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Episode 465: Is Your Business Findable — Or Just Existing? SEO, AIO, and Why the Rules Just Changed

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Your clients are not searching the way they used to. And if your website is still built for the old rules — you are invisible in the new ones.

TIMESTAMPS:

  • [0:00] — Someone booked a call with me from ChatGPT. Here is what that means for your business.
  • [1:30] — The Google problem: why clicking and backing out is exhausting your clients
  • [3:00] — What SEO is and why it still matters (but is no longer enough)
  • [6:30] — What AIO is and the one line that explains the difference
  • [8:30] — The 12% stat: why 88% of websites are invisible to AI right now
  • [10:00] — The three things your website needs for AI to recommend you
  • [13:00] — The villain: the business owner who keeps saying ‘I’ll do it later’
  • [15:00] — What it actually looks like when it’s working
  • [16:30] — Your 3-minute self-audit: do this before the episode ends

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL DISCOVER:

  • What SEO is and why it still matters in 2026
  • What AIO (AI Optimization) is and how it is completely different from SEO
  • Why 88% of small business websites are invisible to AI search right now — and how to check if yours is one of them
  • The three things your website must have for ChatGPT and Perplexity to recommend you
  • A 3-minute self-audit you can do tonight to see exactly where you stand

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

The way your clients find you has changed. They are not Googling and clicking through ten links anymore. They are having conversations with AI — and AI is recommending someone. In this episode, Bella breaks down the difference between SEO and AIO, explains why 88% of small business websites are invisible to AI tools right now, and walks through exactly what you need to fix it. No tech degree required. This is strategy, not software.

A NOTE ON THE STATS IN THIS EPISODE:

Every statistic Bella cites has a source link in the show notes below, along with who funded the study and what their potential bias is. Bella believes you deserve to fact-check her. Click any link and see for yourself.

RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED:

CONNECT WITH BELLA:

Website Sessions with Bella

The Jumpers Mastermind 

Subscribe to Bella in Your Business  

Bella’s Website  

Find Bella on Instagram and Facebook — search Bella Vasta  

 

FAQ SECTION:

What is the difference between SEO and AIO?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the practice of structuring your website so Google ranks it in search results. AIO (AI Optimization) is structuring your website so AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews can read, understand, and recommend you. SEO gets you found. AIO makes you the answer. Both matter in 2026 — but most small business websites have only been built for one of them.

What is AIO and why does it matter for small business owners?

AIO stands for AI Optimization — also called AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) or GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) depending on who you ask. The industry has not settled on one term yet. What they all mean is the same thing: structuring your website content so AI tools can read it, trust it, and recommend your business when someone asks for help with the problem you solve. As more people use ChatGPT and Perplexity to find services, businesses that are not optimized for AI are losing referrals they never even know about.

How do I know if my website is visible to AI?

Open ChatGPT or Perplexity. Do not search your business name — search the problem your ideal client has, the way they would actually type it. If your business does not come up, that is your answer. Other signals: your website has not been updated in over a year, you do not have a blog, your homepage is vague about who you serve and how, and your site does not use structured data (schema markup). All of these reduce how findable you are to AI tools.

What is schema markup and do I need it?

Schema markup is code you add to your website that tells AI systems exactly what your business does, who you serve, what questions you answer, and why you are credible. Without it, AI has to guess — and AI would rather recommend someone it does not have to guess about. As of 2025, only about 12% of websites use any structured data at all. That means the businesses who add it now have a significant early advantage in AI search visibility.

Does my website need a blog for AI search?

Yes. A blog is one of the highest-value things on your website for AI visibility. AI tools favor content that is specific, answers real questions, and has been published recently. A blank or outdated blog page gives AI very little to work with. You do not need to publish every day — consistent, specific, question-answering content matters more than volume. If you have not posted in over six months, that is your most urgent gap.

 

Full Episode Transcript

Someone booked a call with me recently and I asked what I always ask. How did you hear about me? And she said, chat GPT, not Google, not Instagram, not like I saw you on my feed or I was on your email list or I listened to your podcast, podcast, what you’re listening to right now It was chat GPT. She had been mid conversation trying to figure out a problem and was asking what top consultants could help her with the problem. And chat GPT told her me.

and proceeded to explain more than just my name, but the reasons why. That conversation stopped me cold because what I realized is what if my website had not been set up the right way? That conversation would have ended with someone else’s name. And then I started thinking of you and your website and whether AI even knows you exist. Welcome back to another episode of Bella in Your Business. My name is Bella Vasta.

