What is AI search?

Examples include ChatGPT search, Perplexity, Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini and Claude with web search. Many appear to follow a similar pattern: the model turns the question into one or more searches, reads some of the results, then writes an answer with citations.

That retrieval step matters. It usually runs on a search index, either the provider’s own or a partner’s (Copilot uses Bing, for example), so pages that are crawlable, fast and clearly written have a head start. The model’s training data shapes the tone and background, while live retrieval likely shapes many of the specific businesses it names.

People ask AI tools longer, more specific questions than they type into Google. The answer often names only a handful of businesses. For most local businesses, Google still sends far more visitors today, but the share coming through AI tools is growing and worth preparing for. I wrote more on this in what makes a website rank in 2026.

Someone in Edmonton asks Perplexity which bookkeepers in the city work with Shopify stores. The answer cites a small firm whose services page says exactly that, in a sentence, with a short list of the platforms it supports. A competitor that does the same work but describes itself only as “full-service bookkeeping” isn’t mentioned. (More for bookkeepers.)