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If you’ve been noticing fewer website visits lately, it’s not just you. Last year Google continued to expand its roll-out of AI Overviews (AIOs), and it has been impacting search traffic in a big way. These AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of more and more searches are certainly convenient for users, but it’s starving websites of the clicks they depend on.

This patterns might sound a bit familiar, because it’s just like the Local Service Ads (aka Google Guaranteed) that they rolled 10 years ago. We watched in horror as many of our clients saw 50% of their organic traffic vanish thanks to that pay-to-play program. They pushed organic results further down the page, and businesses had to pivot fast. AIOs are doing something similar, but this time it’s likely going to be more severe.

But here’s the thing: big shifts like this are both a threat and an opportunity. If you’re smart about it, your business can actually benefit from AIOs by becoming the go-to source these summaries pull from. It’s all about getting cited, showing authority, and being clear, helpful, and trustworthy online.

The Reality Check: AIOs Are Taking Over, and Taking Clicks with Them

Here’s what the data says as of early 2026:

• 58.5% of U.S. Google searches now end without a click (according to SparkToro), and AI Overviews will likely push that even higher this year.
• Organic click-through rates have dropped 60% (according to Seer) since mid-2024 on AIO-heavy searches.
• But there’s a silver lining: According to Seer, being cited in the AIO is correlated with a 35-91% higher click-thru rates. When users do engage, those clicks tend to be higher quality.

So yes, you may be losing some top-of-funnel traffic, like people searching “how to patch drywall.” But if your business gets cited as the expert source, users who do click are more likely to trust you and take action. That’s a big double win. You’re likely losing out on the lower-value time-wasters, but gaining the high-value contacts that drive sales.

E-E-A-T: Your Secret Weapon as a Local Expert

If you’ve read our past articles, you know how important EEAT is: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. EEAT is to AI Optimization what keywords were to SEO.

Here’s how to show Google (and customers) you’ve got it:

• Experience: Share real stories. “As a plumber in Tampa for 18 years, I’ve seen every kind of pipe burst imaginable.”
• Expertise: Add bios to your site with certifications, licenses, awards, and specialties.
• Authoritativeness: Get featured on other local sites, earn positive reviews, and publish content people actually find helpful.
• Trustworthiness: Use clear contact info, show before/after photos from real jobs, and include testimonials.

Pro tip: A photo of a job site is worth a thousand stock photos.

Write for Questions and Answer Them Right Away

AIOs love content that directly answers user questions. That means your blog shouldn’t just be a wall of text, it should be a helpful resource structured around real questions.

Try this format:

1. Start with a direct 1-2 sentence answer.
2. Then go deeper with more detail.
3. Use clear headings, bullets, and visuals.

Example topics that work great:

• “How Much Does a Bathroom Remodel Cost in Charlotte in 2026?”
• “Is It Better to Repair or Replace an Old Furnace?”
• “What’s the Best Type of Roof for Rainy Climates?”

Free tools like AnswerThePublic or Google’s “People Also Ask” can help you find these kinds of questions fast.

Of course, we can also help you with this task. Our AI Quickstart includes an FAQ page that comes with all the proper structure and markup.

Use Structured Data (Don’t Worry, It’s Easier Than It Sounds)

Before you let your eyes glaze over, just know that this portion is very easily outsourced to a digital marketer. In fact, we help people with this all the time. Many people slap together the basic info they want and then turn it over to us to just clean it up and add the techy, back-end stuff. For those of us who speak geek, it’s quick and painless. That translates into inexpensive to outsource for you.

If that describes your perspective on this topic, head over to our AI Quickstart page and start there.

But if you’re feeling brave, here’s the gist:

Structured data (also called schema markup) helps AI understand your content. And more importantly, it can increase your chances of being the cited source in the AI Overview.

Just head over to Schema.org and learn about how to do these types of markup:

• FAQ schema on pages that answer common questions.
• HowTo schema for walkthroughs (like “how to unclog a sink”).
• LocalBusiness schema for your business data.

