Your Website Might Look Great. But Does Google or AI Actually Understand It?

Forget the jargon for a moment. Let's talk about how customers actually find your business.

This isn't another article written for digital marketers to dissect, packed with technical terminology, mysterious algorithms and promises of reaching number one on Google.

It's for business owners.

People who have invested time, money and effort into their websites and quite reasonably want to know whether they're actually doing their job.

Because the way people search for businesses is changing. Google isn't the only place people go for answers anymore. Increasingly, they're asking AI tools like ChatGPT to find services, compare businesses and make recommendations.

So what does that mean for your website? Is traditional SEO dead? Do you need to start worrying about something called GEO? And does having a beautifully designed website really matter if search engines and AI tools struggle to understand what your business actually offers?

Let's strip away the buzzwords, challenge a few myths and look at what really matters.

No magic formulas. No promises of overnight rankings. Just a better understanding of AI search and SEO, why your website's content matters and what you can do about it.

Search is changing. Your customers are changing with it.

Think about how you might have found a business five or ten years ago.

You'd probably have opened Google, typed something like "website designer near me", looked through the results and clicked a few websites.

That still happens. A lot.

But now imagine asking ChatGPT:

"Can you recommend someone who can fix my Wix website? I've built most of it myself, but I'm stuck and need someone to finish it."

That's a very different kind of search.

Instead of typing a handful of keywords, you're describing a problem, explaining what you need and asking for a recommendation.

Google itself is changing, too, with AI-generated answers appearing in search results alongside traditional website listings.

The important point isn't that Google is disappearing. It isn't.

It's that customers have more ways to discover businesses, and your website needs to communicate clearly across those different experiences.

What is search intent, and why should you care?

Here's a phrase that gets thrown around in marketing: search intent.

It sounds technical, but it simply means understanding what somebody actually wants when they search.

Someone searching for "Wix website design" might be exploring options for a new website.

Someone asking "Can I hire somebody to finish my Wix website?" has a much more specific problem. They've probably already spent hours trying to get something working and are ready for help.

The words are different. The customer's needs are different. And the information they're hoping to find is different.

This is why understanding your customers matters far more than simply repeating the same keywords throughout your website.

At Iris, we recently explored this exact problem in our article Can I Hire Someone to Finish My Wix Website?.

It addresses a real frustration, explains the available options and helps people understand what to do next.

That's the kind of content worth creating.

What is AI visibility, and what does GEO actually mean?

You may have started hearing about GEO, or Generative Engine Optimisation.

It's a term used to describe efforts to improve how information about a business or website is discovered, understood and potentially referenced by AI-powered search tools.

Traditional SEO focuses on helping search engines discover, understand and rank your website.

GEO looks at how your business might appear in AI-generated answers, recommendations and summaries.

There is considerable overlap between the two.

And here's where I'd be cautious about some of the marketing claims circulating online.

Nobody can guarantee that ChatGPT, Google AI or another AI assistant will recommend your business.

These systems don't all work in the same way. Their responses can change depending on the question, available sources, location and other factors.

There isn't a secret piece of code you can add to your website that guarantees a recommendation.

If somebody is selling you that promise, I'd be asking some fairly difficult questions.

In fact, Google's own guidance on AI features and websites makes it clear that established SEO best practices remain relevant to its AI search experiences. You don't need a completely different set of technical tricks simply because AI is involved.

Why your website content matters more than ever

Imagine two local businesses offering exactly the same service.

The first has a beautiful website with impressive photography and a handful of statements:

"Quality service."

"Professional solutions."

"Customer satisfaction guaranteed."

Sounds lovely. But what does the business actually do? Who does it help? Where does it operate? What problems can it solve?

Now imagine the second website.

It clearly explains its services, describes the customers it works with, answers common questions, shows examples of completed projects and includes genuine customer reviews.

Which one gives a potential customer more confidence?

And which one provides more useful information for search systems to interpret?

The second website has a much stronger foundation.

That doesn't guarantee it will rank higher or appear in an AI recommendation, but it makes the business easier to understand and evaluate.

Good website content isn't about filling pages with words. It's about providing the right information.

And this is where design and content need to work together.

A beautifully designed website can capture someone's attention. Clear, useful content helps them decide whether you're the business they're looking for.

