How AI Is Changing the Way Customers Find Businesses

Aug 29

By PWDR MEDIA News Desk

For most of the modern internet era, finding a business followed a familiar pattern. A customer opened Google, typed a handful of keywords, scanned several search results and clicked through websites until something looked promising. That behavior is not disappearing, but artificial intelligence is beginning to insert itself between the question and the answer. Customers can now ask conversational questions, describe exactly what they need and receive summarized recommendations before visiting a traditional search result at all. Someone looking for a contractor no longer has to search only "roofing company near me." They can ask an AI assistant to help identify roofing companies suited to a particular project, compare options and explain what questions to ask before hiring one. The implications for businesses are substantial. Online visibility is no longer exclusively about ranking as a blue link on a search engine results page. Increasingly, it is also about becoming a business that artificial intelligence systems can understand, evaluate and potentially surface when customers ask for help.

The shift is already producing measurable traffic. Adobe Analytics reported that traffic from generative AI tools to U.S. retail websites increased 693.4% year over year during the 2025 holiday shopping season. Adobe's analysis covered more than one trillion visits to U.S. retail websites, and the company noted that while AI-generated traffic remains smaller than established channels, consumers are increasingly using these tools as shopping assistants. Source: https://news.adobe.com/news/2026/01/adobe-holiday-shopping-season (news.adobe.com) What is happening in retail provides an early look at a much larger change: AI is becoming part of the research process customers use before deciding where to spend money.

Search Is Becoming a Conversation

Traditional search generally requires customers to translate what they want into keywords. AI allows them to describe the actual problem.

Consider the difference.

A traditional search might be "Denver marketing company."

A conversational search might sound more like: "Find marketing companies that understand Colorado businesses and offer SEO, video production and social media management."

Those queries express very different levels of intent. The second contains information about location, services and the type of company the customer wants. An AI system can potentially process those requirements, gather relevant information and present a smaller collection of options.

Adobe's 2025 research found that half of surveyed generative AI users were using the technology for general research, while 39% used it for activities including movie and dinner recommendations. Adobe also found 36% of generative AI users surveyed reported replacing some traditional searches with AI assistants, while 25% were using AI for shopping and price comparison and 18% for personalized product recommendations. Source: https://business.adobe.com/blog/the-explosive-rise-of-generative-ai-referral-traffic (business.adobe.com)

For businesses, this changes the meaning of being "searchable." Customers are no longer always asking for a list of websites. Sometimes they are asking for an answer.

Google Search Is Changing Too

AI discovery is not limited to standalone AI assistants. Traditional search engines are incorporating generative AI directly into the search experience.

That matters because customers do not necessarily need to deliberately switch to a different service before encountering an AI-generated answer. AI can appear inside the search process they already use.

The impact on browsing behavior is beginning to emerge. Pew Research Center analyzed the browsing activity of 900 U.S. adults during March 2025 and found that users who encountered a Google AI summary clicked a traditional search result during 8% of visits, compared with 15% of visits when an AI summary was not present. Users clicked a source directly within an AI summary in only 1% of visits containing one. Source: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results/ (pewresearch.org)

That creates a new challenge for marketers. Historically, search engine optimization concentrated heavily on earning the click. In an AI-assisted search environment, businesses increasingly need to consider whether their information can influence the answer even when the customer does not immediately visit the website.

This does not make websites less important. It arguably makes the information published on them more important.

AI Needs Something to Understand

Artificial intelligence cannot accurately describe a business if the internet provides little useful information about it.

Imagine two competing companies. The first has a thin website containing a homepage, phone number and a few vague statements about providing "excellent customer service." The second clearly explains its services, publishes detailed articles demonstrating expertise, maintains accurate business information, showcases completed projects and has reviews and other credible references across the web.

The second business gives both customers and automated systems considerably more context.

This is where many of the fundamentals of search engine optimization remain relevant. Businesses still need technically accessible websites, clear service descriptions, useful original content and consistent information. The difference is that those assets may now serve multiple discovery systems.

