Is AI Taking Over SEO? The Customer Journey Is Already Changing

For years, businesses have been told the same thing:

Improve your SEO. Rank higher on Google. Create more content. Get more reviews. Drive more traffic to your website.

None of that has suddenly become irrelevant.

But something important has changed.

The customer's search journey may now begin before they ever reach your website—or even before they perform a traditional Google search.

Increasingly, consumers and business buyers are asking artificial intelligence to answer the first question:

Who should I call?

What companies should I consider?

What should I look for before making this purchase?

What is the best solution for my problem?

That raises an important question for every business owner:

If your potential customer asks AI first, does AI know enough about your business to include you in the conversation?

Search Behavior Is Already Changing

This isn't just speculation about where technology might go.

Pew Research Center reported in 2026 that 42% of U.S. adults say they use AI chatbots to search for information. Among adults ages 18–29, that number rises to 54%, and among ages 30–49, it's 53%.

In the B2B software market, the shift is even more pronounced. G2 surveyed 1,076 software buyers and decision-makers in March 2026 and found 51% said they start their software research with an AI chatbot more often than Google. At the same time, 80% still use Google somewhere during the buying process.

That last statistic is important.

Google isn't disappearing. The customer journey is changing.

A traditional buying journey might have looked like this:

Google Search → Search Results → Website → Reviews → Contact Business

Increasingly, it can look more like this:

Ask AI → Develop a Shortlist → Google the Companies → Check Reviews → Visit Website → Contact Business

That's a major difference.

Because if your company isn't part of that first AI-generated shortlist, you may be entering the sales cycle after several competitors have already established themselves in the customer's mind.

Even Google Is Becoming More AI-Driven

AI isn't only competing with traditional search. It is becoming part of traditional search.

Google reported in August 2026 that AI Overviews had more than 2.5 billion monthly active users, while its AI Mode had surpassed 1 billion monthly users.

Pew Research Center also analyzed Google browsing behavior and found that when an AI summary appeared in search results, users clicked a traditional search result on about 8% of visits, compared with 15% when an AI summary was not present.

That doesn't mean SEO is dead.

It means the definition of search visibility is expanding.

Your website still matters.

Your reviews still matter.

Your expertise still matters.

Your reputation still matters.

But businesses should also begin asking whether their entire digital footprint gives AI enough reliable information to understand:

• What the company does.

• Where it operates.

• Who it serves.

• What problems it solves.

• What makes it different.

• Why customers trust it.

• What expertise it has.

• Whether outside sources validate those claims.

The objective isn't simply to rank anymore.

The objective is to be understood, trusted and considered.

Businesses Can Miss the Customer at the Very Beginning of the Sales Funnel

Marketing teams traditionally spend significant time thinking about leads, conversion rates, landing pages and advertising campaigns.

But AI introduces a new stage before many of those activities.

Discovery.

If someone asks:

“What should I look for when hiring a financial advisor?”

or:

“Who are the best commercial roofing companies in Phoenix?”

or:

“What CRM is best for a 50-person company?”

AI may help define the criteria, educate the buyer and identify companies before that customer ever reaches a traditional sales funnel.

That means businesses need to think about AI visibility as part of their broader revenue strategy.

The goal should not be chasing an algorithm.

The goal should be making sure the internet contains enough credible, consistent and useful information about your company for customers—and the technology assisting those customers—to understand why you belong in the conversation.

Then Comes the Next AI Question: How Much Should You Buy?

While customers are using more AI, businesses are doing the same.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reported that 58% of small businesses said they used generative AI in 2025, up from 40% in 2024 and 23% in 2023.

But “using AI” can mean many different things.

A business owner might pay $20 or $30 a month for an AI assistant.

Another company might purchase an AI-enabled CRM, sales platform, marketing automation system, prospecting tool, customer service platform and analytics package.

The investment can grow quickly.

Interestingly, JPMorganChase Institute examined actual business banking transactions rather than survey responses. Among small businesses paying directly for AI services, median monthly AI spending was only about $28 in 2025, and 63% of paying businesses spent $40 or less per month.

At the other end of the spectrum, a Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta survey found that nearly 60% of smaller firms planning AI investments in 2026 expected to spend less than $20,000.

That's a big range.

And it raises another important question:

How did a $20 AI subscription turn into a $20,000 AI strategy?

Maybe that investment is justified.

If $20,000 in technology generates $100,000 in incremental revenue, eliminates unnecessary expenses or dramatically increases employee productivity, that's a good business discussion to have.

But businesses are increasingly being approached with:

AI CRMs.

AI sales assistants.

AI prospecting systems.

AI marketing platforms.

AI chatbots.

AI website optimization.

AI analytics.

AI meeting assistants.

AI content generation.

AI customer service agents.

And every year, there will be more.

Some will be transformational.

Some will be useful.

Some will duplicate technology you already own.

And some may simply be existing software with a new AI feature attached to it.

“AI-powered” is a product description.

It isn't a business case.

Before adding another platform, businesses should slow the process down and ask what they're actually trying to accomplish.

7 Questions to Ask Before Buying Another AI Tool

1. What business problem are we trying to solve?

If you can't clearly define the problem, buying software probably shouldn't be the first step.

2. Do we already own technology that can solve it?

Your CRM, Microsoft or Google environment, accounting software, website platform, marketing system and other existing applications may already include AI capabilities you're not using.

3. What specifically should improve?

More leads?

Higher conversion?

Less administrative work?

Faster customer response?

Better forecasting?

Lower marketing costs?

Better customer retention?

Define the outcome.

4. How will we measure the return?

Determine what success looks like before buying the software—not six months afterward.

5. Who is actually going to use it?

A powerful technology that nobody adopts becomes another monthly subscription.

6. What company or customer information will we give it access to?

Businesses need to understand how sensitive data, customer information and proprietary information are being handled.

7. Are we buying a meaningful new capability—or simply buying the letters A-I?

Ask the vendor to demonstrate exactly what the technology does, how it differs from what you already have and what measurable result should change.

You May Not Need More AI. You May Need a Better AI Strategy.

Artificial intelligence may become one of the most valuable productivity, marketing and revenue tools available to small and mid-sized businesses.

But that doesn't mean the company with the most AI subscriptions wins.

The competitive advantage may belong to the business that understands:

Where AI should be used.

Where it shouldn't.

What it already owns.

What actually needs to be purchased.

And how those investments connect to revenue.

Technology should support the business strategy.

Technology shouldn't become the strategy.

At Borgwardt Revenue Advisory, I look at technology through the same lens I use for sales, marketing and revenue operations:

Does it help the business grow revenue, improve productivity, reduce unnecessary expense or make better decisions?

If it doesn't clearly accomplish one of those objectives, it may simply be adding another expense.

The next competitive advantage may not belong to the company that buys the most AI. It may belong to the company that knows what not to buy.