Bottom line: Schema makes your content AI-readable, and that means more chances of getting cited.

Double Down on Your Google Business Profile (GBP)

Don’t overlook your Google Business Profile. AIOs are increasingly pulling from local data, and your GBP is a key signal.

Make sure you:

• Add your services, pricing, Q&A, and photos.
• Keep your Name, Address, and Phone (NAP) consistent everywhere (exact, to the letter.)
• Encourage customers to leave reviews, especially detailed ones.

Think of your GBP as your digital storefront. If it’s complete and active, you’re sending the right signals to both people and AI.

This is another place where you can very easily and inexpensively outsource to a pro. Our GBP Optimization service exists for exactly this reason.

Use Original Visuals and Unique Local Insights

AIOs favor content that looks and feels real. That means:

• Job site photos
• Before/after shots
• Local data or stats (“We’ve installed 500 water heaters in Austin since 2015”)
• Visual breakdowns using Canva or similar tools

These are the kind of things that make your site stand out from generic competitors, and give AIOs something solid to cite.

Rethink What Success Looks Like in 2026

Yes, traditional traffic may dip. But that doesn’t mean you’re not winning.

New things to track:

• Are you seeing more branded searches? (People Googling your name?)
• Is your direct traffic going up?
• Are more people calling from your GBP?
• Are you getting cited in AIOs?

The goal isn’t just clicks. It’s trust, visibility, and leads, and AIOs can still drive all three when you play it right.

Final Thoughts: Adapt or Be Invisible

Like every big Google update, this one is a shake-up. But it’s not the end… it’s a turning point.

Yes, you may need to lean a little more into paid ads. Yes, you’ll need to tighten up your content and stay sharp about your local authority. But those who rise to the top will stay at the top.

This is your moment to stand out as the go-to expert in your area. Not just for people, but for the AI that’s now shaping what people see first.

Ready to get cited?

Let’s make 2026 the year your business doesn’t just survive, it leads.

Need some assistance, or just prefer to outsource this stuff? We’ve been working with contractors and service pros for years, and we’re already optimizing content for AI Overviews. Reach out anytime.

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The internet isn’t what it used to be, and neither is the way people find your business. If you’re noticing fewer calls, less website traffic, or you’re just tired of feeling invisible online, you’re not imagining things. The rules are changing fast, and 2026 is already shaping up to be another year of big shifts.

The latest buzzword being thrown around is AI Optimization. Sounds technical, right? But it’s really just the next evolution of getting your business found online. If you’ve ever answered a customer’s question, snapped a photo of a job, or explained how your services work, you’re already halfway there. Now it’s just about organizing that knowledge so search engines and AI tools know you’re the local expert.

One of the biggest changes in 2025 was the push for something called EEAT, which stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust. And that “A” (Authority) is one place small businesses can absolutely win.

What Is “Topical Authority,” and Why Should You Care?

Topical authority means Google (and now AI models) don’t just look at your website as a collection of pages. They look at it as a trusted source for an entire subject.

For example, if you’re a general contractor in Tampa, it’s not enough to rank for “bathroom remodel Tampa.” The goal is to have your whole site seen as a go-to resource for bathroom remodeling in your area. That’s how you start winning more traffic, more leads, and even get picked up in AI-generated answers.

Think of it like being the neighborhood expert, the one everyone calls when they need advice, not just the one who shows up in a Google ad.

Why This Is Perfect for Small Budgets

You don’t need 200 blog posts or a full-time content team. In fact, a lean strategy with just 10-20 high-quality, focused posts can work wonders.

You’ve already got the hard part handled: real-world experience. Photos from jobs, customer questions, before-and-after shots, and stories from the field are gold when it comes to content that builds authority.

How to Build Topical Authority on a Shoestring Budget

Here’s a step-by-step plan that even a one-person operation can follow.

Step 1: Pick 1-2 Focused Topic Clusters

Decide which 1 or 2 services are your most profitable and desirable for you. We’ll focus in on these 1 or 2 for now, and repeat the process later as time permits in the future.

