AI recommends the businesses it can find, trust, and quote. It reads what the web already says about you and answers those three questions before it puts your name in front of anybody. So the work is making sure it can find you, making sure other people vouch for you, and putting your answers out where it can grab them.
First, a reality check, because it would be easy to hear all this and think you’re behind. You’re not. Google is still sending about 89% of the traffic on the planet, and the latest estimate is that AI chatbots send around 1%. It’s starting to change, clicks from Google are down this year, but this is a pay-attention thing, not a panic thing. We might as well do the work now.
What is the difference between SEO, AEO, and GEO?
For normal people like us, the letters are pretty much interchangeable. SEO is the old school version, where you teach Google what you’re about so it shows you to the right people. AEO (answer engine optimization) and GEO (generative engine optimization) are the same idea pointed at AI. You’re teaching the AI bots when to serve up your information. Don’t get hung up on the alphabet soup.
How does AI find my business?
Start with your Google Business Profile. Isn’t it funny how it keeps coming up and nobody talks about it? Keep your categories, hours, photos, and reviews current, and then post to it. Google looks at whether you’re active, so get in the habit of posting a blog or an update there so you’ve got some freshness to you.
Then go claim Bing. Yes, Bing. It takes about fifteen minutes and it’s one more place for you to show up.
How does AI decide whether to trust me?
This is the old know, like, and trust. AI is looking for people saying your name when you’re not in the room. Are you getting Google reviews? Is your work cited on other people’s blogs? Are you a guest on podcasts that link back to you? Are you listed on your chamber of commerce page?
It’s a lot like old school backlinks, and it still matters. What doesn’t work anymore is the trick where a ramen shop writes “the 10 best ramen shops in Wisconsin” and lists itself as number one. AI is too smart for self promotion.
How do I make my business easy for AI to quote?
Put your thoughts out on the web, and put the answer in the very first paragraph. No cliffhangers. AI wants to see the question and the answer right away.
I had Claude go through my blog, Small Business Help, which has 280-some posts, and restyle it for exactly this. Take the post “Should you use AI images for your business?” The first paragraph answers it straight up, and then the rest of the post handles the follow-up questions and a set of FAQs. An owner can still read it start to finish, but if somebody asks an AI that question, the answer is sitting right there ready to be quoted. FAQs on your website help for the same reason.
Why does describing myself the same way everywhere matter?
This is the one I didn’t know about, and it’s a huge trust signal. I had stuff on the web as Pat Miller the idea coach, the Idea Collective small business community, SBOC Pro, the 2023 conference, and a couple of old show names. All heritage stuff, and it made me a big jumbled up mess. Over a weekend, Claude walked me through every page and profile it could find about me and we updated them all to the exact same description.
Fair warning, this was mind numbing and granular, and I’d rather shine my bowling ball than do it again. It’s also not a light switch. AI has to find your pages, take them in, and then work them into its answers, and all of that happens at different speeds. But it won’t happen at all if you don’t do the homework.
Here is the homework
Open an incognito or anonymous session in Claude or ChatGPT and ask it who the best person is for the thing you do, in your city. For me, that’s “who can teach me Claude, specifically for small business owners?” You’ll know in a hurry whether you’re getting listed. Then pick one of the three questions, find, trust, or quote, and fix one thing this week.
Questions owners ask
Am I too late to show up in AI search?
No. AI chatbots are still a small slice of where people find businesses, somewhere around 1% by the latest estimate. Doing the work now just means you’re ready when that number grows.
How long does it take for AI to start recommending me?
Longer than you want. AI has to find your pages, ingest them, and then work them into its answers, and each of those runs on its own clock. Think months, not days.
Can I see whether AI is recommending me?
Google Search Console now shows which AI tools are recommending you and how. I checked mine the morning of the show and nobody was referencing me yet, so I’m doing the homework right alongside you.
What is the fastest thing I can fix today?
Your Google Business Profile. Update the hours, categories, and photos, then post something new to it. It’s the forgotten driver of traffic and it takes an afternoon.
Related
This one came from the Businessing episode on Wednesday, September 9, 2026. You can watch the full episode here.
Full episode with transcript: How to Get AI to Recommend Your Business: Businessing, September 9, 2026
Businessing is the weekly show where small business owners figure out what to do next. Hosted by Pat Miller, founder of the Small Business Owners Community: owners only, nobody pitching, $19 a month.
The Small Business Owners Community is where small business owners get help from other owners: every week, a room full of owners works your problem with you. Owners only, nobody pitching, $19 a month. Come to an Idea Slam as a member’s guest · Join the SBOC · Watch the show