Web + Wins #12 How Search Is Changing (and What the Experts Are Seeing Working)
This Week's Update
Busy week over here! I launched a new website I'm really excited about (full case study coming soon), had a great turnout at our workshop with the SC SBDC and SC APEX, had an amazing baby shower with family in town 🎉, and somehow found time to get a brand new business idea I can't stop thinking about. Classic entrepreneur problem – but I’m not chasing the next shiny thing; I’m staying the course.
This week I'm sending a full recap to workshop participants, diving deep into client projects, and finally updating my own website with new packages and case studies.
Get a Web Win: How Search Is Changing (and What the Experts Are Seeing Working)
In our workshop last week, we talked about the new terms business owners are hearing being thrown around – AEO, GEO, LLM visibility, AI Overviews. It's a lot. The way people search online is shifting fast, and it can feel overwhelming to keep up.
I've been using a tool called MetaMonster AI to optimize sites for my clients, and they recently published an awesome article: they asked 17 SEO professionals what's actually working for their clients in AI search right now.
Here are the takeaways that matter most for small business owners:
The basics still matter — a lot. Fast website, clear content, easy navigation. AI search didn't replace good SEO, it just raised the stakes on doing it right. If your foundation is shaky, nothing else will work.
Your reputation beyond your website is now a ranking signal. Google reviews, mentions in local forums, LinkedIn posts (see my convo corner below), press features, community involvement — AI tools are pulling from all of it to decide whether to recommend you. This is why showing up consistently online in multiple places matters more than ever.
Structure your content so it's easy to extract. FAQs on your service pages, clear direct answers at the top of blog posts, TL;DR summaries. AI tools literally lift answers off your page so make it easy for them to find yours.
Video and multimedia are becoming a visibility signal. Multiple pros reported that embedding videos in blog posts increased AI search visibility for their clients. Even simple videos count. Bonus points you can reuse thse on your social platforms.
The bottom line is, f you're doing the right things — staying active online, collecting reviews, writing helpful content, keeping your website clean and clear — you're already building toward this new world. It's not starting over. It's doubling down on what works. Read the full article here.
Convo Corner: Kait LeDonne Article
I usually feature people I've had real conversations with, but this week I'm sharing an article that stood out to me on LinkedIn.
I've been putting more intentional effort into LinkedIn lately. That's where referral partners and business owners are, and even if they're not posting, they're definitely lurking. (Shoutout to Natasha Walstra for helping me build a real foundation there!)
Personal branding expert Kait LeDonne published: The Expert Era of LinkedIn Is Over, and it ties directly into something we talked about at last week's workshop. AI has made expertise a commodity. Anyone can prompt ChatGPT for "5 tips to optimize X" and get a decent answer in seconds. If that's all you're putting out there (on your website copy, blogs, social posts, ect), you're replaceable.
What isn't replaceable? You. Your specific stories, your perspective, your personality. We talked in the workshop about writing homepage copy that doesn't sound AI-generated — that actually sounds like the person behind the business. This article is the LinkedIn version of that same idea.
As someone building a business largely through relationships and showing up consistently online, this article validated some things for me. What I’ve been hesitant to share – the personal stuff, the behind-the-scenes, the learning out loud — turns out to be something that can cut through the AI noise.
Let's Talk
Are we connected on LinkedIn yet? If not, let's fix that. And if we are, send me your latest post so I can show it some love. That algorithm is a mystery to me; I'm seeing posts from weeks ago from people outside my network. The more we support each other, the better.
PS
I had this email prepped and ready yesterday, but midday today I realized I scheduled it for PM, not AM. I decided to leave it as an evening send and see how it does 🙃.
What's your preference: end-of-day wind-down email or first thing in the morning?