Example for a contractor:

• Cluster 1: Bathroom Remodeling
• Cluster 2: Roof Replacement

Covering “home improvement” as a whole? That’s too broad. Zoom in on what you do best, what you enjoy the most, or what brings you the most profit.

Step 2: Map Out Customer Questions

You need to figure out what questions someone might ask where your services will be the answer. You can use tools like Google’s “People Also Ask”, Related Searches, or free tools like AnswerThePublic to find real questions people ask. This is very similar to the “long tail” search terms from SEO so if you’re familiar with that, you’re already ahead of the game.

For example:

• How much does a bathroom remodel cost in [your city]?
• What’s the best flooring for a bathroom?
• Can I remodel my bathroom myself?

These questions are your content roadmap.

Step 3: Create a Pillar Page + Supporting Posts

• Pillar page: A long, detailed guide (2,000-3,000 words) covering the whole topic.
• Supporting posts: 6-10 shorter articles (800-1,500 words) answering the specific questions you found in Step 2.

Make sure everything links together. It’s a hub-and-spoke model:

• Supporting posts link up to the pillar.
• Pillar links out to each supporting post.
• Bonus: Add a “Related Guides” section at the bottom of each article to keep readers moving through your site.

This sounds difficult, but if you think of it as creating a detailed service page outlining your main services (pillar) and then create some shorter posts about sub-services, brands, or specific jobs you’ve performed, you can create those 6-10 pages in no time. Don’t forget, you can outsource a lot of this to a digital marketer too.

Step 4: Use Your Real Work as Content

You’re already doing the jobs, now turn them into content.

• Take before-and-after photos (with permission, of course).
• Write quick case studies like “How we saved a homeowner $4,200 on their bathroom remodel.”
• Turn customer FAQs into blog posts.

This kind of hands-on experience builds both trust and authority. Again, don’t forget that you can partner with a marketing company on this. Just send them the before and after photos with some brief notes about what you did on that job, materials used, and location. They can then turn that into finished, professional pages for you.

Step 5: Get Your Links in Order

Strong internal linking helps Google (and AI tools) understand your site better. It also keeps visitors clicking around instead of bouncing.

Think of your site like a smart tour guide, always leading people to the next helpful answer.

It’s super important to consider the user experience (UX) with regard to your menu and how you link to other pages and content. Avoid, at all costs, having someone click through to a page that is a dead-end. They should always have multiple ways to move laterally through your services, not just fall down a hole and have to start over to get to another topic. Give them links to other, related topics on each page so they can discover your services at-will.

Step 6: Trim the Dead Weight

Old, low-traffic pages can actually drag you down. Use Google Search Console to find underperformers. If a page isn’t working:

• Improve it
• Combine it with a better page
• Or redirect it to something stronger

This helps sharpen your topical focus and signals to Google that your site is current and valuable.

Tools That Won’t Break the Bank

Here’s a short list of budget-friendly tools to help you build your content:

• Google Search Console (free)
• Google Keyword Planner (free with a Google Ads account)
• AnswerThePublic (free version)
• Ubersuggest (free tier with daily limits)
• Screaming Frog (free up to 500 URLs)
• Canva (free for basic design)
• ChatGPT Free (great for turning bullet points into blog drafts)

What to Expect (and When)

Building topical authority isn’t an overnight thing. But it pays off steadily over time.

• Months 1-2: Publish your pillar page + 5-7 supporting posts
• Months 3-6: Add more posts, improve internal linking, and prune weak pages
• Months 6+: Your traffic starts to stabilize, and you’re more likely to show up in AI results

How This Helps You Show Up in AI

As AI tools become more common, they’re pulling answers from well-organized, trusted websites. If someone asks, “How much does it cost to replace a roof in Chicago?” AI wants to point to a site that has a whole section dedicated to roofing in Chicago, not just a single article with that title.

That’s where your topical authority comes in. If your site answers lots of related questions clearly and consistently, AI is more likely to treat you as a source.