Our approach to Wix website design is built around that principle: creating websites that look professional, communicate clearly and support real business objectives.

AI Search and SEO: Is Traditional SEO Dead?

Every few years, somebody announces that SEO is dead.

It happened with social media. It happened with voice search. And now it's happening with AI.

But the reality is less dramatic.

Search engines still need to discover your website, understand its content and determine when it's relevant to somebody's question.

Page titles, clear headings, relevant content, internal links, mobile usability and technical accessibility still matter.

So do genuine expertise, accurate business information and a good user experience.

What deserves to disappear is the idea that SEO is simply about squeezing keywords into every available paragraph.

Writing "best website designer in Horsham" fifteen times doesn't make a page fifteen times more useful.

Nor does publishing dozens of near-identical articles purely to target slight variations of a search phrase.

And while we're at it, adding AI-generated content to your website simply because you can produce it quickly isn't automatically a strategy.

More content isn't necessarily better content.

If an article doesn't help your customers, answer a worthwhile question or demonstrate something useful about your business, why publish it?

That's the question I'd ask before spending time creating another blog post.

Google's guidance on creating helpful, reliable, people-first content reinforces this approach. The emphasis is on producing information that genuinely benefits visitors, rather than content created primarily to manipulate rankings.

And that's a principle worth following regardless of how search technology develops.

Can AI actually recommend your business?

Yes, and we've seen an interesting example ourselves.

Recently, two new customers contacted Iris after asking ChatGPT to recommend someone who could help with their Wix websites.

Both went on to commission work.

It's a small example, and we can't say precisely why ChatGPT recommended Iris in those conversations.

But it illustrates something important: customers are already using AI tools to help them find businesses and make purchasing decisions.

That creates another potential route for businesses to be discovered.

It doesn't replace traditional search, word of mouth or recommendations from existing customers.

It adds to them.

For Iris, it reinforces why we've invested in explaining our specialist services, publishing useful articles and developing a dedicated Wix Website Help service.

We want people to understand what we do, whether they discover us through Google, an AI assistant or a recommendation from somebody they know.

Seven things every business owner should check on their website

You don't need to become an SEO expert to make meaningful improvements.

Start by asking yourself these questions.

1. Is it immediately obvious what your business does?

Could somebody understand your main services within a few seconds of arriving on your homepage?

2. Are you explaining who you help?

Be specific about your customers, the problems you solve and the areas you serve.

3. Are you answering real customer questions?

Think about the questions people ask before contacting you. Those are often excellent subjects for useful website content.

4. Are you demonstrating your experience?

Real projects, customer testimonials, photographs and practical examples can be far more persuasive than generic claims.

5. Is your information accurate and consistent?

Check your website, Google Business Profile and other relevant business listings. Outdated services, conflicting contact details and broken links don't help anyone.

6. Can visitors find related information easily?

A good website connects relevant pages together. If you're discussing a particular service, help visitors find the detailed information they need.

7. Does your website work properly on mobile?

A website can look fantastic on a large desktop screen and still be frustrating to use on a phone. Test the actual experience, not just the appearance.

If you're unsure where to start, our Wix Website Help service covers everything from improving existing pages and content to resolving technical problems and refreshing outdated websites.

So, what's the future of search?

Nobody knows exactly how search will develop over the next five years.

AI will almost certainly continue changing how people research products, compare services and discover businesses.

But I'd be very wary of anyone claiming that websites are about to become irrelevant.

If anything, businesses need reliable, well-organised information about themselves more than ever.

Your website remains somewhere you control: a place to explain your services, demonstrate your experience, publish original information and give potential customers confidence.

The technology people use to find that information may change.

The importance of being clear, credible and genuinely useful doesn't.

The bottom line: Build for people. Make it easy to be found.

A good-looking website is important. First impressions matter.

But appearance alone isn't enough.

Your website should explain what you do, demonstrate why customers should trust you and answer the questions they're actually asking.

That's good for visitors. It's a sound foundation for traditional SEO. And it gives AI-powered discovery systems clearer information to work with.

At Iris Digital Marketing, we believe the best websites combine thoughtful design, meaningful content and a clear understanding of the people they're built for.

Because the real goal isn't simply to appear in search results. It's to be the business someone chooses when they find you.