AI search is here: how to keep your website in the answers

AI search is now part of how a lot of people look things up. Instead of a list of ten links, they get a written answer with a few sources attached, and they may never scroll past it.

The numbers are large. In July 2026, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said Google had brought AI Overviews and AI Mode together into one Search experience, and that AI Mode had passed 1 billion monthly active users since expanding globally the previous October. He also said the Gemini app had 950 million monthly active users (Google blog). In February 2026, OpenAI said ChatGPT had reached 900 million weekly active users (TechCrunch).

These tools aren't only for trivia. People ask them who to call for a roof leak, which HVAC company services their area or what a repair should involve.

• Google AI Overviews and AI Mode. AI-written answers at the top of Google Search, with links to supporting pages. AI Mode handles longer, follow-up style conversations.
• ChatGPT search. OpenAI launched ChatGPT search in October 2024 to give timely answers with links to web sources.
• Perplexity. An answer engine built around search, which shows the sources it drew from alongside its answers.
• Microsoft Copilot. Copilot Search in Bing blends regular results with AI summaries and, according to Microsoft, clearly cited sources.
• Gemini. Google's AI assistant app, which can pull in information from the web when answering.

Each tool works a little differently, but they share one habit: they look for trustworthy pages that answer the question clearly, then cite them.

When an AI answer appears, fewer people click through to websites. A Pew Research Center study of 900 U.S. adults' browsing in March 2025 found that people who saw a Google AI summary clicked a regular search result in 8% of visits, compared with 15% when no summary appeared. They clicked a link inside the summary in just 1% of visits.

That means two things. First, being one of the sources an AI answer cites matters more than it used to, because that's where attention goes. Second, the visitors who do click are often further along and ready to call. Your site has to make it easy for both the AI and the person to understand who you are, what you do and where you work.

Google says it is still sending billions of clicks to websites every week through its AI features, so websites haven't stopped mattering. The bar for being chosen has just gone up.

No AI company publishes a full recipe, and nobody can guarantee you'll be cited. But Google is fairly direct about its own AI features. Its guide to AI features and your website says:

• There are no special requirements or tricks to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. The same SEO basics apply.
• To be shown as a supporting link, a page must be indexed and eligible to appear in Google Search with a snippet.
• These features may use "query fan-out," running several related searches on subtopics to find supporting pages. A site that covers each of your services and service areas on its own clear page gives them more to find.
• Structured data isn't required, but it should match the visible text on the page.

In practice, the pages that get cited tend to answer a specific question plainly, come from a business that looks legitimate and consistent across the web, and are easy for a crawler to read.

• Answers up front. Each page opens with a short, direct answer to its main question, then gives details and FAQs. That's the core of AEO, or answer engine optimization.
• Structured data. Schema.org JSON-LD on every page describes your business, services and FAQs in a format machines read reliably, and I keep it matched to the visible text.
• Clean, crawlable pages. Fast, hand-written HTML with real headings, clean URLs and an XML sitemap, so crawlers can read your content without fighting through builder code.
• Service and area pages. Separate pages for what you do and where you do it, which I cover on local SEO.
• An llms.txt file. More on that below.

An llms.txt file is a short, plain-text summary of your website, placed at /llms.txt, that tells AI tools what your site is about and which pages matter most. It was proposed by technologist Jeremy Howard as a way to give language models a clean version of a site's content.

Here's the honest part: llms.txt is an emerging proposal, not an official standard and not a confirmed ranking factor. Google says you don't need to create new machine-readable files or AI text files to appear in its AI features. I include one on every site because it takes little effort, does no harm and may be read by some AI tools. I don't sell it as a shortcut, and you shouldn't trust anyone who does.

AI answers about local businesses draw on more than your website. Your Google Business Profile, reviews and directory listings all feed the picture.

Google's guide to improving your local ranking says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, that businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up, and that reviews and helpful replies can help a business stand out.

• Keep your profile complete. Services, hours, photos and posts. See Google Business Profile management.
• Earn and answer reviews. See reputation management.
• Stay consistent. Your business name, phone number and service areas should match on your website, your profile and every directory listing. Mismatches make it harder for any system to be confident about who you are.

If you want help getting all of this lined up, call or text me at 480-550-2871.