How to win at AI marketing

 The way we search is changing. Gone are the days when we had to consciously modify our language in order to search (e.g. “where can I find business accommodation across the southeast and London?” became “business accommodation southeast”), instead we are asking large language models to do that for us. But this can have an impact on how and if your business is being discovered. Here’s how to make that impact a positive one. 

What is a large language model? And how is it used for searching?

Artificial intelligence (AI) models are algorithms trained on massive datasets to recognise intricate patterns, make predictions, or generate human-like content. While there are countless specialised architectures available today, the market is primarily categorised by capability: Foundation Models (Large Language Models, or LLMs) for text processing and reasoning, Multimodal Models for processing images and video, and Specialised Models built for coding and automation. 

When you search using AI, be it, Google Gemini, ChatGPT, or Claude, you are using an LLM: an advanced AI system designed to understand, interpret, and generate human-like text.  

In order to scan the live web, an AI search tool uses a sophisticated combination of Generative AI and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) or autonomous AI agent frameworks.  This means that, instead of relying solely on static, database of knowledge, these systems dynamically browse the internet, read live pages, and extract real-time information to answer queries. 

There are three mediums through which your webpage may interact with an AI search engine:  

• AI-Powered Search Engines: Platforms designed specifically for conversational web searching (Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini) that use your query to search live web sources, and synthesise the information into a single, cited answer. 

• Browsing Plugins and Extensions: Standard chatbots (ChatGPT) equipped with live web browsing capabilities that use search APIs to fetch up-to-date data for real-time knowledge requests. 

• AI Research Agents: Autonomous and often specialised systems that execute multi-step research tasks by clicking links, reading multiple articles, and compiling comprehensive reports. 

For an SME small business, getting cited by these models now serves as a vital strategy for accelerating business growth. Industry leaders are beginning to preach the importance of aligning your online presence with conversational models. Optimising for these engines boosts organic brand awareness, enhances active client engagement, fosters client loyalty and trust, and opens up entirely new streams for client acquisition. 

How have LLMs changed the way we search? How does this impact your marketing strategy? 

The introduction of LLM-powered search tools has fundamentally altered how users interact with online information. The most important shift is moving the onus of investigation from the user to the search engine. This alters almost everything in the entire process, from what is typed to how long a person stays on a page. 

This behavioural shift is visible across three specific areas: 

• From keywords to conversational context: People no longer strip their inquiries down to bare nouns. Instead of typing “commercial studios Harlow” users now type full, complex scenarios: “Where can I find commercial studios to rent in Harlow ” LLMs use context cues to understand the intent of the question.  

• The rise of “zero-click” synthesis: Traditional search meant opening multiple tabs and manually piecing together information. Now, we are met immediately with an overview of each of these pages, without ever having to actively visit the sites ourselves. Search behaviour has now shifted heavily toward immediate synthesis. The AI reads the top results, extracts the relevant data, and presents a comprehensive summary, ending the informational search directly on the results page. 

• Iterative refinement: Searching has become a continuous conversation. If a query returns broad results, users simply follow up with refinements like “which of these have dairy-free options” or “Only  show me offices with a flexible licence”. The model remembers the previous context and your preferences to refine its search. 

For your small business marketing strategy, this means search engines now function like digital assistants guiding user decisions. This environment heavily favours clear, structured content that is easy to summarise: clearly outlined services, proof of expertise, exact pricing, and specifications will endear your website to an LLM.  

To monitor your visibility in this landscape, you do not necessarily need a large budget; standard free versions of major LLMs can be used to test how your brand appears in prompts, while dedicated tracking platforms are available at a premium. When adapting your digital content, ensure your data collection and tracking methods remain fully compliant with data privacy laws such as GDPR. 

How can my business appear in more AI searches? 

To appear in more AI searches, you must remove the old mindset of purely focusing on keywords and search terms. A change of direction by shifting attention to new phenomena of AEO and GEO will ensure ensuring your business is cited by AI models. 

Follow these core strategies to improve your small business marketing for AI discovery: 

• Structure for quick extraction: AI models prioritise content they can parse instantly. Answer target questions directly, keep paragraphs concise, utilise numbered lists, and include a clear summary at the top of your high-value pages. 

• Establish your topical authority: LLMs like to know that your information can be trusted. Create comprehensive topic clusters that fully explore your industry from every angle, backing up your claims with verified data. 

• Target natural language and intent: Create dedicated FAQ sections optimised for conversational “who”, “why”, “vs”, and “how to” prompts to match how customers actually speak AI models. 

• Generate off-site mentions: AI models sample data from across the wider web. Build authority by publishing on trusted platforms like LinkedIn, industry blogs, podcasts, and digital directories. 

• Use structured schema markup: Implement structured data, such as FAQ pages, into your website so search engine crawlers can seamlessly find all relevant information. 

• Maintain strong foundational SEO: The web pages that consistently rank well in traditional top-10 search results remain the most frequently cited by AI. Prioritising fast page speeds, excellent mobile usability, and a clean site architecture will put you on top. 

If you run a remote company or a startup, using a professional virtual office helps not only to maintain a prestigious corporate footprint, but it also signals your physical location to search LLMs via localised schema, ensuring your business is easily surfaced for your local customer base. 

What are the downsides of optimising your website towards LLMs? 

While adapting to AEO and GEO is essential for future-proofing your business, focusing exclusively on machine optimisation carries distinct downsides. Reports indicate that AI overviews can sometimes disproportionately favour legacy brands with decades of established domain authority, making it a steeper hill to climb for smaller companies. 

Furthermore, if you over-optimise your website solely for machine extraction, you risk stripping away the unique brand voice, personality, and emotional resonance that converts human visitors. 

Finally, as touched on before, chatbots display users with a brief overview of a query, with many users taking this summary as gospel without clicking through to the sources that are cited. While establishing your brand as a trusted voice in your industry is important, it may come at the sacrifice of clicks and conversions. 

To ensure your marketing always hits the right note, treat traditional SEO and AI optimisation as a unified strategy rather than choosing sides. Write clear, direct answers for the algorithms, but ensure your core content remains deeply engaging, human-centric, and focused on solving your target customer’s real-world challenges. 

Overview 

The landscape of online search is moving at a rapid pace, making the continuous review and refinement of your digital marketing strategy more critical than ever. To ensure the best possible ROI, business owners must routinely analyse their traffic analytics, looking beyond basic page views to monitor high-intent referral traffic coming from conversational AI engines. 

By structuring your website content for conversational clarity while maintaining an authentic, human-focused brand voice, your business can successfully capture high-value leads across both traditional search engines and AI platforms. 

If you’re looking for office space from a provider that wants to support your business success, get in touch.