that is available tonight?"
ChatGPT does not show a list of ten options. It gives one or two names - and a reason why. If your business has strong reviews, clear services on your website, and good information online, you have a shot at being that name. If your online presence is thin, you are invisible.
| 🔍 ChatGPT and Perplexity Give direct business recommendations based on web content they have crawled |
🤖 Google AI Overviews Show AI-written summaries at the top of Google results before any links |
| 💬 Claude and Gemini Growing fast as people use them for local research and service comparisons |
📱 Voice Assistants Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant pull from AI search to answer questions out loud |
Five Things You Can Do This Week
You do not need to hire an AI consultant or buy expensive software. These five steps will make your business more visible to AI tools right now.
1 Answer questions on your website
Add an FAQ section to your main pages. Write clear, short answers to the questions your customers actually ask. AI tools love pulling from FAQ sections because the format is clean and easy to quote.
2 Keep your Google Business Profile updated
AI tools cross-check your website with your Google Business Profile. Make sure your hours, services, service area, and contact info are current. Old or missing info makes AI tools skip you.
3 Get more reviews with real detail
AI tools read your reviews. A review that says "Great plumber, fixed our water heater same day" gives the AI a reason to recommend you. Ask happy customers to mention the specific service they got.
4 Write content that answers, not just sells
AI tools skip sales pitches. They look for useful, factual content. Write blog posts and service pages that explain things clearly. "How much does a new AC unit cost in 2026?" beats "We are the best HVAC company in town."
5 Update your content every 90 days
AI tools prefer fresh information. If your website has not been updated in a year, the AI will quote someone else. Set a reminder to refresh your key pages every quarter with new stats, prices, or tips.
💡 Pro Tip
Test it yourself. Open ChatGPT or Perplexity and ask: "Who is the best [your service] in [your city]?" See what comes up. If you are not there, now you know why - and you know what to fix.
The Bottom Line
SEO is not dead. Google rankings still matter. But a new layer just landed on top of it, and it is growing fast. AI tools are answering customer questions right now - and they are picking which businesses to recommend.
The businesses that show up in those AI answers will get the calls. The ones that do not will wonder where their leads went. The good news is that the things AI tools look for - clear content, strong reviews, updated info - are the same things that make your whole online presence stronger.
You do not need to panic. You just need to start.
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Written for contractors, not marketers. What is working in local search and AI right now, in five minutes. No fluff, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
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