Marketing Your Small Business in the Answer Era - How AI Impacts Small Businesses

This presentation was given at the 2026 Michigan Celebrates Small Business Summit and provided small business leaders with insights on not only how AI has changed the way people search, but the action they can take to stay relevant and show up. Information was shared about the growth of generative search, how AI doesn't care about your marketing vibes, and focusing on good structured content that is unique and truthful is one of the many paths forward. Information about how to structure your content, how to get cited, and how to recognize which brands are showing up and where the AI models are pulling from.

Transcript

1. Discovered Not Clicked Marketing Your SMB In the Answer Era Jason Dodge BlackTruck Media + Marketing Slides & Resources: bit.ly/mcsb26
2. @DodgeJD
3. @DodgeJD Are you writing the script? Your brand is already being described by AI. . .
4. @DodgeJD
5. @DodgeJD
6. @DodgeJD <1% US desktop activity goes to AI tools.
7. @DodgeJD
8. @DodgeJD Agenda 01 AI & Zero-Click Trends 02 How AI Describes Brands 03 Brand Voice in AI 04 Auditing & Measuring AI Presence 05 Future-Proofing Strategies Slides & Resources: bit.ly/mcsb26
9. @DodgeJD Search results are becoming answers, not pathways. Zero-click search isn’t the future. It’s right now.
10. @DodgeJD Google searches end without the user clicking-through. 60 Percent What happens after we search?
11. @DodgeJD
12. @DodgeJD
13. @DodgeJD Clicks are shrinking, but decisions are still being made.
14. @DodgeJD
15. @DodgeJD What This Means for Brands
16. @DodgeJD AI Descriptors Part-2: How AI Describes You
17. @DodgeJD
18. @DodgeJD Google AI Overviews pulls from multiple sources. Yours might not be one of them.
19. @DodgeJD AI Builds Answers from the Web’s Strongest Signals.
20. @DodgeJD AI Prioritizes Credibility, Structure & Recency.
21. @DodgeJD AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) Optimizing for zero-click answers such as Google Snippets, People Also Asked results and voice search responses. Optimizing content to be cited or summarized by AI-driven search engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini).
22. @DodgeJD AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) Optimizing for zero-click answers such as Google Snippets, People Also Asked results and voice search responses. Optimizing content to be cited or summarized by AI-driven search engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini). AI Optimization – Hype from Reality: bit.ly/theredirectpodcast
23. @DodgeJD
24. @DodgeJD If AI Is Telling Your Story—Make Sure It’s the Right One
25. @DodgeJD Brand Voice Part-3: Owning Your Brand Voice in AI
26. @DodgeJD AI Reads Differently Than Humans Do
27. @DodgeJD Generic Gets Overlooked. Distinct Gets Quoted.
28. @DodgeJD Building an AI-Friendly Brand Voice Step 2: Brand Voice Step 1: Core Message
29. @DodgeJD Making Your Brand Discoverable to AI Tips for AI Recognition Step 3: Attributes
30. @DodgeJD Make Your Voice Consistent Everywhere AI Looks
31. @DodgeJD Make Your Voice Consistent Everywhere AI Looks Define: Brand Voice Avoid: Generic Language Deploy: Consistently
32. @DodgeJD Auditing AI Part-4: Auditing & Measuring Your AI Presence
33. @DodgeJD Start with a Self-Search: How Is AI Representing You?
34. @DodgeJD
35. @DodgeJD Audit Checklist
36. @DodgeJD [upcoming webinar] measuring impact when attribution falls short bit.ly/mcsb26
37. @DodgeJD
38. @DodgeJD
39. @DodgeJD Measure Traffic from AI Tools
40. @DodgeJD Measure Traffic from AI Tools
41. @DodgeJD Preparing for AI Part-5: Prepping for an AI-First Future
42. @DodgeJD Quick Wins to Start This Month
43. @DodgeJD Mid-Term Moves to Build a Smart Infrastructure
44. @DodgeJD Future-Proofing for 2026 and Beyond
45. @DodgeJD Train the AI by training your content.
46. @DodgeJD Build a system Not Just a Strategy. Think: Like a Publisher Train: Teams and Partners Align: On Visibility
47. @DodgeJD Google’s AI already knows your brand. It’s time you helped write the guide.
48. @DodgeJD Organic Search has a greater likelihood of conversions over LLMs. 13 Percent University of Hamburg, Grips Intelligence Study
49. @DodgeJD Take Action
50. Let's Connect Jason Dodge Founder & CEO jason@blacktruckmedia.com blacktruckmedia.com @dodgejd Good marketing starts with the right conversation. Serious about the visibility of your brand online? We’d love to hear what you’re working on. Slides & Resources: bit.ly/mcsb26