When someone asks for “the best bike shop in Missoula,” the first answer they see may not be a list of websites anymore.

More and more, it’s an AI-written summary at the top of Google, or a reply from a chatbot.

If your business isn’t in that answer, the customer may never scroll far enough to find you.

What’s changing

About 1 in 5 Google searches in March 2025 produced an AI summary, according to a Pew Research Center study of real users’ browsing.

When a summary appeared, people clicked a regular search result in 8% of visits, compared with 15% when there was no summary.

They clicked a link inside the summary itself just 1% of the time.

In other words, the summary is increasingly the answer. Being part of it matters.

The good news: no tricks required

Google says there are “no additional requirements” and no “special optimizations” needed to appear in its AI Overviews or AI Mode, according to its guidance for website owners.

You don’t need to buy special AI files or code. The same basics that help you in regular search help you here.

Many local businesses are invisible simply because those basics are incomplete, outdated or hard for a computer to read.

Step 1: Finish your Google Business Profile

Google ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence, according to Google Business Profile Help.

You can’t move your shop, but you can control most of the rest:

• Verify your profile. Google says verified businesses are more likely to show up in search.
• Fill in every field: categories, services, service area and attributes like parking or accessibility.
• Keep hours current, including holiday and special hours.
• Add real photos, and reply to reviews, good and bad.

Step 2: Put your answers on your website in plain text

AI tools can only repeat what they can read. Google’s guidance specifically recommends keeping important content in text form.

That means your menu, prices, services and hours shouldn’t live only in a photo, a PDF or a social media post.

• Give each main service its own clear section or page.
• Say where you work: Missoula, the neighborhoods and nearby towns you serve.
• Add a short FAQ that answers what customers actually ask you on the phone.
• Make sure your website doesn’t block search engines. Your web developer can check in minutes.

Step 3: Make your details match everywhere

Google isn’t the only place people search. Other maps and assistants pull from their own listings.

Claim your free listings on Bing Places and Apple Business Connect, then check Yelp, Facebook and any local directories you belong to.

Your name, address, phone number and hours should match exactly everywhere. Conflicting details make it harder for any system to trust them.

Try this 10-minute test

Search for what you sell plus “Missoula” on Google, and ask an AI assistant the same question.

Do you show up? Are your hours and details right? If not, start with Step 1. It’s free and makes the biggest difference for most local businesses.

This weekly tip comes from Missoula Business Hub, which shares practical advice for Missoula small business owners. Have a question you’d like answered here? Email hello@missoulabusinesshub.com.

Sources

• Pew Research Center, “Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results,” July 22, 2025: pewresearch.org
• Google Search Central, “AI features and your website”: developers.google.com
• Google Business Profile Help, “Tips to improve your local ranking on Google”: support.google.com
• Bing Places for Business: bingplaces.com; Apple Business Connect: businessconnect.apple.com