TLDR: If you want to stay visible in AI search, you need to maintain your online presence, not just build it once and hope for the best
Most small businesses do their “SEO work” once… many years ago.
Tell me if this sounds like you:
- You claimed your Google Business profile
- You wrote some helpful website content
- You even hired someone to “optimise” your site
And then you forgot about it.
That might’ve been fine in 2017.
But it’s 2025, and the bare minimum isn’t enough anymore.
The new search economy is real-time.
AI tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Google’s AI Mode don’t just care about who you are.
They care about what’s current:
- Your latest reviews and case studies
- Your most recent blog posts and pages
- That in-depth FAQ you added last week
Fresh, consistent updates = trust signals.
AI wants to serve answers from sources that are actively engaging with their audiences.
If your last review is from 2022? You’re less visible (if at all).
AI knows when you last updated your homepage. ChatGPT knows that your mobile number might not be up-to-date.
If you wrote a blog post in 2019 about how much it costs to install solar panels, and haven’t updated it with 2025 prices, AI won’t touch it.
AI search rewards recency and clarity
Unlike traditional SEO, you’re not trying to climb a ladder that takes months to move.
You can literally start today by:
- Updating your homepage and service pages
- Asking 3 happy customers for fresh reviews
- Refreshing a blog post with new stats, images, or FAQs
- Making sure your business hours, address, and offers are correct
This is an ongoing game, not a one-off project
If you show up once in AI search, that’s great news. Twice? Fantastic!
But so long as the information about your business is stagnating, you’ll disappear.
The businesses that win in AI discovery are the ones that treat their online presence like a garden – regularly watered, pruned, and improved.
Ready to win?
We help local businesses appear in AI search results.
We’re not about “set-it-and-forget-it”. We’re 100% about staying top of mind, relevant, and up-to-date.
We work with select businesses to ensure they win their local battle. And they don’t have to be visible on Google to do it.
If you want more free advice like this, check out some of the blog posts below.
And if you want more than that? 👇