Your Guide to Having Your Business Discovered in AI Search
The way people search for information online has changed significantly in recent years. With the rise of AI-powered search engines and tools like ChatGPT, there are new opportunities for local businesses to increase their visibility, reach potential customers and get recommended to people looking for experiences, products and services.
We’ve put together this guide to help Toronto waterfront businesses understand how AI-powered search works and explore practical ways to improve their chances of being discovered and recommended.
Simply put, search has changed.
Search has changed; before, the goal was to have your website rank for keywords and appear in the top 3 spots on Google. Users would click into websites and try to find the information they’re looking for.
Now, AI is pulling all of the ‘useful’ information from websites into the AI Overview. And it’s incredibly helpful for the end user, because the AI Overview is reading, researching, and combining information into one answer.
The information AI is recommending is also extensive. It breaks down your query into subtopics and also connects related topics and themes. If you're looking to plan a dinner party, AI will consider not just the food but also the vibes and atmosphere. Think about the playlist, lighting, assigned seating, and the timing of the dishes.
The search span is also larger with AI. AI does not just scan websites but also scans reviews, articles, social media, comments, and more.
Today, 40% of all queries produce an AI reply (Source: Brilliant SEO)
Ranking Versus Recommendation
In traditional search, search engines like Google will list trustworthy websites that best match the query. The top 3 spots in Google have a lot more value than the 10th spot, where users rarely click.
With AI, you are being chosen and selected, which means visibility is limited and the chance of selection is a lot lower. You are filtered out before you're even compared.
Ultimately, you are competing for selection and recommendation!
Here's how you can improve your chances of being recommended in an AI Engine
There are 4 areas your business can focus on to strengthen your digital presence and be selected and recommended by AI:
Clarity
Content Context and Relevance
Credibility
Extractability
#1 Clarity
Your business needs a clear and consistent digital identity because of how AI models ‘read’ and aggregate data. When AI models are analyzing the web, they use machine learning algorithms to detect patterns and identify correlations. This helps them build an understanding of your business (Source: Google's official guide to optimizing for generative AI search)
Your business needs to be clear and consistent across your website, social media, Google Business Profile, articles, and online directories like Yelp.
When you maintain clarity and consistency, you help AI in several ways:
Improving Selection Odds
Traditional SEO was about ranking higher in a list. AI search is about being "chosen and selected".
If your business details are ambiguous, the AI is likely to filter you out before you are even compared against competitors.
Ambiguous Offering | Clear Offering | |
Service Offering | "We provide unique solutions and meaningful experiences tailored to your lifestyle." | "A local Italian bistro serving authentic wood-fired pizza and handmade pasta, located on Toronto’s waterfront" |
AI Interpretation | The AI cannot categorize this. It may filter you out because it cannot confirm if you are a service, a product, or a media company. | The AI recognizes the entity: [Bistro / Restaurant]. It can confirm your location and menu type. |
Recommendation | Unlikely to be suggested for queries like "best dinner spots." | High probability of being suggested when users ask for "Italian restaurants in [City/District]." |
Building Trustworthiness
AI models prioritize entities they can verify across multiple reliable sources (your website, reviews, social media, articles, and directories). If your service description, offerings, and brand identity match everywhere, the AI gains confidence that the information is accurate.
Adding Clarity with Structured Information (Schema)
Beyond ensuring that your business is being consistently communicated across the internet, your business should also ensure that Schema markup has been added to your website.
Schema markup is structured code that helps search engines and AI understand the content on your webpage. Schema markup is a valuable step in traditional SEO and in AI search.
This guide explains step-by-step how to implement schema markup.
#2 Content Context and Relevance (Topical Association):
The context and relevance of your content can dictate whether AI views you as an appropriate answer for a prompt.
AI does not search for keywords; it links concepts, words, and entities together (entities can refer to people, places, and concepts). This is known as topical association and is the foundation of AI. Topical association determines how AI understands a topic and which brands it sources for recommendations.
