Drawing on Adobe’s recent Australian findings and what we’re seeing every day with clients (and in our own workflows), one thing is clear: many buyers now start with an AI assistant — ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot or Google Gemini — not a search engine. They ask the assistant to compare providers, then click through to your site to confirm details, proof and next steps. To stay on the shortlist, your site needs to be easy for these assistants to understand and champion — clear services and pricing, simple side-by-side comparisons, and plain-English answers to real questions (FAQs). This article unpacks the key findings, then shows how to put them to work for your business.
If you’d like a clear list of changes for your site, book an SEO Audit with AI-readiness and we’ll map what to fix, add and measure.
Want to read the source research? Adobe’s July 2025 report is here: From Assistants to Agents: The AI Evolution in Australia and the media brief is here: Australia’s agentic AI usage is accelerating fast.
What the research says (quick read)
- AI is shifting discovery: regular assistant use is now 1 in 3 Australians, and almost 4 in 10 say they’re using assistants instead of traditional search. Momentum is strongest among Millennials.
- Everyday decisions are moving to AI:
- Shopping: 30% have used an AI assistant; 42% plan to this year (Millennials 49%, Gen X 50%).
- Travel: 29% have used AI; 87% of these say it improved bookings/trips.
- Finance: 23% have used AI for banking/finance; 36% would follow AI-generated financial recommendations without human input.
- Creative and work use are mainstreaming: 57% have used AI for creative tasks; 59% plan to in the next six months. At work, 43% of AI users have used it and 32% of them now use it daily.
- Agentic AI is next (from answers to action): usage jumped 50% in three months; 18% already use it and 42% expect to within a year. Top appeals: agents that compare products/services (63%) and find deals & complete approved purchases (57%).
- Trust cues that matter: people are most willing to try agents when they can approve actions, and when they see time saved, money saved, accuracy, and responsible data handling.
Bottom line: discovery is happening in AI chats; your website’s job is to validate, prove and convert.
What this means for SMEs in professional services, consulting, NFP and education
- Be comparison-ready. Assistants like ChatGPT, Copilot and Gemini summarise and shortlist options before anyone lands on your homepage. Sites that clearly explain who you help, what’s included, fees/ranges, proof and next steps get surfaced more often.
- Design for “approve to act”. As agentic AI grows, journeys will look like: compare → propose → you approve → book/send. Keep a visible human-approval step — it maps directly to what Australians say they need to trust agents.
- Publish answers, not fluff. People use AI for practical decisions in shopping, travel and finance, so they arrive expecting clarity and next steps. Tighten service pages, pricing explanations, deliverables and turnaround times.
- Use the right schema + FAQs. Machines (and assistants) rely on structure: business-type schema and robust FAQPage markup make it easier to parse and present your offer credibly in comparisons.
Google Still Ranks You — But AI Recommends You
It used to be that optimising your site for Google’s algorithm was the main game. And while that’s still true — traditional search ranking remains vital — there’s a new layer to consider.
Today, AI systems like Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Gemini are becoming key discovery tools. They’re not just showing search results — they’re curating, summarising and recommending answers. These tools don’t just list results — they scan trusted content and pull out what they think is most useful to the user. Often, they cite only a few high-quality sources. In other words:
💡 Being visible isn’t just about being ranked anymore — it’s about being worth recommending.
To be included in AI-generated answers, your site needs to be:
- Clear – AI models must be able to understand your content structure and intent.
- Trusted – Signals like author bios, backlinks, and expert tone matter more than ever.
- Useful – Real insights, not fluff. Think problem-solving content that speaks directly to human needs.
This shift doesn’t mean traditional SEO is dead. Instead, AI readiness sits on top of strong SEO fundamentals: fast-loading pages, well-structured content, helpful links, and a clear user experience. These elements work together to show both people and machines that your content is worth paying attention to.
Want this translated into a plan for your site? Our SEO Audit (with AI-readiness) checks comparisons, FAQs, schema/structured data, Google Business Profile, internal linking, Core Web Vitals and on-page proof — then prioritises the fixes.
How we help — practical steps we’re rolling out now
We’re already working through these steps with our retainer clients and our dedicated SEO clients, tailoring the approach to each business and industry.
1) Make your site easy for AI (and people) to read
Tidy key service pages so the essentials are obvious: who you help, what’s included, how it works, typical timeframes, price ranges, and proof (testimonials/results). Add clear side-by-side comparisons (e.g. BAS vs CFO support; fixed fee vs hourly; programme tiers) so assistants can quickly understand and explain your offer.
2) Answer real questions upfront (FAQs)
Build a question-led FAQ library from chat transcripts, sales calls and search data. Keep answers short and direct, link to proof and “what to expect”, and add FAQPage structured data so AI tools can surface them cleanly.
3) Use the right structured data for your industry
Add schema that matches your business type — e.g. ProfessionalService (AccountingService, LegalService, FinancialService), EducationalOrganization, NGO — plus Service, FAQPage, Review and Event where relevant. Maintain it as offerings change so machines keep reading pages correctly.
4) Strengthen Google Business Profile & local signals
Update categories, services, descriptions, Q&A and posts; encourage reviews; align GBP content with site FAQs and comparisons; keep NAP details consistent across directories. This supports both AI-led discovery and local SEO.
5) Publish clearer proof across your site
Create or refresh case studies, outcome summaries, typical timeframes, pricing explainers and “what happens next” sections. Make it easy for prospects to validate you quickly.
6) SEO hygiene & measurement
Review internal linking, Core Web Vitals and page speed. Map keywords to FAQs and comparison blocks. Track FAQ engagement, comparison clicks and conversions in GA4/Looker Studio to see what’s working.
Why FAQs + schema matter right now
- AI needs structure. Assistants pull from content they can parse. Structured Service and FAQPage data, plus clean comparison blocks, make it easy to extract and cite your value.
- Prospects want confident answers. With more Australians using AI for financial and travel decisions, they expect clarity on inclusions, timeframes, costs and outcomes when they hit your site. FAQs built around real objections (price, scope, process, timing) meet that expectation.
- Does this apply to Copilot and Gemini, or just ChatGPT?
Yes. While wording and interfaces vary, the basics are the same: assistants need structured, well-labelled content to compare providers. Service and FAQPage schema, clean comparison blocks, and clear proof (outcomes, timeframes, pricing explainers) help ChatGPT, Copilot and Gemini represent your offer accurately — and help buyers decide faster.
Ready to make your site AI-ready?
Book an SEO Audit with AI-readiness and get a prioritised plan that helps ChatGPT/Copilot/Gemini shortlist your business — and helps your website convert.
