What is AI SEO and How Does It Work for Small Businesses? The Complete 2026 Guide
How to rank my business on ChatGPT and AI search engines?
Create educational "how to" YouTube videos, transcribe them authentically, and distribute across multiple trusted platforms like LinkedIn, Medium, and X consistently.
What is AI SEO and how does it work?
AI SEO focuses on being genuinely helpful across platforms that AI engines trust, rather than gaming traditional search algorithms with keywords and backlinks.
How to get more leads from AI search results?
Show up when people ask AI for recommendations by creating educational content that positions you as the obvious expert in your field.
What are the best AI SEO strategies for 2025?
Focus on authentic transcriptions, multi-platform distribution, and being genuinely helpful rather than trying to game the system with fake content.
Your SEO expert just became as useful as a Blockbuster store manager.
While they're still obsessing over "keyword density" and buying sketchy backlinks from websites that look like they were built in 1997, your customers are asking ChatGPT "What's the best marketing agency near me?"
And guess what? Your business isn't showing up.
The AI Search Revolution That Killed Traditional SEO
Here's what happened while you were paying someone to stuff keywords into your website like a Thanksgiving turkey:
AI search engines completely changed the game. People don't type "plumber Chicago" anymore. They ask "I have a leaky pipe and need someone reliable who won't charge me my firstborn child."
The old way: Optimize for "best plumber Chicago" and hope Google notices your 47 backlinks from random directories.
The new reality: Someone asks ChatGPT for plumber recommendations and gets 3 specific businesses mentioned by name. If you're not one of them, you don't exist.
What Exactly is AI SEO?
AI SEO is the practice of optimizing your business to show up when people ask artificial intelligence platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Grok, and Google's AI features for recommendations.
Instead of ranking for keywords, you're positioning your business to be the obvious answer when someone asks AI for help in your industry.
- Traditional SEO: "How can I rank #1 for 'marketing agency'?"
- AI SEO: "How can I be the marketing agency ChatGPT recommends when someone asks for help?"
The difference is massive. And most businesses are completely missing it.
Why Your Current SEO Strategy is Failing
Let me guess what your "SEO expert" is doing right now:
- Researching keywords from 2020
- Building links from websites that look like they were designed by a middle schooler
- Writing robotic content that sounds like it was translated through Google Translate three times
- Obsessing over page load speeds while ignoring the fact that your customers are getting recommendations from AI
Meanwhile, your competitors who focus on being genuinely helpful are dominating AI search results.
The 9-Step AI SEO System That Actually Works
We just helped a local business go from zero AI searches to over 100 searches per month. Here's exactly how we did it:
Step 1: Create Educational YouTube Videos
Why this works: Google owns YouTube, and AI engines pull heavily from video content when making recommendations.
What to do: Create "how to" or "what is" videos that answer real questions your customers ask. Not promotional videos - educational content that positions you as the expert.
Example: Instead of "Why Choose Our Marketing Agency," create "How to Tell if Your Marketing Agency is Ripping You Off."
Step 2: Turn Videos into Podcasts
Why this works: AI is now showing podcast episodes in search results, and people consume audio content differently than video.
What to do: Export the audio from your YouTube videos and upload to Spotify's podcast distribution platform. Same content, different format, double the visibility.
Step 3: Create Authentic Blog Posts from Transcriptions
Why this works: Your spoken words are unique and can't be replicated by AI. This authenticity is exactly what AI engines look for.
What to do: Transcribe your videos word-for-word (including the "ums" and imperfections) and turn that into blog content. Add 4 common questions at the top with quick answers, embed your video, then include the full transcription below.
Step 4: Publish LinkedIn Articles
Why this works: LinkedIn is a trusted source that AI engines reference frequently for business recommendations.
What to do: Repurpose your blog content into professional LinkedIn articles. Keep them educational, not promotional. Link back to your YouTube video and blog post.
Step 5: Create Educational Content on Medium
Why this works: Medium has high domain authority and shows up frequently in AI search results.
What to do: Turn your content into a "lesson plan" style article (750-1000 words). Write like you're teaching a college course. Embed your YouTube video and link to your other content.
Step 6: Dominate X (Twitter) and Prepare for Grok
Why this works: Grok (X's AI) pulls heavily from X content, and Elon just announced "Grokipedia" - their Wikipedia alternative.
What to do: Create X articles using their new article feature. This is the Wild West opportunity - get established now before everyone catches on.
Step 7: Strategic Reddit Engagement
Why this works: ChatGPT and Perplexity still reference Reddit for authentic user discussions and recommendations.
What to do: Find relevant subreddits and provide genuinely helpful answers to questions. Don't spam - be the person who actually helps.
Step 8: Email Newsletter Link Building
Why this works: When your email subscribers visit your YouTube videos, it signals to YouTube (and AI engines) that your content is valuable.
What to do: Send short, helpful newsletters with links to your latest educational videos. Keep it simple: "Here's what I covered this week, watch when you have time."
Step 9: Repurpose into Social Media
Why this works: Google is now indexing Instagram and Facebook reels, expanding your AI search footprint.
What to do: Create 20-30 second clips from your long-form videos and post as reels, directing people to the full video.
The Tools That Make This Actually Doable
- For Video Creation: Your smartphone (seriously, that's it)
- For Transcription: Built-in YouTube transcription or Rev.com
- For Blog Writing: Tools like Oh Joy that learn your voice (not generic ChatGPT)
- For Podcast Distribution: Spotify for Podcasters
- For Indexing: Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools
The Results You Can Expect
- Month 1: Your content gets indexed across platforms
- Month 2: You start appearing in some AI search results
- Month 3: Consistent recommendations and increased visibility
- Month 6: Dominating AI search results in your niche
One of our clients went from invisible to getting 2-3 qualified leads per week just from AI search recommendations. No paid ads, no cold calling - just showing up when people ask AI for help.
The Biggest Mistakes to Avoid
- Mistake #1: Trying to game the system with fake content
- AI engines are smart enough to detect inauthentic content
- Mistake #2: Only focusing on one platform
- AI pulls from multiple sources - you need to be everywhere
- Mistake #3: Making it all about you
- Educational content that helps people always wins over promotional content
- Mistake #4: Expecting instant results
- AI SEO is about building long-term authority, not quick wins
Why This is the Wild West Opportunity
Right now, most businesses are completely invisible in AI search. Your competitors are still playing by 2020 SEO rules while customers are getting recommendations from AI.
This is your Blockbuster vs Netflix moment. You can either adapt to how people actually search now, or watch your competitors dominate while you wonder why your phone stopped ringing.
The Bottom Line
Traditional SEO isn't completely dead, but it's no longer enough. The businesses thriving in 2025 are the ones showing up when people ask AI for recommendations.
The process is simple:
- Create helpful educational content
- Distribute it across multiple platforms
- Be genuinely useful instead of promotional
- Let AI engines discover and recommend you
Want to see this in action? I created a complete video walkthrough showing exactly how to implement this 9-step system. You'll see my screen as I set up each platform and create the content that gets businesses recommended by AI.
Ready to dominate AI search results? Comment "TOOL" below and I'll send you our free AI SEO software - the same system we use for clients paying $5,000+ per month.
Because while your competitors are still buying backlinks from 1997, you can be the business ChatGPT recommends when someone needs help in your industry.
The choice is yours: stay invisible or become the obvious recommendation.
