Insights on AI search and discoverability
A working library on AI search visibility, structured data, llms.txt, schema.org, generative engine optimisation, and the practical changes small and mid-sized businesses should make to remain findable as AI assistants become the dominant search interface.
These notes sit alongside the services line. The intent is to give business owners, marketing leads and the agencies they work with a clear, vendor-neutral view of where AI-driven search is going and what the practical implications are for an SMB website over the next 12 to 24 months.
The pieces are written for the buyer, not the practitioner. Deliberately accessible, but technically accurate. Where a specific tool or standard is referenced, the underlying source material is linked.
Library
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Generative search and the small business website: a strategic perspective
The closing piece in this insights series. A strategic view on how generative search reshapes the role of the small business website over the next three to five years, and what owner-managers should be thinking about beyond the foundational discoverability work.
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A 30-day implementation roadmap for AI search discoverability
A sequenced four-week plan for an SMB that has decided to address AI search discoverability seriously. Written for the operator delivering the work, with sufficient detail for an owner-manager to commission and supervise it competently.
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An audit framework for AI search readiness
A reference-grade checklist for assessing where a website stands against the signals that drive AI search citation. Designed to be self-administered by a competent operator or used as the basis for a formal third-party audit.
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The state of AI-driven search in 2026: an assessment for owner-managed businesses
An annual stocktake on where AI search stands, what changed in the previous twelve months, and what the realistic implications are for an SMB website. Written for owner-managers and the agencies and consultancies that serve them.
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Local discoverability in the era of AI search: considerations for businesses with a physical presence
AI assistants handle local queries differently from classical search engines, and the divergence is sharper than the literature has yet caught up to. Considerations for firms whose business depends on being found in their local market, and where the conventional 'local SEO' toolkit now sits.
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Six signals AI assistants evaluate when identifying business recommendations
Across the major generative search interfaces, six characteristics emerge consistently as the signals that drive citation. The list is not exhaustive, but a firm that has not addressed these six is, in my work, materially less likely to be recommended. A framework for assessing where the firm stands.
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FAQ schema: an under-appreciated lever for AI search visibility
FAQ markup is the structured-data intervention with the most consistent return in my work. The mechanism is simple, the implementation is short, and the impact on whether the firm's page is cited in a generative search answer is materially larger than its modest reputation suggests.
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Template platforms and the AI discoverability gap: a vendor-by-vendor assessment
Squarespace, Wix, Webflow, WordPress and Shopify cover the overwhelming majority of SMB websites in the UK and US. Each platform has a different position on AI-search readiness. A frank, non-affiliated comparison.
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Structured data for the modern business website: a practitioner's guide to Schema.org
Schema.org has, in the AI-search era, moved from an optional optimisation to a foundational discoverability layer. A reference-grade walkthrough of the types every SMB website should implement, the common implementation errors I see in practice, and where the boundaries of useful markup actually lie.
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Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO): how artificial intelligence is reshaping search optimisation
GEO is the working name for the practice of optimising a website to be selected, quoted and cited by generative search interfaces. The discipline borrows from SEO, but the underlying mechanics, and the deliverables, are different in important ways. An orientation for SMBs and the advisors who work with them.
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Discoverability through generative search interfaces: a practical primer
Generative search interfaces are converging on a single mode of answer construction: ChatGPT search, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot and Gemini all behave similarly enough to talk about as a category. The implications for SMB websites are concrete, but the literature has not yet caught up. A short orientation.
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Understanding llms.txt: an emerging standard for AI search discoverability
A new convention for telling large language models what a website is about. The standard is informal, but adoption is moving faster than is widely appreciated, and the cost of implementation is trivial relative to the potential discoverability return.
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Related
- Services: the four-tier productised offer (Audit, Retrofit, Build, Authority).
- About: background and credentials.
- All writing: the broader blog on architecture, AI in the enterprise and adjacent topics.