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Plain-English thoughts on branding, websites and marketing. The same advice we give our clients, written down. No jargon and no fluff.
Google doesn't send you to ten blue links anymore. It answers the question at the top of the page, written by AI, stitched together from sites it thinks are credible. Half the time, the searcher never clicks through.
Google rolled out AI Overviews in May 2024. Instead of a list of links, you get a paragraph or two synthesised from multiple sources, often with citations buried at the side. ChatGPT search went live in October 2024, letting users ask questions conversationally and get answers without opening a browser. Perplexity has been doing the same since 2023.
The shift isn't subtle. In May 2024, BrightEdge reported that 84% of Google searches on mobile in the US triggered an AI Overview. By January 2025, Gartner predicted search engine volume would drop 25% by 2026 because AI tools answer questions directly.
People still search. They just don't always click. The query gets answered in the AI summary, and unless your site is cited or the answer feels incomplete, you don't see the traffic.
Your website used to compete for position one. Now it competes to be quoted by an AI that may or may not credit you, and may or may not send the click.
If your site ranks but the AI lifts your answer and presents it as its own summary, you get the authority but not the visitor. If your site isn't cited at all, you get neither. The businesses that will win are the ones whose content is so specific, so clearly written, and so demonstrably expert that the AI can't paraphrase it into beige without losing the value.
This isn't theoretical. We've watched queries we used to rank page one for get answered entirely in the Overview, with traffic dropping by half because Google satisfied the intent before anyone scrolled. The clicks that do come through now are deeper in the funnel. They've read the summary, they want detail, or they want to buy. That's useful, but it's a smaller pool.
AI models pull from pages that answer the question clearly, early, and with enough detail to feel authoritative. Vague introductions get skipped. Keyword-stuffed listicles get skipped. Anything that reads like it was written by a committee gets skipped.
The content that gets cited tends to share a few traits. It puts the answer in the first 100 words. It uses plain language, not jargon or hedged corporate speak. It includes specific numbers, costs, timeframes, or named examples. It's written by someone who clearly does the work, not someone summarising other people's blog posts.
We've seen our own posts cited in ChatGPT search results when they include real pricing, real project timelines, or a specific opinion that isn't repeated elsewhere. The ones that perform worst are the ones that sound like every other agency: safe, polished, interchangeable.
If your website exists to answer basic questions that can be summarised in two sentences, you're in trouble. Think: 'What is brand identity?' or 'How does SEO work?' Those queries get answered in the Overview now. No click required.
Businesses that rely on high-volume, low-intent traffic will see it dry up first. If your content strategy is 'answer every question a beginner might ask and hope they convert', the AI is now answering those questions for you, without sending anyone your way.
Same goes for anyone whose website content is generic enough that an AI can rewrite it in its own voice and lose nothing. If your 'About' page, your service descriptions, and your blog all sound like they were written by the same template every other agency uses, the AI doesn't need you. It'll synthesise five other sites that say the same thing and move on.
You do fine by being specific and impossible to paraphrase.
When we write about how long a brand and website build actually takes, we don't say 'it depends' or 'typically 8 to 12 weeks'. We say: live in 14 days from sign-up, brand locked in week one, site deployed in week two, no three-month wait because we don't run four projects at once. That's a detail an AI can cite but can't genericise without changing the claim.
The same applies to pricing, process, and proof. If your site says 'we offer competitive rates' or 'we work closely with clients to deliver exceptional results', an AI will ignore you because a hundred other sites say the exact same thing. If you say 'we charge £699 a month, no hourly rate, no retainer creep, hosting included for life', that's a fact. It gets cited or it doesn't, but it can't be rewritten into mush.
Businesses that survive this shift will be the ones whose content reflects actual experience. First-hand numbers. Named client work. Specific opinions that aren't safe enough to appear on a competitor's site. That's what earns the citation and, more importantly, the click when someone wants the full picture.
Stop writing to rank. Start writing to be cited.
That means opening every page and post with the answer, not three paragraphs of preamble. It means replacing 'many businesses struggle with...' with 'in year one, the average cost of hiring three separate agencies for brand, website, and marketing is £66,880'. It means cutting every sentence a competitor could also publish.
