AI Overviews and small business SEO: what to do now

AI-written summaries now appear above the results for some Google searches, and people ask tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity questions they once typed into Google. If you run a small business, here is a calm way to think about it.

What changed

Google's AI Overviews put a summary at the top of some results, with links to the sources it drew on. Chat tools answer questions directly and sometimes cite websites. Both change how people find businesses. Neither has replaced search, and people use both.

What nobody knows yet

How these tools pick sources is not fully public, and it changes often. Anyone who claims a guaranteed way to be cited is overselling. What we can say is that clear, accurate, well-structured content from a recognized source seems to be what answers draw on.

What to do now

• Say things plainly. Put the answer to a question near the top of the page.
• Keep your facts consistent. Business name, services, location and prices should match everywhere.
• Add structured data. Markup helps machines understand who you are and what you offer.
• Earn real mentions. Reputable sites that describe you accurately help every kind of search.
• Check what is said about you. Ask the questions your customers would ask, and note the answers.

Measured, not mystical: check the answers, fix what you can, and say what you don't know.

What not to do

Do not rewrite your whole site for a system you cannot see. Do not buy "AI ranking" packages that promise citations. Do not stop doing the SEO basics. They still count, and they feed AI answers too.

Where small businesses should start

Start by finding out whether it matters in your market. A monthly check of a few dozen questions is enough to see if buyers are being sent to competitors. If it matters, improve the pages that matter. If not, keep an eye on it and spend elsewhere.