December is usually the month business owners slow down, if you're one of those business owners make sure you don't miss one of the biggest shifts in online marketing:
AI is already influencing buying decisions — and most businesses aren’t showing up at all.
Whether you’re in “December brain mode” or still pushing to finish strong, one question should be top of mind:
How visible is your business inside AI search?
Tools like ChatGPT, Bard/Gemini, Claude, and even Google’s AI Overview are shaping customer decisions.
People are hiring service providers — coaches, attorneys, accountants, consultants — because AI recommended them.
If AI doesn’t recognize your business or understand what you do, it cannot, so will not, refer customers to you.
This is the new frontier of visibility.
I’ve taught over 300 business owners how to check their AI visibility, and what we found was eye-opening:
99% of businesses do NOT show up when you search their name or services inside AI like ChatGPT
AI doesn’t know:
who they are
what they offer
who they help
their niche
their credibility
their services
And when AI can’t determine these things, it simply doesn’t mention you.
That means you and your business are invisible.
Which means no recommendations.
Which means lost revenue. (especially if your competitor is showing up)
Most people don’t realize AI visibility is built over time.
Here’s the actual timeline:
3–6 months: AI begins to recognize your name or business
6–12 months: AI can start to recommend you
12–18 months: AI can identify your category and match you with buyer intent
This is why starting in December — not January — matters.
This week I worked with SCORE (where I volunteer) to help them figure out why they weren’t getting new volunteers.
They:
attend Chamber events
pay for memberships
talk about mentorship
But when we checked the Chamber websites?
Not a single one mentioned that SCORE is looking for volunteers — even the site with a “volunteer opportunities” tab.
The problem wasn’t effort.
It was message placement (or the lack thereof).
This is the same issue with AI visibility:
But unless your message exists in the right digital places, neither humans nor AI can see you.
For AI to recommend you, it must have:
Without these, AI literally does not know who you are — and defaults to competitors who have the signals.
If you want AI tools to understand your business and recommend you in 2026, start with:
✔ Checking what AI currently says about you
(If it says nothing, that’s your starting point.)
✔ Fixing your messaging so AI knows your:
✔ Focus on creating content AI can index
LinkedIn posts, blog posts, interviews, bios, and clear service pages.
✔ Consistency
AI rewards repetition across many platforms — not one perfect profile.
Recently a marketer asked for some help with crafting her message. This is super smart because like SCORE above, we are often too close to see what we are missng or what doesn't make sense. I ran a mini-AI reputation audit for her and despite really good business success, being on a show, and having been a guest on a number of podcasts she's not showing up anywhere.
Can you guess why?
In 5 years she's done 5+ different "jobs" and had 5+ different titles.
AI couldn't figure out what she actually does. I compared that to another coach/copywriter we know who DOES show up in AI searches and the fact is, for the last almost 20 years she's focused on being known as a copywriter, coach, business strategist. So, even though she had more than one title, she consistely had only those 3 titles...she didn't flit from one to another.
The lesson: Pick your expertise and get known for that.
If you want to know how to quickly see:
If you want the link, comment “AI” or message me directly.
AI doesn’t reward the best businesses —
it rewards the most visible ones.
If you want AI to recommend you in 2026, the time to start building that visibility is now.