Artificial Intelligence (AI) is evolving as fast as you are reading this article. What matters most to remodelers and designers is the many pros and cons associated with AI and its impact on search engines. A lot of the AI-oriented search topics may feel like a mystery to many. Yet there are easy ways to leverage search to see how AI technology views your company. There is a critical step you must take, starting today, in order to ensure AI properly presents your company specifics to prospects in the future.
The critical piece of information is broken into two parts. The first part is for you to be hypersensitive how you express all the details of your content, whether it is the written word, images, videos or any other form of communication online. Content can be indexed correctly, or incorrectly, in seconds which becomes the foundation how AI is learning about you. For example, you do not want an image of a great design to be posted as a “design” on your website, but instead, you need to be more specific such as posting a “kitchen design.” Simply missing the word “kitchen” can be the difference of having you seen as a generic designer, as opposed to a specialized “kitchen designer.”
The second part is for you to remember that it is not easy to edit the past. There is no magic eraser to get rid of the misunderstandings or inaccuracies presenting your business. It is better to take the extra time to clearly articulate whatever it is you do since everything, whether put online today or many years ago, comprises the catalog of information that is forever teaching search engines and AI what your company is all about.
AI Search Engine Evolution
I have been running a marketing education company for many years and am hyper-focused on this one subject. My marketing experience goes back 40 years when regular newsletters sent via the mail and magazine placements were among the initial forms of getting the word out. Years went by before the birth of the Internet, and then search engines created a new marketing opportunity. Search engines are not going away anytime soon, but their landscape is dramatically changing.
Many readers of this story grew up with search tools such as Alta Vista, Ask Jeeves, Yahoo, and of course Bing and Google. Now there is a new order of search tools appearing such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity AI, Meta AI and more. These AI tools are based on technologies called large language models. Many in the tech world will be looking to try to trick this technology for ranking objectives, but there are sure-fire methods to stay true to brand marketing that will allow you to get ahead, without attempting to manipulate AI search results.
We are using ChatGPT as a tool and asked it, “What do you know about MyOnlineToolbox?” The results were astonishing. Within seconds, we were told exactly what we do and who we target. The results accurately broke down our major products and services. Our industry expertise is introduced. All was perfect until the last piece of information was presented, which we have been working so hard to downplay – and that is our history originating in online software for the contracting industry. While it is a part of who we became, it is a distraction and we have been trying hard to sweep it under the rug – but AI simply will not allow it.
So now I ask every reader of this story to go to their AI search tool of choice and ask, “What do you think of my company?” You may need to replace “my company” with “my company of whatever town and state” to ensure accuracy. Look closely at the results since they are the accumulation of a treasure trove of recent data to many years back. You will see many things you like and perhaps a lot you do not like. From there you begin to appreciate the effort it is going to take to clean up your online strategy by becoming more focused on how you create future content.
Are there ways that tech folk can attempt to trick AI? Of course, but those tactics will only last a few months before the tools are adjusted to deal with those tricks. It is more strategic to create a consistent message of your brand, without any regard to the technology of the moment. That is the hard part, ensuring your message is crystal clear. Search engines using AI are operating at warp speed. They are the judge, jury and executioner for how your reputation will be displayed. Fight the urge to battle this from a technical perspective and simply stand out by clarifying your message. You will sleep better not caring about the next versions of AI.
—By Brian Javeline, president of MyOnlineToolbox, an online marketing education series customized for remodelers, builders & specialty contractors.