It means your website is evaluated by AI on how deeply it covers a topic and how many topics your brand is related to. Therefore, your business needs to publish content around its area of expertise, and it also needs to be timely.
For example, if you're a boat tour company, don’t only publish information about your tour schedule; create content that demonstrates your expertise:
About the boat itself (history and features)
Seasonal events and festivals you can experience on the water (Canada Day Fireworks, Full Moons, air shows).
Wildlife and landmarks you can spot on a boat tour
Guide to the Toronto Islands
The best time of day for skyline photos
By creating content in these subcategories, your company is now building associations with the Toronto Islands, Toronto harbour, sightseeing, attractions, local history, and more.
Don’t just market your service, but become a trusted source of information in your niche.
AI Optimized Writing
AI prefers natural, human-like writing because it reflects real conversation and is far more engaging.
Here are some writing tips to keep in mind:
Write in a natural and conversational style
Write from your first-hand expertise and avoid summaries.
Avoid marketing jargon and keyword stuffing
Use clear, descriptive titles and headings (H1, H2, H3) to make it easier for AI to scan content
Utilize bullet lists
Cite your sources
#3 Credibility
AI engines will present a limited number of answers for each query, and because the AI engines are providing answers, the AI is evaluating trust signals, not just the messaging on your website.
Ultimately, the AI engines are looking to see what other parties are saying about you. It’s looking to see if other sources can confirm who you are.
The AI engines are evaluating:
Third-party mentions
Consistent corroboration
Recognized sources
Are other websites linking to your website? And are these websites trustworthy? A link from a respected publication website, government website, or news source will carry a lot more weight and credibility.
For example, if your business is featured in an article from BlogTO, TorontoLife, CityNews Toronto, or Destination Toronto, it’s a signal that your website and business are credible and trustworthy.
Sponsored articles can be valuable for increasing brand awareness and reaching new audiences. However, paid coverage doesn't automatically improve search credibility. Relevant editorial coverage, independent mentions and trustworthy sources can provide additional signals of your business's reputation.
For example, if someone searches "What are the best things to do on Toronto's waterfront this weekend?", coverage in BlogTO will be incredibly relevant because those publications regularly cover local experiences.
Beyond a link from one website to another, when your business is featured in credible media it signals authority at scale. If your competitors are featured in publications and media, and you are not, they will be seen as the safer and more credible choice.
Consistency is still key; when media features your business, it should corroborate what your brand says about itself.
Methods to Earn Credible Third-Party Coverage
Method | Action | Example | Where To Take Action |
Be featured in local guides and roundups | Identify relevant articles, contact the writer or editor with your business's unique selling points and updated information. | Pitch your restaurant for inclusion in a Toronto waterfront dining or patio guide, like Best Toronto Patios. | |
Pitch local media | Submit a compelling news tip or story idea to local publications. Include photos, relevant facts and a clear reason the story matters to their audience. | Announce your new business with unique features | |
Partner with tourism organizations | Join Destination Toronto, create an eligible business listing and submit business news or events for consideration. | List your waterfront business, share seasonal events, dining experiences, and more with its content team. | |
Pursue industry awards and recognition | Register for relevant local business awards and submit nominations when eligible. | ||
Collaborate with local influencers and content creators | Identify local creators with relevant audiences and invite them to experience your business. Prioritize creators with websites or blogs that publish discoverable articles. | Invite a Toronto food blogger to experience your restaurant and consider featuring it in a waterfront dining guide. | |
Participate in seasonal features and local events | Submit eligible public events to established tourism and city calendars well in advance. | Submit Destination Toronto Events, Submit Events to City of Toronto |
#4 Extractability
At this point, we know it’s essential for your businesses digital presence to be:
Clear in its business objective and consistent across the internet
Relevant in content coverage
Trustworthy and credible
Lastly, in order for AI to recommend your business, it needs to be able to read and understand your web data in order to extract and serve it as a potential answer in the AI systems.
At this stage, ensuring your web data is understandable to the AI engine, becomes a bit technical.
AI engines read web data through a combination of raw HTML and advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP). It’s somewhat similar to SEO; like Google’s algorithm, AI also relies on semantic tags, clear header hierarchy, schema, and code to understand your content.