I’ve been doing this podcast since 2014 for you, my small business, pet sitting business, dog walking business, dog grooming business, dog training business, all of you, since 2014. Your clients are not searching the way that they used to. And if your website is still built the old way, then

You are invisible in the new way. And so today we’re going to talk about SEO, AIO. There’s a couple of different forms of that, AEO. And there’s a couple others, but for the sake of the show and today, March 20, 26, I’m going to call it AIO. And what to do in the next 90 days will determine whether your business is findable or just existing. OK, I want you to think about the last time you Googled something for your business. So you typed it in, then 10 blue links came back.

You clicked one, it wasn’t quite right, so you hit back. Then you clicked another one and shoot, it was an ad. Clicked back, you scrolled, you got distracted, you got overwhelmed, and then you gave up. That’s what your clients are doing when they Google you. Or the problem that you solve, or the service that you offer. They’re clicking, they’re backing out, and they’re clicking, and they’re backing out, exhausted. Because before they have even found you, they’re just overwhelmed.

Now think about what it feels like to have a conversation with Chachi BT when you’re trying to figure something out. It’s different, right? It like listens to your whole situation. You feel heard. It asks follow up questions sometimes and it gives you one clear answer instead of 10 options that you have to sort through yourself. And when it says you should go talk to this person, you go because it felt like advice, not advertising.

All right. Before I give you some numbers, I want to be upfront about something. A lot of statistics in marketing worlds are produced by companies that have a financial interest before believing in them. All right. So for every stat in this episode, I have put the source in the show notes. You want to go to JumpConsulting.net, click on podcast and you could find that so you can know who did the study, who paid for it, what their potential bias is. And I want you to go fact check me, like not because I’m hiding anything, but because

A business owner who makes decisions based off of bad data is worse off than a business decision being made, like no business decision being made at all. And so here’s what the research says with full context. A marketing agency called 802 surveyed 500 people who have already used AI tools. 37 % they say that they now start their searches with AI instead of Google. And here’s what I want you to know.

802 sells AI search strategy services. So they do have a financial interest in what you’re carrying about with this number. I’m telling you that because you deserve to know, but the finding really does line up with what I’m watching in my own business and what I hear from all the other experts that I follow. Okay. So take it with context and decide for yourself. But here’s the question that I want you to sit with while you’re reading this right now. Someone’s having a conversation with AI.

about the exact problem you solve. my gosh, I wanna go to Las Vegas this weekend and shoot, I need a dog walker. Who do you know near me, okay? It doesn’t show a list of links unless you pick. It reads the website behind the scenes. It reads it and it crawls it for your structure, your content, your copy, the unique value proposition that you have. And it decides whether you’re credible enough to

recommend. Hear me when I say that. And if your website hasn’t been updated for years, well, let me just say the structure is probably wrong, which is the schema is probably wrong. If you don’t have a blog, if your homepage is vague or all like we love them like our own or we go above and beyond and it’s nothing specific to who you help and why and how specific to your business.

AI will probably skip you. Not because you’re not good at what you do, but because it cannot tell that you are. And right now, I’m not going to go through this rabbit hole. There’s a lot of pet sitters that have got their tails not wagging about Wagon Rover because quite frankly, they’re missing the point that Wagon Rover are going to beat them every day in every kind of marketing and search because they have the money to. This episode is the ammunition that you can take to help

Compete or show up next to them. All right, and so I know what you’re probably also thinking off my websites fine Bella I still get clients sure for now But let me ask you something how many clients are you not getting you don’t know because you probably are not have hot jar on your website You’re not understated. You don’t know what your bounce rate is right now You don’t know who the qualified ones are right now the ones who ask AI got a name that might not have been yours

and booked with someone else before you ever had the chance, like Rover or Wag or your competition. You’ll never know because they never showed up. OK, your website isn’t just your address anymore. It’s your pitch to AI. Let me break this down because I use two terms that I actually want you to understand what they mean. And I want to make sure that we’re both talking about the same thing. So SEO.

search engine optimization, we’ve heard about that all the time, but this is the old game. Keywords, backlinks, page structure, all this stuff that makes Google put you on page one. And when someone searches for what you do, think of it as like the live yellow pages, because it is like the yellow pages now. You earn your spot by saying the right words in the right places. SEO still matters. It’s not gone, it’s not dead. It matters. Don’t abandon it. But it is no longer enough on its own. Okay?

