How to Show Up in AI Search: The One Page Most Websites Are Missing

How do You Show up in AI Search?

Business owners keep asking me the same question lately: how do I show up in AI search?

They’ve noticed that their customers aren’t only typing a few words into Google and clicking through ten blue links anymore. They’re asking full questions to ChatGPT, to Google’s AI Mode, and to the AI Overviews at the top of the results page. Questions like “Who fixes wet basements near Brookfield, and what does it usually cost?”

And the AI answers. Sometimes it names a business. The question is whether it names yours.

I’ve been doing website design, programming, marketing, and SEO since the 1990s, and I’ve seen plenty of “new rules” come and go. This one is real, but the fix is less mysterious than people think. There’s no secret code and no trick. In most cases, the thing standing between a small business and AI search is one missing page.

How AI Search is Different From What We’re Used to

Classic search worked like a winding path. Someone typed a few words, scanned a list of links, clicked around a few websites, compared what they found, and maybe searched again.

And, hold on a second. I’ve said this before, but doesn’t it seem kind of lame that we’re given a list of 10 pages that might have the result we’re looking for? Seems silly, right?

AI search shortens that path. Google describes AI Mode as a way to ask follow-up questions to dig deeper, with more advanced reasoning (Google, March 2025). Instead of handing people a list of websites to sort through, these tools try to answer the question by pulling together facts from pages they can find and understand.

That changes what your website needs to do. It used to be enough for your site to look professional, list your services, and give people a way to contact you. A human visitor could fill in the gaps. They’d read between the lines, call you, and ask.

An AI assistant can’t call you. It can only work with what your website actually says.

Why Writing “Quality Service” Does Not Get You into AI Answers

Look at the home page of almost any small business and you’ll find lines like these:

• “We provide quality service.”
• “Full-service solutions for all your needs.”
• “Trusted experts you can count on.”
• or just… “Welcome!” (lame)

Those phrases aren’t wrong. They’re just empty. When someone asks an AI tool a specific question, there’s nothing in those sentences to quote.

Here’s what that one line, “We provide quality service,” leaves unanswered:

1. What do you actually do?
2. Who is it for?
3. Where do you work?
4. About what does it cost?
5. Why should someone trust you?
6. What happens next if they want your help?

Those six questions are exactly what people ask AI tools. If your website answers them in plain, specific sentences, you’ve given search engines and AI something real to work with. If it doesn’t, you’re leaving the answer to someone else’s website.

Build the One Missing Page Your Site Doesn’t Have

Most websites were never built with a page that answers all six questions in one place. That’s not your web company’s fault. When your site was built, this simply wasn’t the job. It’s an update, not a blame game.

The fix is one clear page that explains your business. In my course I call it the missing piece. It’s sometimes called a service index page or a “what we do” page. Whatever you name it, it’s a page that plainly lays out:

• Your services, in the words customers actually search for
• Your specialties, and just as important, what you don’t do
• Your service area, with real town names and distances
• Pricing ranges, even if it’s only “most projects fall between X and Y”
• Trust signals, like licenses, warranties, years in business, and reviews
• Next steps, telling someone exactly how to get started

Here’s a quick example…

In the course I use a made-up company called Clearwater Basement Solutions. A vague version of their site says “professional home services, customized solutions, contact us.”

A clear version says they install interior drainage systems and sump pumps for homeowners in the greater Milwaukee area, within about 60 miles of Brookfield. It says most homeowners spend in a stated range for a full interior waterproofing system, that they don’t do mold remediation, and that the first step is a free inspection.

Which of those two versions could an AI assistant actually use to answer a homeowner’s question? The second one, every time.

What This Page is Not

People sometimes hear “a page for AI” and picture something sketchy. So let me be clear about what this page is not:

• It’s not a thin “SEO page” stuffed with keywords
• It’s not a hidden page only search engines are meant to see
• It’s not a replacement for your home page
• It’s not a robotic wall of AI-generated text you publish without reading

It’s a genuinely helpful page for real people. The same clear, specific details that help a customer decide to call you are the details that help Google and AI tools understand who you are. Writing for humans and showing up in AI search turn out to be the same job.

Make Sure the Page Can Actually be Found

A great page that nobody can reach is like a room with no door. Before you count on it, run a few basic visibility checks:

• Link to it. Add it to your navigation or footer so it’s reachable from every page.
• Make sure it can be indexed. Check for a leftover “noindex” tag (a common leftover from testing) and make sure your robots.txt isn’t blocking it.
• Add it to your sitemap, and submit that sitemap in Google Search Console.
• Use Search Console’s URL Inspection tool to confirm Google can see the page.
• Check HTTPS and Core Web Vitals. Google’s PageSpeed Insights rates loading, responsiveness, and visual stability as Good, Needs Improvement, or Poor.
• Look for manual actions or security issues in Search Console, and fix those first.

You can also run a free scan at SiteAnalyzerFree.com, the tool I built for exactly this kind of check.

A Step-by-Step Way to Build it: The One Missing Piece

I put this whole process into a short video course called The One Missing Piece. It walks you through building this page for your own business, start to finish:

• Lesson 1: Why Your Website Needs This Page. What changed, and why your site isn’t “broken.”
• Lesson 2: Your Website Has Two Audiences Now. People and AI, and what each one needs.
• Lesson 3: The Three Questions Every Home Page Should Answer. A quick audit you can do in five seconds.
• Lesson 4: Gather the Details Your Website Should Already Explain. Services, specialties, service area, pricing, trust, and next steps.
• Lesson 5: Build the Missing AI-Ready Page. Turn your answers into a finished page, and review it before you publish.
• Lesson 6: Basic Visibility Checks Before You Move On. Make sure search engines and AI tools can actually find it.

Along with the lessons, you get a workbook to gather the right details, a ready-to-use prompt that turns your answers into a first draft, and a filled-out example to follow. There’s no redesign required and no paid SEO software.

Nobody can promise that any page will get you named in every AI answer. But if your website never clearly says what you do, who you do it for, where, and what it costs, you’re making it very hard for AI to recommend you. This page fixes that.

Get The One Missing Piece course and add the missing piece that customers, Google, and AI are looking for.

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