Loader
Ruckus Advertising & Events

Digital3 min read

Fewer Clicks, More Answers: How to Get Your Brand Into AI Search

Search hasn’t gone away. It has started answering for people. Here’s how to make sure the answer mentions your brand.

Share
An AI answer card that names one brand, with ordinary search links fading below it

Ask Google a question today and there’s a good chance you’ll read an AI-written summary before you see a single link. Ask ChatGPT or Gemini and you might not see a link at all.

For businesses, that changes the question. It’s no longer just “do we rank?” It’s “when someone asks about what we do, does the answer mention us?”

What has actually changed

Pew Research Centre tracked the real browsing of 900 US adults. When Google showed an AI summary, people clicked a regular search result on 9% of visits, against 25% when there was no summary. Only 1% of visits included a click on a link inside the summary itself.

So fewer people reach your website from search. But the brands named in the answer still get seen — by everyone who reads it.

What Google says still works

Google’s own advice for its AI features is refreshingly unexciting: focus on unique, valuable content for people, make sure Google can crawl and index your pages, and keep your structured data in line with what’s actually on the page. There’s no secret “AI SEO” trick.

  1. Answer the questions people actually ask. Prices, timelines, comparisons, “is this right for me?” — answer them in plain language, with the answer near the top of the page.
  2. Say something only you can say. AI tools summarise what already exists. Original data, real examples and a clear point of view give them a reason to use you.
  3. Keep your facts identical everywhere. Your name, services, location and contact details should match across your website, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn and directories. Google also asks businesses to keep Business Profile information up to date.
  4. Make your site easy to read — for people and machines. Fast pages, clear headings, content Google can crawl, and structured data that matches the page. If a page can’t be read, it can’t be used.
  5. Get mentioned where your customers look. Reviews, industry publications, partner pages and the press all help show that you’re a credible answer.
  6. Measure what matters. Track enquiries, calls and sign-ups, not just clicks. Google says visits from its AI results tend to be higher quality, so value each visit, not only the count.

The one thing to remember

Search isn’t fading — it’s evolving into a filter. The brands that win will be the clearest, most useful answers to the questions their customers are already asking.

Want to know what AI tools say when someone asks about your category? That’s the first thing our SEO team checks. Let’s talk.