Then there’s AI optimization. This is the new game and the difference is huge. SEO gets you found, AIO makes you the answer. How many answers are on your website right now? When someone uses ChatGPT or Perplexity or Google’s AI overview and they’re not just getting a list of links, they’re getting a response, a recommendation, a direct answer. And AI pulls that answer from the websites that are structured in a way it can read, understand, and trust.

But if your website is not structured in that way, this is where like the development side of things come, then you’re not the answer. You’re not even in the running. And here’s the number that stopped me. Only 12.4 % of websites use something called structured data. That’s the technical layer that helps AI read and understand your content. This is the part where I say it’s really hard to just do your website on your own.

Because not only are you making it look pretty and you’re making it sound good, but there’s technical things that you’re not aware of that only a web developer can do. Well, you could do it too. It would take lots of time to figure it out. That stat comes from schema.org, which is an organization that actually created the structured data standards. And it was co-founded by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo.

No financial acts to grind. This is what they track across the world’s registered websites. 12%. That means 88 % of websites, probably including yours, because that’s the statistics, are invisible to AI right now. Not hard to find. Invisible. 12%. Let that sit. That means that your competitor down the street, the one that you keep an eye on, almost certainly has not done this yet either. And it’s still early, you guys.

It’s early and exactly where you wanna move. Now, here’s where I want to be honest with you. I am not a technical SEO expert. There are people who go way deeper on this than I do. And I know them and I can refer you to them. But what I am is someone who is in the trenches helping real small businesses owners, business owners right now, thinking and watching and wondering what’s happening in real time. I’m redoing at least one website a month with a client.

We’re rewriting copy, adding blog content, restructuring pages, doing this schema. And when I ask new clients how they found me, I’m hearing chat GPT more and more, even on my new website. So what do AIO actually require? It’s three major things. One, content that answers real questions, not for Google, okay? Not vague copy about your mission that nobody cares about. Actual specific answers to the questions your ideal client

is typing into AI. What does working with you look like? Who are you best for? What problems do you solve and how? AI looks for websites that answers questions clearly. That is what a blog does, okay? It is what detailed FAQs do and not just one page of it. It’s what a specific service page does. And if you don’t have a blog, I’ve been saying this for 15 years, you guys, now’s the time.

Not because of SEO, because AI is feeding on a fresh, specific content and your blank blog page is starving it. Two, structure AI can read. Hmm, what does that mean? Well, there is a technical piece called the schema markup. It’s the code on your website that tells AI, and this is what this business does. This is who they serve. This is the question the page answers, and without it, AI has to guess.

and AI would rather recommend someone than have to guess about it. Number three, a voice that’s actually yours, not this AI DIY. I was just talking with Erica this week, last week about that and how so many people are thinking that they can just DIY AI their website copy. I loved that term. I hope she doesn’t mind that I’m using it. And it’s so true.

And so the voice that’s actually yours, the trap that I’m seeing right now is business owners are using AI to write their own website copy. And it all sounds the same. It all follows the same sentence structure. It uses the same words. It’s generic. It’s safe. It’s fabricated. Maybe you don’t know this because you don’t live in AI like I do. But AI cannot recommend you as unique if your website sounds like every other one that it’s read. You cannot DIY your way to being findable. Not anymore.

Because a website that sounds like everyone else is everyone else. All right, before I keep going, I know you’re already thinking, shoot, I need to do something about my website. And I want you to bookmark this or save this or whatever you have to do to come back to this episode. I work with business owners, a lot of people don’t know this, to rewrite and structure their website specifically for this. We do it in six focus sessions. I have a whole method. It’s not a year long process, six sessions.

But here’s the thing, you have to come prepared. You need to know your brand, your ideal client, what makes you different, because this is not a coaching session. What we do here is taking what you already know about your business and turning it into content that AI can find and trust and recommend. So if you wanna just talk about this and see if that’s a right fit for you, you can go to jumpconsulting.net forward slash 20 to zero to learn more. And the link’s also in the show notes.

I wanna talk to you about something specific right now. You know who you are. You’ve been saying, I need to redo my website for how long? A year or two, maybe longer. Every time you think about it, you feel overwhelmed. So you close the tab. Or maybe you started with a web developer and they’re still waiting for you to get you their content six months later. Mm-hmm, I’m talking to you. I talk to people like this all the time. I know I’m talking to you. And guess what? Things aren’t slowing down. You know that, I know that.

And here’s what the stalling is actually costing you. OK, two more numbers, both in the show notes with full source details so you can verify them for yourself. First, a company called Exponent 21, it tracks search data found on Google AI overviews, now appears at the top of 60 percent of search results. 60 percent. So even when you Google, you’re still 60 percent of the time getting an AI search result. They have no financial stake in that number. That’s just what they measured.

