Is Google search dead? Okay, maybe not yet, but the priest is definitely on speed dial. 

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The way people discover businesses, services, and individuals is mutating faster than a sated gremlin after midnight. While traditional search engines like Google still play a significant role, they’re no longer the only, or even the primary, tool people use to find information. 

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Increasingly, users are turning to AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, and Perplexity to get fast, curated answers to their questions, from when the cheese in the fridge will expire to the best brand of dog toy.

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When someone asks AI tools for “the best marketing agencies nearby” or “top companies to follow on LinkedIn”, they're not getting answers pulled out of thin air. They’re getting AI-aggregated results based on searchability. If you don’t exist in the data pool, you don’t exist in the recommendation. 

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If you’re not optimized for search, you’re not just missing out on page views. You’re missing out on every AI-generated recommendation, summary, and response happening online.

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AI Doesn’t Know You. Yet.

AI models like ChatGPT don’t surf the web in real time (unless prompted with web tools). They’re trained on content that’s already indexed (found, saved, and organized by a search engine), structured, and semi-popular. That means your great pitch, viral Instagram reel, or tweeted thought leadership thread won’t make the cut unless it lives somewhere Googleable.

If your name doesn’t surface in a crawlable, linkable format, AI doesn’t care about you.

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How to Make ChatGPT Recommend You

Here’s your AI-optimized checklist to make yourself more likely to appear in responses:

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1. Google Yourself

What shows up? Your yearbook photo from fourth grade or your current portfolio? Fix the digital first impression.

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2. Own Your Name

Secure a domain with your name or brand so you have a home base online that’s easy to find. Claim your LinkedIn vanity URL (that’s the custom link that makes you look less like a robot), and make sure your bylines, bios, and usernames are consistent across every platform. This helps AI connect the dots. And also just makes you seem like someone who has their shit together.

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3. Build Crawlable Content

It’s time to stop hiding behind your social media intern and branch out to real, crawlable content. 

We’re talking websites, blogs, LinkedIn Articles, Medium posts, Substacks, anything that lives on a platform search engines and AI tools can actually read without having to guess what you’re about.

Unlike social media platforms, which are often limited in how they’re crawled and categorized, these spaces give your content structure: with headers, metadata, and keywords that AI models can easily digest. Even something as simple as a one-page website or landing page that clearly explains who you are, what you do, and who you serve can make a significant difference. Give the bots what they want!

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4. Name Drop Yourself (Strategically)

AI models aren’t going to spend any time trying to decode what  “creative storyteller” or “brand disruptor” means. If you want to show up in AI-generated recs, you need to speak its language, and that means getting literal.

Use SEO-friendly, specific phrases like “Founder of [Company],” “PR Strategist,” or “Social Media Manager for wellness startups.” These are the kinds of terms AI tools recognize and associate with relevant searches.

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5. Think long-term. AI will remember.

AI models don’t just chase trends or the hottest takes of the week: they’re trained on the stuff that sticks. Once your content is published, indexed, and picked up by web crawlers or included in publicly available data, it becomes part of the digital ecosystem that AI tools are trained on. 

Do the work once and it could feed AI responses for years.

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The Bottom Line

AI is handing out front-row tickets, and it only notices brands that sparkle in search. Existing online isn’t enough, you need to be tagged, snackable and impossible to miss. The good news? You just need to make sure that the work you’re already doing is showing up in the right places, in the right formats, with the right language. Because the next time someone types a prompt like “best founder-led brands to watch” or “agencies doing fresh, creative work,” you want to make sure your name is in the mix.

Visibility in the age of AI isn’t luck, it’s intentional. It’s engineered, and it’s time to build or watch your competitors bask in the AI search spotlight.