How Small Businesses Can Prepare for Agentic Search
With Google announcing their new ouroboros style of search going into effect soon, businesses are being warned about preparing for the changeover that will for sure shake up the way people interface with the world of online. This ‘new era’ of search could be damaging to small businesses in particular, who have already struggled with the constant SEO changes which have been taking place in recent years. So how can local businesses best position themselves for the new world wide web? Here is my best advice.
Over the last couple decades Google has risen to the top as the leading authority in getting you where you want to go on the Internet. Even when I know the exact URL I want to visit, I still often use Google out of habit to get there, especially since Google pays big bucks to be the default search engine in my iPhone. Along my way down the Google Search highway I am served ads from similar brands and businesses - and sometimes they work as I find myself browsing new products or services whilst Internet Explorering. The more I search, the more data Google collects on me, the better the ads, the circle goes on indefinitely.
The websites that put an emphasis on Google, either by buying ads or investing time into SEO (search engine optimization) often see additional web traffic from an audience already in search of whatever they’re selling. Google typically rewards those who spend the most money on ads, or time on SEO. It’s all a competition for your attention - like an auction (literally called an auction) where they’re selling your decision making abilities.
But now Google seems to be heading into a new era, where they aren’t just trying to influence your decision - they want to make the entire decision for you. After hitting enter on your search, rather than being served a variety of options to choose from - Google’s AI Overview now just explain the best option(s) directly in your on-screen experience. You’ll probably (hopefully) still be able to visit a few different websites - but grounding up 20 or so sites into just 3 or 4 ‘responses’ really doesn’t sound like an Internet that is fair to everyone, most especially the internet browsing person who will be missing out on having additional choices. Google along with the other major players like Amazon and big e-comm sites like Target or Walmart have already triple-filtered my search results by selling my sale to the highest bidder - how much more condensed can we make a search query?
Of course with any change like this there is going to be a wave of content and YouTube videos on how businesses can prepare for the change over, but not everyone is an SEO expert (disclaimer: neither am I). Small businesses have already had a tough enough time trying to figure out how Google Classic works, and now the game is being reduced from 20 ways to win to 3?
Here is where I think there is room for small businesses to still win online.
1 - Focus On Your Customers
A pretty easy to remember mantra I learned in retail, one customer is worth more than 100 window shoppers. I think this philosophy has been lost on businesses due to social media, where getting engagement can be perceived as valuable - and going viral is like hitting the lottery I guess. Getting those post likes is terrific and still releases the dopamine, but staying engaged with your actual customers or clients is going to be critical to success.
Take a look at your Instagram profile and ask yourself - does this content line up with my actual consumer base, or am I just doing this for the ‘gram? Start thinking of direct marketing methods like an improved strategic email communication plan or scheduling some time for personal outreach to current and prospective users. Think of your best customers and clients and form a persona around them - then think of ways to attract more people who fit that mold.
2 - Expand Your Content in All Places
I appreciate the short and sweet answer to my question, but I am not so sure the AI agents that crawl around the Internet feel the same way. Most of what I have reviewed seems to agree - the more words you have for the agents to pull from, the more likely it is they will bite. If your website has a blog system in place, start writing on it regularly, and make it lengthy if you can.
I am guessing that the majority of people who read this blog only read part of it - most likely they skipped the intro words and jumped to where I placed the bigger blue font above because they want to take most valuable information away and then go on about their day. AI agents do not act this way. They will read every word and process it in ways I won’t even pretend to understand, then return those results to the searcher. Don’t ‘write for AI’ but start writing more if you can.
3 - Start Thinking in Terms of Prompts, Not Keywords
The keyword game feels like it’s on the way out and the prompt era is here. This is just a personal conspiracy theory of mine, but Google likes to auto-complete your search already, and soon machine-learning will feel really invasive when it can auto-complete your thoughts. Begin to think of your communications (particularly URL slugs, H1s, blog titles, etc) in terms of prompts - not just the keywords.
What I am attempting to say is - when users start typing their usual words into search engines, those engines might suggest a few prompts for them instead. You’ll want to make sure your content is worded in response to those prompts instead of just containing a couple of the emphasis words.
TL;DR
Soon your website will be visited more frequently by AI agents acting on behalf of humans as opposed to the humans themselves. Small businesses are probably more vulnerable to losing out on that human interaction because they are not positioned to be found by the AI agents. There are ways to minimize the impact and maybe even improve your online visibility by putting your consumers first, expanding your content, and learn more about prompts vs. keywords. There is a lot more you can do but this is a good start.
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