And the second is AI referral traffic. The number of people landing on websites from AI grew 527 % in one year. That stat is from Search Engine Land, which is one of the most respected trade publications in digital marketing. It’s worth noting that they’re owned by SEMrush, which sells SEO software, but their editorial team owns or operates independently of this finding and has been corroborated by many other sources.

The business owner down the street who’s fixing their website right now is not smarter than you. They’re just not waiting. And the new business launching today, they’re building AI from day one. They don’t have a legacy website to fix. They are starting with this in mind. And while you’re waiting for the right time, they’re already in the conversation. Your website is either earning its keep or it’s not. Beautiful and undiscoverable is not a strategy.

It’s an expensive decoration. Think about it this way, unless you plan to go to 20 networking events a week, knock on doors, put up lawn signs, and do manual labor with the time I know you don’t have, your website needs to do the work for you. It needs to be out there every day, every hour that you’re not working, answering questions, building credibility, getting recommended right now for most of you. It’s just sitting there doing nothing.

And in the words of Britney Spears, work which I’m going to keep this a PG. I mean, I mean it though. Like your website could be the hardest working member of your team. And right now it’s probably on an unpaid vacation. Let me show you what’s possible because I do not just want to scare you. I want you to feel like you know what you’re working to. So imagine a Tuesday night, you’re asleep.

Somewhere across town or across country, your ideal client is having to solve a real problem with ChatGPT. They’re stressed. It’s the exact problem you solve. And they ask, who should I hire for this? And AI says your name. It describes exactly what you do and the language that your clients use. And because this person is already mid-conversation with a tool that they totally trust, they’re not skeptical like they’re on Google. They’re not even comparison shopping. They click through and they book, if your website allows it.

You wake up to a new inquiry in your box from someone who already trusts you before you’ve said a single word. This isn’t a fantasy. This is happening right now for the businesses that did the work. The only question is whether your business is one of them or not. So, okay, before this episode ends, I want you to do three things and you can do all three things in under three minutes. Are you ready? Cause you know me, I’m not just about the motivation. I’m about the inspiration to action. Number one.

open up chat GPT right now or whichever LLM you want to use. Don’t search your name. Search the problem that your ideal client has, the way that they would actually type it. Who should I hire to help me with? See what comes up. See if you come up. That moment, whatever you feel, that’s your data. Two, look at your blog. When was the last post? If it’s been more than six months, AI has very little fresh content for you to work from.

You don’t have to blog. If you don’t have a blog at all, that’s your biggest gap. Okay? Not your colors, not your logo, not your blank blog. It’s your blank blog page. And number three, read your own homepage out loud. Out loud, like you’ve never read it before. Does it answer real questions? Or is it just fluff? Does it answer the so what factor I like to say? Does it say specifically who you help, what your problem is, and the person trying to solve it in plain language? Or does it something like empowering businesses?

or empowering pet owners to have the best relationship with their dog. Because AI can’t recommend vague, it recommends specific. And I know specific’s scary, that’s for another episode. All right. So here’s what I do specifically. I work with small businesses. take everything that makes your business yours, your voice, your results, your process, in a specific way for you to show up with your clients. And we turn that into a website that AI can read, trust, and recommend. I’ve been doing this for over a year.

Six sessions, not six months. We could even double up, so it’s three double sessions. But here’s what you need to know before you reach out. These sessions are not coaching. We are not figuring out your business from scratch. You need to come in knowing who you are, who you serve, and what makes you different. If you don’t have clarity on that yet, we should talk about coaching first, and I can help with that too. In these sessions, we’re gonna figure, take your clarity and turn it into copy, into structure, and you leave.

with a GPT that you can use beyond just that session. It’s wildly useful for beyond, right? And the reason most business owners haven’t redone their website is simple. They don’t know what to say. They’re overwhelmed. They stall. They’re paralyzed. Okay? But I get it. And that paralysis is now costing you in a way that it’s never before. This isn’t just Google anymore. I hope that you really understand this with this episode.

If you’re ready to stop having a website that just sits there, go to jumpconsulting.net forward slash 20 and let’s talk. Like let’s just talk because I’ll tell you what you need to do before we even do it. And I’ll link it in the show notes. And if you have any questions, drop them in the comments because I read every single one. And don’t forget to share it if you liked this. I’m Bella Vasta and this is Bella in your business. Well, remember when life gets you down to always keep jumping. Bye now.