Bonus Tactic

For a hands-off, outsourced option to boost your AI visibility, you can sign up for AI Quickstart. We spent 2025 rolling this out to all of our CoreSite clients and they’ve seen significant (hockey stick shaped) traffic increases from ChatGPT and other AI platforms. The best part, is you have zero work to do because we handle everything.

Bottom Line

You don’t need to chase every trend or spend thousands on SEO. By focusing on building authority in one area, using your real experience, and organizing your content smartly, you’ll be setting yourself up for success in 2026, and beyond.

Want help mapping your first content cluster? Start by listing the top 5 questions your customers ask. That’s your first content plan, right there.

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2025 was one for the books. Especially for small business owners, things shifted fast and it caught a lot of folks off guard. AI got smarter, customers got pickier, and the way people find (and choose) you changed practically overnight.

Before you shut the shop for the holidays, here’s the no-BS checklist of what actually mattered in 2025… and what you need to fix right now if you want 2026 to be your best year yet.

AI Chatbots Are Stealing Searches, and You’re Probably Not in Them Yet

People aren’t just Googling “plumber near me” anymore. They’re opening ChatGPT, Grok, or Perplexity and asking:

“Who’s a reliable, fairly priced plumber in Tulsa that shows up on time?”

Why? Because when you ask Google, you get a list. Then you have to click around, read reviews, and figure out who’s both affordable and will do the job right.

When you ask ChatGPT the same question, it reads the reviews for you, compares the info, and gives you a direct answer, in seconds. It saves time and skips the guesswork. That’s why so many people are skipping Google and heading straight to AI tools.

But, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Since the bot gives so few names, space is ultra-limited. No ten blue links. No map pack. Just an answer. That leaves just one, or maybe a few spots for you to show up… so the competition is now fierce, and the losers are all but invisible.

By late 2025, AI chatbot usage grew 84% year-over-year. While these tools still handle under 5% of all local discovery, that number is rising very, very fast. Importantly, the quality of those leads is super high so these are the leads that you’re most likely to book. Since they pull from your reviews, listings, and website content to decide who gets recommended, all your SEO efforts are now even more important.

Checklist:

• Pull up ChatGPT, Grok, and Perplexity and ask them who they recommend in your city. Today.
• If you’re not showing up, your AI optimization (the new SEO) needs work.

If you’re ready to solve this problem, you don’t have to figure it out on your own… we’re here to help. We have multiple options and we’re happy to discuss them all.

AI Search Exploded: Google Overviews, Bing Copilot, and More

Google’s AI Overviews showed up in around 45% of U.S. search results by mid-2025. Microsoft’s Copilot gave Bing its first real momentum in years. These AI layers now decide which businesses show up, based on structured data, quality content, and strong reviews.

Checklist:

• Have you claimed and optimized your Google Business Profile with services and photos?
• Are you using schema markup so AI tools understand your business at a glance?
  • If that sounds like Greek, we can handle this for you. Just give us a call or shoot over an email.

Voice Search Is Here, And It Loves Long-Tail Questions

An estimated 52% of all local searches in 2025 were voice-driven. That’s someone talking to Siri, Alexa, ChatGPT, Grok, etc. like they’re talking to a buddy:

“Who fixes water heaters in Broken Arrow on weekends?”
“Find me an emergency electrician open right now.”

These are long, conversational questions (long-tail), and AI tools favor websites that answer them clearly.

Checklist:

• Are you publishing at least one blog post or new service page per month that answers a real customer question?
  • We get that this is a pain, but we can help you. Many, many businesses like yours outsource this to us with our Social Stream service.
• Do your pages use spoken-language headings and FAQs like “How much does it cost to replace an HVAC system in 2025?”

Blogging is no longer fluff. It’s how you get found in voice and AI search.

Local Reviews Are the #1 Trust Signal for Humans AND Machines

AI tools pull recent, detailed, high-star reviews to choose who they recommend. Even a small bump in 5-star reviews can move you from invisible to top result in a local AI response.

