AEO Series #1: Are AI tools already recommending you?

Something changed quietly in the last year or two, and a lot of small businesses haven't clocked it yet.

People still Google things. But more and more, they're also asking Claude, Perplexity, or Google's AI overview a question — and taking the answer it gives them. Not clicking through to a list of results. Just getting a direct recommendation, right there.

"What's a good yoga studio in Bristol?"

"Can you recommend a copywriter who works with small charities?"

"Who does Framer websites in South Wales?"

If you run a business that people might search for this way, the question worth asking is: when someone asks an AI tool to find you, do you actually show up?

Why this is different from regular search

With Google search as we've known it, the goal was to appear on the first page of results. Your website, your listings, your reviews — all of it fed into where you ranked.

AI search works differently. These tools don't just pull up a list of links. They synthesise information from across the web and give a direct answer. Which means the businesses they recommend aren't necessarily the ones with the biggest ad spend or the most SEO tweaks — they're the ones that are clearly described, consistently mentioned, and trusted by others online.

That's actually good news for small businesses. You don't need a big budget to be findable this way. You do need to be legible — clear about what you do, who you help, and where you are.

Try it right now

Here's the most useful thing you can do with the next five minutes.

Open Claude or Perplexity (both have free versions) and ask them to find someone who does what you do, in your area. Use the kind of language your clients might use — not your job title, but the problem they're trying to solve.

For example:

• "I'm looking for a massage therapist in Cardiff who works with chronic pain"

• "Can you recommend a bookkeeper for a small charity in Bristol?"

• "Who does websites for community organisations in South Wales?"

See what comes back. Do you appear? Do your competitors? Are the results accurate?

This isn't about panic — it's just useful to know where you stand. And if you don't show up at all, that's worth paying attention to, because this is only going to become more common.

What this series is about

Over the next few weeks, we're sharing a short series on how to make your business more findable by AI tools — as well as by Google. Not technical, not overwhelming. Just practical steps, in plain English, that work for the kind of businesses in this community.

Next in this series (16 May): What AI actually looks for when it recommends a business — a plain-English breakdown of the three things that matter most.

If you want to explore what this might mean for your own site, get in touch — some of it may well fit within your existing WebCare Growth Plan.