For the past twenty years, local businesses have lived and died by Google. Ranking on page one — ideally in the top three — meant a steady flow of enquiries and a healthy amount of trust with potential customers.
But the landscape is shifting faster than most people realise.
2024–2025 has seen one of the biggest disruptions to online discovery since Google itself launched. Consumers have quietly changed the way they search, and they’re increasingly going around Google entirely — straight to AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.
And here’s the part most business owners don’t know:
These AI tools aren’t recommending your business. They’re recommending the businesses they understand best — which is rarely you.
This is where AI Search Optimisation (ASO) comes in. It’s not SEO, it’s not content marketing, and it’s not ads. It’s a brand-new discipline focused on making sure your business actually shows up in the places customers are now searching.
This guide breaks down what ASO is, why it matters, and what every Aussie business should be thinking about in 2025.
What Is AI Search Optimisation?
AI Search Optimisation (ASO) is the process of making your business discoverable, understandable, and recommendable inside AI assistants and AI-driven search tools.
Instead of optimising to appear on Google’s search results page, you’re optimising to be the business that AI chooses to recommend when a user asks a question, such as:
- “Who’s the best physio near me?”
- “Find me a Melbourne web designer who is affordable and fast.”
- “What tradies can install solar in Frankston?”
- “Who does cosmetic injectables in St Kilda?”
AI assistants don’t show a list of 10 blue links.
They give one answer.
Sometimes two.
That’s the entire game.
And that answer tends to be the business:
- with the clearest entity information
- with the most consistent and structured data
- with transparent service descriptions
- with clean, factual content
- with publicly accessible pricing
- with well-organised FAQs
- with strong business profiles in trusted directories
Where SEO was about ranking higher than competitors, ASO is about becoming the default recommendation.
Why AI Search Is Replacing Google (Faster Than Anyone Predicted)
This isn’t hype — there’s hard data behind the shift.
1. Consumer behaviour has changed
Multiple international studies in 2024/25 (PwC, KPMG, McKinsey) point to a clear trend:
Consumers are using AI tools for decision-making, not just fun.
In Australia, the most common real queries SMBs are losing traffic to include:
- “Find me the best ___ near me.”
- “Which company should I use for ___?”
- “Who is reputable for ___ in Melbourne?”
AI is more convenient than Google because users get a specific answer, not homework.
2. Google’s own AI Overviews are cannibalising organic traffic
When a user sees an AI Overview at the top of the page, organic clicks drop dramatically.
Research from SEO tool providers (Moz, Ahrefs, BrightEdge) shows 30–60% reductions in organic clicks for affected queries.
SEO isn’t dead — but it doesn’t drive the same amount of traffic.
3. Perplexity is the fastest-growing search engine in the world
Perplexity isn’t huge in Australia yet, but early adopters (tech, business, young professionals) are already using it daily.
It crawls websites aggressively and builds its own knowledge graph — not based on SEO, but on clarity and structured data.
4. Google Business Profile isn’t enough anymore
AI tools don’t simply look at your Google listing. They triangulate:
- your website
- your social profiles
- third-party data
- structured metadata
- service descriptions
- pricing and process clarity
If your business information is messy or inconsistent, you drop out of recommendations instantly.
How AI Assistants Decide Which Businesses to Recommend
AI search engines don’t work like Google’s ranking algorithm. Instead of measuring keywords and backlinks, they look for:
- trustworthy entity data
- structured information that’s easy to ingest
- consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone)
- location clarity
- transparent descriptions of services
- FAQs that match user intent
- credible reviews and directory listings
- clean, well-structured HTML
Here’s a simplified look at the three major AI search engines and how they choose businesses:
ChatGPT Search
ChatGPT’s new Search product behaves like a hybrid between a crawler and a knowledge engine.
It looks for:
- consistent business identity
- clear service descriptions
- strong About pages
- factual tone
- pricing transparency
- well-structured content
ChatGPT rewards websites that are easy to understand and extremely clear.
Google Gemini + AI Overviews
Gemini has access to Google’s ecosystem, so it relies on:
- Google Business Profile
- schema markup
- location data
- service area data
- reviews (Google, TrustPilot, industry-specific)
- structured website content
- FAQ blocks
Gemini tends to ignore pages that are keyword-stuffed or vague.
Perplexity
Perplexity is currently the most advanced in crawling.
It prioritises:
- structured data feeds
- clean HTML
- consistent business information
- service catalogues
- authoritative, factual blog posts
- clear pricing
- pages with direct Q&A content
- suburb-specific landing pages
Perplexity often pulls from FAQ-style pages even more than traditional blogs.