Adobe has described this transition as a movement from traditional SEO toward broader LLM discoverability, where businesses need to consider how their content appears within AI-generated experiences in addition to conventional search results. Source: https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2025/10/14/adobecom-is-customer-zero-for-llm-discoverability (blog.adobe.com)

The temptation will be to search for tricks that "game" AI systems. Businesses would be better served by concentrating on something considerably less exciting: publishing clear information that accurately demonstrates what they do.

Detailed Content Has Become More Valuable

AI discovery creates an especially strong argument for businesses to answer customer questions thoroughly.

A service page containing 100 generic words provides limited context. A comprehensive page explaining what the service includes, who it is designed for, common customer questions, relevant locations and the company's process provides considerably more information.

The same applies to blog content.

Articles can explain complicated subjects customers are researching before making a purchase. Frequently asked questions can address concerns that would otherwise require a phone call. Case studies can provide evidence of experience. Videos can demonstrate processes that are difficult to explain in writing.

This does not mean businesses should begin producing enormous quantities of AI-generated articles simply to occupy more space online. If anything, the increasing volume of machine-generated material makes genuine expertise more important.

Customers still need reasons to trust the businesses being recommended to them.

AI-Referred Customers May Arrive Better Informed

One particularly interesting development is what happens after AI sends someone to a website.

Adobe reported in January 2026 that shoppers arriving at retail websites from AI assistants spent 45% more time on-site and viewed 13% more pages per visit than other traffic. They were also 33% less likely to leave immediately. During the 2025 holiday season, Adobe found AI referrals converted 31% better than other traffic sources. Source: https://business.adobe.com/blog/ai-driven-traffic-surges-across-industries (business.adobe.com)

There is a logical explanation for that behavior. Someone who asks an AI assistant a detailed question may have already completed part of the research process before reaching the website.

Instead of arriving and asking, "What does this company do?" the customer may arrive asking, "Is this the company I want?"

That distinction could become increasingly important for businesses measuring website traffic. AI referrals may represent fewer casual browsers and more visitors who have already narrowed their options.

Reputation Still Matters in an AI World

Artificial intelligence may change how recommendations are delivered, but it does not eliminate the importance of reputation.

Customers will still look at reviews. They will still visit websites. They will still examine social media profiles and compare competitors. If an AI system introduces a customer to a company, the business still has to earn the next step.

That means companies should think about their entire online footprint rather than a single ranking.

Is the business information consistent? Does the website explain the company clearly? Are reviews recent? Does social media show legitimate activity? Are there useful articles demonstrating expertise? Can customers easily determine where the business operates and what it offers?

These questions mattered before AI. They matter even more when automated systems are helping customers process information from multiple sources.

Businesses Are Entering an Era of AI Discovery

There is no reason for businesses to abandon traditional SEO. Search engines remain enormously important, and AI-driven referrals still represent a relatively small portion of overall website traffic compared with established channels.

But the direction of travel is difficult to ignore.

Customers are beginning to ask AI systems for product research, recommendations, comparisons, travel ideas, financial information and answers to increasingly complicated questions. Adobe found that generative AI traffic to U.S. retail websites increased 4,700% year over year in July 2025, while 38% of surveyed U.S. consumers reported having used generative AI for online shopping. Among those users, research and product recommendations were among the leading use cases. Source: https://business.adobe.com/blog/generative-ai-powered-shopping-rises-with-traffic-to-retail-sites (business.adobe.com)

Businesses should pay attention not because Google is disappearing tomorrow, but because customer discovery is becoming more fragmented.

A future customer might discover a company through Google Search, an AI-generated summary, a social media video, an AI assistant or some combination of all four. The business may never know which individual interaction originally created awareness.

The fundamental marketing objective, however, remains remarkably familiar.

Be easy to find. Explain what you do clearly. Demonstrate expertise. Build a credible reputation. Publish information that genuinely helps customers make decisions.

Artificial intelligence is changing the path customers take to businesses. It is not changing the reason they ultimately choose one.

The companies best positioned for AI-driven discovery will not necessarily be those producing the most content or chasing every new optimization tactic. They will be the businesses creating enough accurate, useful and trustworthy information for both people and technology to understand why they deserve to be considered.