Google, AI Overviews and ChatGPT
You’ve got a website, but when people search for what you do, your competitors come up and you don’t. Here’s why that happens to small businesses, the checks I run first, and the fixes that get you found on Google and in AI search.
Henny Maltby25 years in marketing · Growth Hub Premier Partner
!Sound familiar? You search for what you do and your competitors come up first.
When a business owner tells me SEO doesn’t work, I usually find the same thing. Nothing is broken in a dramatic way. It’s lots of small things that stop Google, and now the AI tools, from understanding who you are and who you help.
Search has changed a lot. Google now shows AI Overviews at the top of many results, and more people are asking ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini to recommend a business. The good news is that the same groundwork gets you found in all of them.
Below I’ll show you why small business websites get missed, the free tools to set up today, how to bring your old pages back to life, and how to make your site the one the AI tools choose to mention.
Google and the AI tools can only recommend you if they understand exactly what you do, where, and for whom.
Try it today
This prompt helps you work out what your customers are really searching for and which pages your website needs to answer them. Pop your name and email in to get the full prompt, then copy it into ChatGPT or Claude.
Fill in the gaps about your business before you run it. The more detail you give, the better the answer.
You are an SEO expert who helps small UK businesses get found on Google and in AI search tools like ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews.
My business: [what you do]
Where I work: [town or area, or UK wide]
My ideal customer: [who they are]
My website: [web address]
Please help me with the following, one section at a time:
1. List 20 phrases and questions my ideal customers are likely to type into Google or ask an AI tool when looking for what I do. Group them by what the person is trying to get done.
2. For each group, tell me which page on my website should answer it, and whether I need a new page.
3. Write a page title (under 60 characters) and a meta description (under 155 characters) for my home page and my main service page.
4. Suggest 5 frequently asked questions for my main service page, with short, plain English answers I can edit.
5. List what an AI tool would need to see on my website to feel confident recommending me (proof, details, reviews, facts about my business) and tell me what is likely to be missing.
Use plain UK English, no jargon. Ask me questions before you answer if anything is unclear.
Why you’re being missed
These are the problems I find most often when I look at a website that isn’t being found. Most of them are quick to fix once you know they’re there.
You describe your business the way you see it, not the way people search for it. If nobody types your phrase, Google has nothing to match.
The fix: list the questions and phrases your customers really use, and build pages around them.
A services page with three lines tells Google very little. Thin, copied or vague pages get passed over for pages that answer the question properly.
The fix: give every service its own page that answers what people want to know.
Pages can be blocked, missing from your sitemap or never indexed at all. You won’t know unless you look.
The fix: set up Google Search Console and submit your sitemap.
Most searches happen on a phone. If your pages are slow or fiddly, people leave, and Google notices.
The fix: test your pages in PageSpeed Insights and fix what it flags.
Google and the AI tools look for signs of experience and trust: reviews, real names, real work and a clear address.
The fix: add reviews, case studies, your story and your contact details to the site.
Pages that once brought in visitors slowly slip as newer, fuller pages overtake them.
The fix: refresh your older pages rather than only writing new ones.
Free tools, set up once
Do these in order. They’re all free, and together they show you exactly what’s stopping you being found.
Once these are in place, check Search Console once a month. The Performance report shows the searches you nearly rank for, and those are your quickest wins.
Bring old pages back to life
One of the quickest ways to get more visitors is to improve a page that Google already knows about. Older pages slowly lose ground as competitors publish fuller, more up to date versions.
Here’s how I do it. In Search Console, open Performance, pick a page that used to get visitors, and look at the searches it shows up for. Then search for that main phrase yourself and read the top three results. What do they answer that your page doesn’t?
Rewrite your page so it’s the most helpful answer on the subject. Use the words people search with, add the questions they ask, bring any dates and examples up to date, and add a clear next step. Don’t stuff keywords in. Write for the person reading it.
Do this with your five most important pages before you write anything new. It’s often the fastest route to more enquiries.
Want to do this yourself with AI?
Set up an AI agent that checks your website, tells you what to change and keeps you showing up on Google and in AI tools like ChatGPT. The AI Marketing Academy opens on 14 November.
Google and AI search
Ask ChatGPT who it would recommend for what you do in your area. If it doesn’t mention you, your website isn’t giving it enough to go on.
Your questions answered
The questions I’m asked most by business owners who want to be found online.
Usually it’s one of a few things: Google hasn’t indexed your pages, your pages don’t use the words customers search with, there isn’t enough useful content on them, or competitors have stronger, more trusted pages. Google Search Console will show you which pages are indexed and what you’re showing up for.
Fixing technical problems can make a difference within weeks. Building up rankings for competitive searches usually takes a few months of steady work. Refreshing pages Google already knows about is often the quickest win.
AI tools draw on what they can find and trust. Make sure your website clearly says what you do, where and for whom, answers common questions in plain English, shows reviews and real examples, and that your business details match everywhere online.
Not to get started. Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, Google Analytics 4, PageSpeed Insights and Google Business Profile are all free and cover most of what a small business needs.
The AI Marketing Academy
Build an AI marketing team that works for your business. You teach it, your agents do the work, and you stay in control.
Your AI marketing team can keep you showing up on Google every month, without paying an SEO agency. The course that covers it is Get Found When Customers Are Looking for You.
It’s real marketing, powered by AI, and it opens on 14 November.
Try us before you buy from us
We’ll build your website home page on the call, free of charge. You’ll see exactly how we work before you decide anything.
Free call · Free home page · No obligation
Pink Elephant AI Marketing Academy
Learn marketing and build your own AI team. Or let our experts build it with you.