The Core Components of Proper AI Search Optimisation
ASO is a new discipline, but the building blocks are becoming increasingly clear. These are the elements modern businesses need to consider.
1. An AI Knowledge Page (“AI Factsheet”)
This is a dedicated page on your site that presents:
- a clear business summary
- who you serve
- your services
- pricing
- locations
- FAQs
- process explanation
Think of it like your business’s Wikipedia page — but on your own site.
AI crawlers love this.
2. Clean, Consistent Structured Data (Schema)
Schema markup has historically been “nice to have” for SEO.
In ASO, it’s essential.
Key schema types AI tools prioritise:
- LocalBusiness
- Organization
- Service
- Product/Offer
- FAQPage
- Review
- Person (for founders or practitioners)
- ServiceArea
Schema helps AI understand you at a machine level.
3. AI-Specific Feeds (JSON Data Files)
AI crawlers increasingly rely on structured JSON files because they’re easier to process than HTML.
Many forward-thinking businesses are now publishing:
- /ai-profile.json
- /services.json
- /faq.json
- /openai-data.json
These act like “AI sitemaps”.
They’re new, but powerful.
4. AI-Friendly, Fact-Based Content
This is not the same as SEO blog content.
AI tools want:
- straightforward answers
- clear definitions
- service breakdowns
- pricing clarity
- step-by-step explanations
- local/suburb-specific pages
- strong FAQs
Keyword-heavy, fluffy blogs won’t get quoted by AI at all.
5. A Clean, Consistent Online Footprint
AI engines triangulate data across:
- Google Business Profile
- Bing Places
- Apple Business Connect
- industry directories
- review platforms
- citations
If your business name is written differently in different places (very common), AI engines downgrade trust.
What Happens If You Don’t Optimise for AI Search
Not to be dramatic — but this shift is already impacting businesses.
Without ASO, your business risks:
- being excluded from AI recommendations
- losing traffic as Google AI Overviews push organic links down
- competitors becoming the default answer in AI tools
- reduction in website enquiries
- drop in local leads
- weaker authority and trust signals
Remember: AI gives one answer, not a list.
If your competitor becomes that answer, they’ll stay there until you surpass them — which becomes expensive and time-consuming.
Early movers will dominate the AI search space in their niche.
How Australian SMEs Can Start Preparing for AI Search
While every business is different, there are a few practical steps any Australian SME can take right now to strengthen their visibility in AI-driven search tools:
- Keep your business details consistent everywhere.
Make sure your name, address, phone number, ABN and opening hours match across your website, Google Business Profile and social channels. AI systems rely heavily on consistency to verify a business. - Make your service pages clearer and more direct.
AI tools prefer pages that explain what you do in plain language, with specific details and fewer buzzwords. - Be upfront about pricing or at least price ranges.
Transparency helps AI understand your positioning compared to competitors. - Add a simple FAQ section based on the questions customers commonly ask you.
This improves both human readability and AI comprehension. - Create suburb or region pages if you service multiple areas.
Local intent continues to matter in AI search, and clear geographic signals help significantly. - Update and complete your Google Business Profile.
It remains a key data source for Gemini and other AI tools.
These steps won’t overhaul your entire AI search footprint, but they lay the groundwork and dramatically improve how clearly AI systems can “read” your business online.
How New Digital Helps Businesses Show Up in AI Search
New Digital is one of the first agencies in Australia focused on AI Search Optimisation — the new frontier beyond SEO.
We help businesses:
- build AI-friendly knowledge architecture
- structure their data so AI tools can ingest it
- publish AI-specific JSON feeds
- install complete schema markup
- clean up business profiles and directories
- optimise service pages for AI recommendations
- create suburb/location authority pages
- set up factual, AI-friendly blog content
- monitor visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI
It’s a full end-to-end service that ensures your business isn’t left behind as AI replaces traditional search behaviours.
Conclusion: Early Adopters Will Own AI Search in 2025
AI search isn’t coming — it’s already here.
Every day, more Australians are using ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity to find services, compare providers, research businesses and get recommendations.
The businesses that win in this new era will be the ones that:
- understand the shift
- get their data in order
- embrace structured information
- publish clear, factual content
- and get in early
Because in AI search, once a system decides you are the most trustworthy business for a category… it tends to stick.
If you want to make sure your business shows up in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity — not just Google — get in touch.
This is the best time to get ahead of the curve.