It also means being useful enough that even when the AI answers the question, the reader still wants to click through. You do that by going deeper than the summary. If the AI says 'a brand and website typically costs between £5,000 and £50,000', your page needs to explain why that range exists, what you actually get at each price point, and what the hidden costs are that no one mentions up front.
You also need to make sure your site is technically solid. AI models preferentially cite pages that load fast, work on mobile, and have clear structure. If your site is slow, runs on a ten-year-old template, or is impossible to navigate, you're not getting cited no matter how good the content is. That's not an SEO nicety anymore. It's table stakes.
They'll try to game it.
Someone will start stuffing 'AI-friendly summaries' at the top of every page. Someone else will hire a copywriter to rewrite everything in 'the voice AI prefers'. Both will fail because the AI isn't looking for a voice or a format. It's looking for the most credible, most specific answer it can synthesise without introducing doubt.
You can't trick it into citing you. You earn it by knowing more, saying it plainly, and proving you've done the work. That's the same standard good content has always met. The difference now is that vague, polished, SEO-optimised filler that used to rank on keyword density alone won't make it past the AI's filter.
If your brand, website, and content are designed to look credible but don't actually say anything specific, this shift will expose that faster than any algorithm update ever did.
Yes, but less of it, and the clicks that do come through will be further down the funnel. If your content is specific, credible, and goes deeper than the AI summary, you'll still get traffic. If it's generic, you won't.
Answer the question clearly in the first 100 words, use specific numbers or examples, write in plain language, and make sure your site is fast and well-structured. AI models cite pages that feel authoritative and can't be paraphrased into generic summaries.
No. SEO has shifted from ranking for keywords to being the most credible, most useful source the AI can cite. The fundamentals still matter: clear content, fast site, good structure. What's dead is vague, keyword-stuffed filler that doesn't actually answer the question.
Only if your current content is generic, vague, or full of corporate jargon. AI-friendly just means clear, specific, and demonstrably expert. If your content already meets that standard, leave it. If it sounds like everyone else's, rewrite it with real numbers and real opinions.
Send us a message or book a call. You’ll get a straight answer and a price, not a pitch.
Google doesn't send you to ten blue links anymore. It answers the question at the top of the page, written by AI, stitched together from sites it thinks are credible. Half the time, the searcher never clicks through.
Google rolled out AI Overviews in May 2024. Instead of a list of links, you get a paragraph or two synthesised from multiple sources, often with citations buried at the side. ChatGPT search went live in October 2024, letting users ask questions conversationally and get answers without opening a browser. Perplexity has been doing the same since 2023.
The shift isn't subtle. In May 2024, BrightEdge reported that 84% of Google searches on mobile in the US triggered an AI Overview. By January 2025, Gartner predicted search engine volume would drop 25% by 2026 because AI tools answer questions directly.
People still search. They just don't always click. The query gets answered in the AI summary, and unless your site is cited or the answer feels incomplete, you don't see the traffic.
Your website used to compete for position one. Now it competes to be quoted by an AI that may or may not credit you, and may or may not send the click.
If your site ranks but the AI lifts your answer and presents it as its own summary, you get the authority but not the visitor. If your site isn't cited at all, you get neither. The businesses that will win are the ones whose content is so specific, so clearly written, and so demonstrably expert that the AI can't paraphrase it into beige without losing the value.
This isn't theoretical. We've watched queries we used to rank page one for get answered entirely in the Overview, with traffic dropping by half because Google satisfied the intent before anyone scrolled. The clicks that do come through now are deeper in the funnel. They've read the summary, they want detail, or they want to buy. That's useful, but it's a smaller pool.
AI models pull from pages that answer the question clearly, early, and with enough detail to feel authoritative. Vague introductions get skipped. Keyword-stuffed listicles get skipped. Anything that reads like it was written by a committee gets skipped.
The content that gets cited tends to share a few traits. It puts the answer in the first 100 words. It uses plain language, not jargon or hedged corporate speak. It includes specific numbers, costs, timeframes, or named examples. It's written by someone who clearly does the work, not someone summarising other people's blog posts.
