Things are moving quickly. 

What we do know is that traditional search mechanisms are rapidly losing their effectiveness. Organic and paid search leads are dropping fast as AI search gains in popularity. A 50% drop in leads is common over the last few months.

Instead of potential customers Googling to find who can solve their problem and being presented with a long list of companies who paid to be seen, many are now asking ChatGPT, Gemini, and others, and getting a short list, perhaps just 1 or 2 recommendations.

Instead of getting bids from 5 companies, the working list is just 1 or 2.

We are seeing lead flow drop in all traditional search, organic, paid, branded, and unbranded.

AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is the new buzzword. Expect to be inundated by digital weasels claiming to have the secret sauce to influence AI. There is value in AEO, just like there was in SEO. But once you have done the essential work that is highly important and rewarded, you quickly hit a point of diminishing returns. And the AEO companies that don’t tell you when you’ve passed that point are taking you for an expensive ride, just like the lying cheats that sold backlinks and other nefarious SEO hacks 10 years ago.

Don’t fall for it, AI can’t be gamed.

AI is looking beyond what you say about your company to what the world says about it. AI is taking a deep look at ALL your reviews, not just the ones on your website. AI is reading the chatter about your company on social media and 3rd party review sites. It is seeing behind the curtain to how you really treat your customers and your staff. The truth is out there, AI will find it, and you can’t manipulate it, no matter what some AEO weasel tries to tell you.

Want to win in the new world of AI? 

Make EVERY person your company engages with a raving lunatic for your way of doing business. Don’t look for ways to game the system; look for ways to serve people the way they want to be served.

Radical idea, right?

And the real secret sauce to business growth? Don’t rely on search, AI, or otherwise, to feed you leads. When people know, like, and love you, before they’ve ever worked with you, they don’t go searching for you; they ask Google for your phone number.

When you build a business customers love, and use the essence that drives that love to invite more customers, you build your BRAND. When your messaging reflects what the name of your company means to people you’ve served, in an entertaining or emotionally engaging way, you take your business growth out of the hands of AI. There is nothing new under the sun. 

The days of SEO manipulation and just buying leads through Paid Search are quickly coming to an end. If you want to grow, your business needs to be the one people know, like, and trust. Win the hearts of the customers, and their minds (and wallets) will follow.

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