Something has shifted in the way people look things up. For most of the internet's existence, searching meant typing a phrase into a box, receiving a list of links, and clicking through to read whatever the most promising result had to say. That habit — formed over decades, reinforced by hundreds of daily searches — is beginning to change. Millions of people now type a question into an AI tool and receive a written answer directly, composed on the spot from the content of many websites, without ever visiting any of them.
The tools doing this in 2026 are Perplexity, ChatGPT with web browsing enabled, Google's AI Overviews (which appear at the top of regular search results), and Microsoft Copilot, which is built into Bing. Each operates slightly differently, but all of them share the same basic action: reading web content on your behalf and presenting you with a synthesised answer.
Does This Mean Fewer People Visit Websites?
For some kinds of search, the answer is yes. Simple factual questions — opening hours, rough costs, basic definitions — are exactly the kind of thing an AI tool can answer without sending you anywhere. Research from early 2026 suggests that click-through rates from Google searches have declined for these informational queries. But they remain high for local and transactional searches: "plumber near me", "book a table", "buy running shoes online". The search that ends in someone hiring you still largely ends in a website visit.
How much this matters depends almost entirely on what kind of business you run. A local service business — a cleaning company, a builder, a childminder — draws most of its search traffic from people who want to hire someone, not people looking for a general explanation of something. AI tools are not yet reliably substituting for that kind of intent. People still want to read your reviews, see your work, and feel confident enough to call you. If you run a business built on advice — a solicitor, a nutritionist, a financial planner — more of your traffic may migrate toward AI-generated answers over time. But even then, the person who reads an AI summary and decides they want professional help still needs to find someone to hire.
How Do AI Tools Decide Which Websites to Cite?
AI search tools do not have their own opinions. They draw from websites that have already been indexed by Google and other search engines, and they tend to cite pages that are well-written, clearly structured, and authoritative on their topic. In practice, this means the websites most likely to be cited by AI tools are the same ones that already rank well in traditional Google search.
A few things specifically help AI tools understand and cite your content:
- Clear, direct language. AI tools quote websites that answer questions plainly. If your website uses vague marketing language — "solutions-driven synergies" — rather than plain descriptions of what you actually do, it is harder for AI to extract useful information.
- Specific, accurate information. Prices, locations, qualifications, and concrete details are more likely to be cited than general claims. If you are a plumber covering South Manchester, say so explicitly.
- Structured content. Pages with clear headings, short paragraphs, and logical organisation are easier for AI tools to parse and quote from.
- A good reputation. AI tools draw from pages that Google already trusts. Building genuine backlinks and getting mentioned on reputable local websites still matters.
The websites AI tools cite are the same ones that rank well in traditional search — clear, specific, and genuinely helpful.
Should You Create Content Specifically for AI Search?
The short answer is no — not in the sense of writing differently or gaming any system. The content that works best for AI search is simply good content: accurate, specific, well-organised, and written for a human reader. AI tools are trained to recognise and ignore keyword stuffing, thin content, and pages that say a lot without communicating anything useful.
What you can do is make sure your website has clear, factual information about what you do, where you work, who you are, and how much things cost. If you have a FAQ section — real questions your customers actually ask — that is exactly the kind of content AI tools pull from when building their answers. Writing helpful answers to common questions in your field is the single most effective thing a small business can do to stay visible in an AI search world.
What About Google's AI Overviews Specifically?
Google AI Overviews are the AI-generated summaries that appear at the very top of some Google search results, above all the blue links. They are distinct from Perplexity or ChatGPT — they are Google's own feature, inside the regular Google results page. We covered these in more depth in Thought 028, but the short version is: they are more common for informational searches than for local or commercial ones, and the best way to appear in them is to have a well-structured, authoritative website that already ranks well.
The Honest Reality for Most Small Businesses
AI search is a genuine shift in how people use the internet, but it is not an emergency for most small business owners in 2026. Local businesses, tradespeople, and service providers still get the majority of their website traffic from people who want to hire someone — not just get a quick answer. The fundamentals of a good website — clear information, fast loading, easy to contact, visible on Google — remain as important as ever.
The best thing you can do is focus on having a website that genuinely represents your business well and answers the questions your customers are actually asking. If you do that, you are already in a good position for both traditional and AI-powered search.