Checklist:

• Are you asking every happy customer for a review using a simple text template or QR code?
• Are your reviews spread across Google, Yelp, Facebook, Angi, and Nextdoor?
• Are you encouraging customers to mention the service and town in their review?
• Are you replying to reviews with a thank-you that includes the service and location?

Citations & Listings Are Still the Foundation

AI tools and search engines rely on your Name, Address, and Phone (NAP) data to validate your business. Inconsistent info across 50+ directories leads to lost visibility, or worse, confused AI bots skipping your business entirely.

Checklist:

• Manually check your top citations (or use a tool) but remember that most “free audit” tools will exaggerate the problem to sell you something. Free = sales pitch.
• Get listed on niche directories like Angi, HomeAdvisor, Houzz, and Thumbtack.
• Use a turn-key service like our Directory Dominator to get tons of high-quality listings, and to protect those listings from getting hijacked or changed without your consent.

Using AI on the Job Isn’t Fancy, It’s Just Smart

You don’t need to be a tech wizard to use AI. Some of the busiest, most profitable contractors we work with are using AI tools every day to save time, book more jobs, and stop working late nights just to catch up on paperwork.

Here’s how real home service pros used AI in 2025:

• Typing a quick customer message into an AI tool and getting a polished, professional reply back in seconds
• Snapping a photo of a broken unit and using AI to help write the estimate
• Getting help writing a solid quote or service description, even if spelling and grammar aren’t your thing
• Auto-generating Facebook or Google post ideas so your page doesn’t look dead
• Organizing your week with AI-generated checklists, reminders, and follow-up messages
• Creating a dispassionate, savvy reply to a negative review

Checklist:

• Have you tested an AI tool to help with quotes, emails, or social media posts?
• Have you started using any AI-powered tools to cut down your admin time by 5-10 hours a week?

You’re not replacing yourself. You’re just getting a digital helper that doesn’t need lunch breaks or overtime.

Ads Got More Expensive – But Smarter Targeting Saved the Day

In 2025, Google Ads CPCs rose by about 13% for home services, and Facebook lead costs increased 20-25% in many markets. But some owners got even better results by narrowing targeting and letting AI handle creative testing.

Checklist:

• When’s the last time you audited your campaigns or tested something new?
• Are you using Google’s “Performance Max” or Meta’s “Advantage+” campaigns yet?
• Are your ads written in a way that feels human, local, and real?

Mobile-First Is Non-Negotiable

Roughly 78% of local mobile searches result in a purchase within 24 hours. If your site takes more than 3 seconds to load, or the “Call Now” button is too small, you’re losing leads daily.

Checklist:

• Test your site using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test and PageSpeed Insights.
• Make sure your call and text buttons work on every page with one tap.

Build a Brand, Not Just a Business

In a world full of white vans and generic websites, brand personality wins. Customers remember friendly faces, great logos, and helpful social content.

Checklist:

• Does your brand look consistent across your website, trucks, shirts, and social pages?
• Are you posting before/afters, team spotlights, and customer thank-yous at least weekly?

The Bottom Line: AI Isn’t Replacing You – It’s Just Choosing Who Gets the Call

If you swing a hammer, fix busted HVAC units, rewire panels, or crawl under sinks, your job is safe. Your ability to get inbound leads, however, is not. That’s because AI is already deciding which business shows up when a customer says, “Hey ChatGPT, who should I call?”

If you’re not showing up in those answers, you’re not even in the running. That’s the shift. Not robots taking your tools, just smart tech changing how customers pick who gets the job.

You’re not behind… yet. But you’ve got to move. So save this checklist. Knock it out during the slower days/weeks, or hand it off to someone who knows how to do it right.

And if you want help getting it done faster? That’s where we come in. Our AI Quickstart Package gets your business ready for Google, voice search, AI chatbots, and all the changes that 2026 is about to bring. No fluff, no hype, just more jobs, better leads, and less guessing.

Let’s make 2026 your busiest, most profitable year yet.

Now go tighten up what 2025 just exposed.