Is your website ready for how people search now?

For twenty years, "being found online" meant one thing: ranking on Google. That's still important, but the way people search is shifting under our feet, and small business websites need to keep up.

People are asking AI, not just Google

More and more, people don't type "web designer near me" into a search box. They ask an AI assistant (ChatGPT, Google's AI, Perplexity) something like "who's a good freelance designer in the Sutherland Shire?" and get a short, conversational answer that sometimes names specific businesses.

That's a big change. Instead of ten blue links, you get one or two recommendations. If your website isn't built so these AI tools can actually read and understand it, you simply won't be in the conversation.

What "AI-ready" actually means

The good news: being ready for AI search is mostly the same as being good at the fundamentals, done properly.

• Real content in the page, not just pretty visuals. Many AI crawlers don't run the fancy interactive code; they read the plain text. Your services, your areas, your story need to be there in words.
• Clear structure. Headings, descriptions and behind-the-scenes "structured data" that spells out who you are, what you do and where.
• Fast, modern, mobile-friendly. Slow sites get skipped by people and machines.

It's not magic, it's a foundation

Being readable by AI doesn't guarantee you'll be recommended overnight. Like Google, the tools favour businesses with genuine substance, good reviews and a real reputation built over time. But if your site isn't even legible to them, none of that can help you.

Where this leaves small businesses

The businesses that win the next few years won't necessarily be the biggest. They'll be the ones whose websites are built thoughtfully, with clear content and modern foundations, so both customers and AI can find and understand them.

That's exactly how I build websites now: fast, clean and structured so they work for how people actually search today, not how they searched in 2015. If your current site is starting to feel dated, it might be quietly holding you back. It's worth a look.