In this week’s episode of Local Search Tuesdays, I’m diving into a big problem I’ve been seeing lately—businesses dropping the ball on traditional SEO because they’re chasing AI search results. Look, I’m not anti-AI. I use ChatGPT and follow the changes just like everyone else. But here’s the deal: AI search still isn’t where it needs to be for local results, and most people are still finding businesses through Google.

So yeah, keep an eye on AI, but don’t abandon what’s working. SEO is still where the bulk of your leads are coming from. Tune in and I’ll explain why the shiny new thing shouldn’t distract you from the basics that are still crushing it today.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Welcome back to another episode of Local Search Tuesdays. Today, I’m talking about a big problem many businesses are facing: The’re ignoring traditional SEO and instead concentrating on trying to show up in AI search results.

I don’t want you to think I’m one of those old fuddy duddy marketers who’s completely resisting the changes that AI is brining to digital marketing. Search is already changing drastically, and as the AI systems get better, things will only change more.

The mistake that many businesses are making right now is that they’re seeing so much about optimizing for AI systems that they’re already pivoting and ignoring SEO. Many of them are using ChatGPT and other AI search systems all the time, so they make the assumption that their customers are doing the same thing.

In many cases, they’re being distracted by the new shiny object  that everyone is talking about. Is it important to pay attention to? Sure, but you shouldn’t stop doing what’s working today and put all your eggs in the future basket.

The AI systems have been around for a bit, but they still haven’t been able to crack the nut on local searches. There’s still too much hallucination and bad info, so local intent searches don’t see anywhere near as much AI-powered or AI-influenced search volume as other areas.

Plus, look at the research. ChatGPT accounts for nearly 40% of all LLM use, but even when you combine all of the AI systems, use rates are still only about 1% of the search volume that Google is still getting.

I’m not saying you won’t be getting mentioned in LLM results. I’m not saying you won’t be getting leads from ChatGPT. I’m not saying that you should ignore the AI systems. You absolutely should be paying attention to how your customers are changing their search behavior so that you can pivot and still be found in the future. I’m just saying that if you’re a local business, the vast majority of the potential customers out there are still looking for you on Google - which means the leads for most of your business will come from SEO.

So don’t get so distracted by all the buzz around AI search that you stop doing what’s working today. Keep doing SEO - it’s still going to bring the lion’s share of your sales for now. 

That’s all the time we have left for this week’s episode, so you know what that means. Put your hand on the screen right here: We totally just high-fived ‘cause you learned something awesome. Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you again next week for another episode of Local Search Tuesdays.