We've seen our own posts cited in ChatGPT search results when they include real pricing, real project timelines, or a specific opinion that isn't repeated elsewhere. The ones that perform worst are the ones that sound like every other agency: safe, polished, interchangeable.
If your website exists to answer basic questions that can be summarised in two sentences, you're in trouble. Think: 'What is brand identity?' or 'How does SEO work?' Those queries get answered in the Overview now. No click required.
Businesses that rely on high-volume, low-intent traffic will see it dry up first. If your content strategy is 'answer every question a beginner might ask and hope they convert', the AI is now answering those questions for you, without sending anyone your way.
Same goes for anyone whose website content is generic enough that an AI can rewrite it in its own voice and lose nothing. If your 'About' page, your service descriptions, and your blog all sound like they were written by the same template every other agency uses, the AI doesn't need you. It'll synthesise five other sites that say the same thing and move on.
You do fine by being specific and impossible to paraphrase.
When we write about how long a brand and website build actually takes, we don't say 'it depends' or 'typically 8 to 12 weeks'. We say: live in 14 days from sign-up, brand locked in week one, site deployed in week two, no three-month wait because we don't run four projects at once. That's a detail an AI can cite but can't genericise without changing the claim.
The same applies to pricing, process, and proof. If your site says 'we offer competitive rates' or 'we work closely with clients to deliver exceptional results', an AI will ignore you because a hundred other sites say the exact same thing. If you say 'we charge £699 a month, no hourly rate, no retainer creep, hosting included for life', that's a fact. It gets cited or it doesn't, but it can't be rewritten into mush.
Businesses that survive this shift will be the ones whose content reflects actual experience. First-hand numbers. Named client work. Specific opinions that aren't safe enough to appear on a competitor's site. That's what earns the citation and, more importantly, the click when someone wants the full picture.
Stop writing to rank. Start writing to be cited.
That means opening every page and post with the answer, not three paragraphs of preamble. It means replacing 'many businesses struggle with...' with 'in year one, the average cost of hiring three separate agencies for brand, website, and marketing is £66,880'. It means cutting every sentence a competitor could also publish.
It also means being useful enough that even when the AI answers the question, the reader still wants to click through. You do that by going deeper than the summary. If the AI says 'a brand and website typically costs between £5,000 and £50,000', your page needs to explain why that range exists, what you actually get at each price point, and what the hidden costs are that no one mentions up front.
You also need to make sure your site is technically solid. AI models preferentially cite pages that load fast, work on mobile, and have clear structure. If your site is slow, runs on a ten-year-old template, or is impossible to navigate, you're not getting cited no matter how good the content is. That's not an SEO nicety anymore. It's table stakes.
They'll try to game it.
Someone will start stuffing 'AI-friendly summaries' at the top of every page. Someone else will hire a copywriter to rewrite everything in 'the voice AI prefers'. Both will fail because the AI isn't looking for a voice or a format. It's looking for the most credible, most specific answer it can synthesise without introducing doubt.
You can't trick it into citing you. You earn it by knowing more, saying it plainly, and proving you've done the work. That's the same standard good content has always met. The difference now is that vague, polished, SEO-optimised filler that used to rank on keyword density alone won't make it past the AI's filter.
If your brand, website, and content are designed to look credible but don't actually say anything specific, this shift will expose that faster than any algorithm update ever did.
Yes, but less of it, and the clicks that do come through will be further down the funnel. If your content is specific, credible, and goes deeper than the AI summary, you'll still get traffic. If it's generic, you won't.
Answer the question clearly in the first 100 words, use specific numbers or examples, write in plain language, and make sure your site is fast and well-structured. AI models cite pages that feel authoritative and can't be paraphrased into generic summaries.
No. SEO has shifted from ranking for keywords to being the most credible, most useful source the AI can cite. The fundamentals still matter: clear content, fast site, good structure. What's dead is vague, keyword-stuffed filler that doesn't actually answer the question.
Only if your current content is generic, vague, or full of corporate jargon. AI-friendly just means clear, specific, and demonstrably expert. If your content already meets that standard, leave it. If it sounds like everyone else's, rewrite it with real numbers and real opinions.