Semantic Tags: Semantic HTML tags are web building blocks that tell both the browser and the developer exactly what kind of content they contain. Example: <article> <section> <table> <nav>. These tags exist in the backend code of your website.
Clear Header Hierarchy: This refers to the headings on your website like <h1> <h2> <h3> and your website should follow the best practices. Keywords should be used in the title and H1, and you should only have 1 H1 and title tag per webpage.
Schema Markup: Implementing schema markup on pages, telling AI what the data means.
Clean Code: Minimize heavy JavaScript and messy code; this confuses algorithms and can also lead to a slow-loading website.
The Natural Language Processing system is what AI uses to evaluate your content, and its context. Unlike SEO and keywords, the AI looks at:
Concepts related to each other in your text
Semantic density, meaning your message provides clear, direct answers, and the answers are not buried deep behind filler and unnecessary wordage.
Clear sentences and tone: writing clear and active sentences helps the model evaluate and trust your content faster
Answering the question in your content: Search engines use NLP to match user intent. Structuring content to address informational queries directly (e.g., "To do X, follow these three steps...") increases the likelihood of being pulled into an AI summary block.
NLP is also relevant to the content context and relevance section in this article; if your digital content provides context on your service, answers questions, and maintains authority on a subject, your material may be featured in a response to a user's prompt. A great way to answer questions is to feature an FAQ on your website or web page.
We highly recommend hiring an SEO specialist or a developer to conduct an audit of your website, identifying issues and implementing fixes to the structure.
Measuring Your Success
Implementing these recommendations is important, but if you can’t measure success, it’s not worthwhile.
Here are five recommended metrics for your business to track, and below the table are actionable suggestions on how your business can measure these items.
Metric | What it measures | Example |
Brand Mention Rate | % of relevant AI answers that mention your business by name | How often does AI mention your business when asked about things to do in Toronto? |
Recommendation Rate | % of AI answers that actively recommend the business | How often does an AI engine suggest your business when someone asks for the best kayaking tours in Toronto? |
Competitor visibility | How frequently the business appears compared with competing businesses | Is your boat business recommended more often than other kayaking tour companies? |
Website citation rate | How frequently AI answers link to or cite the business's website | Does an AI engine provide a link to your boat tour business when recommending harbour cruises? |
AI referral traffic | Visitors arriving from identifiable AI sources and actions they take | How many visitors come from AI engines and result in purchasing boat tour tickets? |
Measuring Brand Mention Rate:
In order to measure your brand mention rate, you should create 20-30 relevant questions and test them in an AI engine each month. Use a consistent prompt set, location and testing process so monthly results are more comparable, but note that this is not a measure of how frequently real customers see the business recommended.
Your mention rate would be:
The number of AI responses mentioning your business name divided by the total number of AI responses tested.
You should record the results in a Google or Excel sheet, comparing the mention rates overtime.
Here are some examples of questions you could track. These questions will vary depending on your business. You can also use AI to help brainstorm relevant questions to track.
What are some unique experiences in Toronto?
What are the best sightseeing tours in Toronto?
Are there sightseeing cruises in Toronto?
What are fun activities for families visiting Toronto?
Is ‘Business Name’ worth booking?
Measuring recommendation rate, brand mention rate, and competitor comparison:
For a deeper understanding, it’s worthwhile to use software; it can provide more detailed tracking and save time. Software can also provide additional context and provide recommendations for marketing opportunities.
Software Recommendations:
Measuring Referral Traffic from AI Engines:
Your business can use Google Analytics, which is free, to track these metrics. Google Analytics can identify referral visits from AI engines and assistants, but it can’t measure how many times your website or business was used in an AI-generated answer.
Select the GA4 property for your website.
Go to Reports → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition.
Set the date range.
Look for the table showing Session primary channel group; you will see AI Assistant.
Your business can also use Google Search Console to measure impressions and pages appearing in Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode. It’s important to note that this only measures Google’s AI tool.