How Small Businesses Can Outwit the AI Overlords (Without Losing Their Minds)

Dear Diary,

Picture this: you’re cruising down the digital highway, windows down, your hard-earned SEO strategy blasting like your favorite ‘80s mixtape. Life is good. Then, out of nowhere, Google flips the script. Instead of sending traffic your way, it starts spitting out AI-generated answers on search pages. Suddenly, your website feels as relevant as a Blockbuster membership card.

Or maybe you’re one of the many, many small business people who never even made it to SEO strategy mastery? Come on, raise your hands…. I see you… I am not about to SEO shame you here. SEO is boring as eff and tedious as all get out. I get it.

But before you start drafting your resignation letter to the internet, let’s talk about how small businesses can not only survive this AI-pocalypse but thrive in it. Because if there’s one thing we’ve learned from The Matrix, it’s that you don’t have to outrun the machines—you just have to outsmart them.

What’s Happening with AI Search?

Google’s new AI-powered search results (part of its Search Generative Experience, or SGE) are like that friend who spoils the movie by telling you the ending. Instead of sending users to your website, it serves up quick answers, leaving your carefully crafted content feeling as overlooked as the salad at a barbecue.

Ted Goia of The Honest Broker kindly calls is “Slop”. It’s maybe a sad byproduct of over-investment in these tools. We’ll see. But for now, Google is serving it.

And it’s not just Google. AI tools like ChatGPT are becoming the go-to for everything from recipe ideas to business advice, making traditional SEO feel about as useful as a fax machine in 2023.

But here’s the twist: this isn’t the end of SEO. It’s the beginning of a new chapter—one where small businesses can rewrite the rules.

How Small Businesses Can Get Ahead (Without Selling Their Souls)

Be the Yoda of Your Niche
Google’s AI loves content that screams expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (aka E-E-A-T). So, channel your inner Yoda and create content that’s wise, helpful, and maybe a little cryptic. Think FAQs, how-to guides, and deep dives that answer questions your audience didn’t even know they had.
Talk Like a Human, Not a Robot
AI search engines thrive on natural language, so ditch the stiff corporate jargon and start optimizing for conversational phrases. Instead of targeting “best pizza,” try “where can I find the best pizza in Brooklyn that delivers past midnight? Do they also deliver weed?” (Because let’s be real, that’s the question we’re all asking.)
Become the Wikipedia of Your Industry
AI tools pull information from authoritative sources, so position your business as the go-to expert. Publish original research, case studies, and thought leadership content that’s so good, even ChatGPT will be quoting you.
Go Full Cheers with Local SEO
Remember Cheers, where everybody knew your name? That’s the vibe you want for your local SEO. Optimize your Google My Business profile, gather reviews, and create location-specific content that makes your business the Norm of your neighborhood. I offer Google My Business Optimization for a reason, it’s KEY to getting one on the house.
Create Content That’s as Weird as Your Grandma’s Fruitcake
AI can generate facts, but it can’t replicate your quirks, stories, and personality. Lean into what makes your business special—your values, your community, your strange obsession with vintage typewriters. People (and AI) are drawn to authenticity, even if it’s a little odd.
Embrace the Dark Side (of AI)
Use AI tools like ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas, optimize your copy, and even create drafts. Think of it as your own personal R2-D2—helpful, a little sassy, and always there when you need it.

The Scam Is Over…

Yes, the rise of AI search is a challenge if you already had your SEO game on lock—but it’s also an opportunity to rethink how you connect with your audience. Honestly, SEO was pretty computer-centric, a taxing, boring chore for most people that felt a little scammy at best (that’s probably why so few small businesses ever really mastered it).

With the rise of these more nuanced tools, you can actually create content that supports and enhances your business activities and mission. You can geek the freak out and be rewarded for it.

So, while the algorithms of search may change, one thing remains constant: the need for great storytelling, authentic connection, and a commitment to serving your audience. The future of SEO isn’t about outsmarting AI—it’s about outshining it.

And if AI is the new gatekeeper, consider this your invitation to crash the party, flip the table, and make sure your voice is the one everyone remembers.

Hasta la pasta!

k.e.