Where your customers are actually searching
Search behaviour has fragmented. A UK consumer researching a service might start with a ChatGPT query, check Reddit for real-world opinions, watch a YouTube explainer, look at Google for local options, and then check the business's Google reviews before contacting them. That's five platforms, and most small businesses are only visible on one or two.
How search has evolved, the shift that makes this necessary
Google is search
Virtually all web searches go through Google. SEO means Google SEO. Optimising for one platform covers the market.
Platform search emerges
Amazon becomes the default product search engine. YouTube becomes the second largest search engine. LinkedIn and Twitter develop meaningful internal search. Google remains dominant but no longer universal.
Social search accelerates
TikTok's search function gains traction with younger users. Reddit ranks prominently for review and recommendation queries. Google responds by incorporating more social and forum content into results.
AI search goes mainstream
ChatGPT reaches 100M users in two months. Perplexity establishes itself as a credible search alternative. Google launches AI Overviews. Microsoft integrates Copilot into Windows and Office. Search fragmentation accelerates sharply.
Search everywhere is the baseline
For UK businesses, a single-platform search strategy is no longer sufficient. Customers expect to find relevant businesses wherever they search, and businesses that aren't present on AI tools, maps, and review platforms are structurally invisible to a growing share of the market.
Priority matrix: where to focus first
Search Everywhere Optimisation doesn't mean being everywhere at once. It means prioritising the platforms where your specific customers are, in order of impact vs effort:
Google Business Profile + AI tools
ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews. Structured content + schema + entity signals. Foundational for all AI visibility.
YouTube + Reddit presence
Long-form video or active community participation. Time-intensive but disproportionate trust and referral value.
Directory listings
Yell, Thomson, Bing Places, Apple Maps. Set up correctly and maintain. Won't drive leads directly but contributes to entity signals.
TikTok / Pinterest search
Only relevant if your audience is under-35 or highly visual. Don't spread resource here before the higher-impact platforms are covered.
The connection to AI visibility
For UK small businesses, AI search visibility sits at the intersection of Search Everywhere Optimisation. The platforms driving the most disruption to traditional search, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, are all AI-powered. Getting your business present on those platforms is both the most urgent and the most high-impact move available right now.
The good news: the signals that get you into AI-generated answers, entity clarity, structured content, third-party mentions, also improve your visibility across other search platforms. It's not a case of choosing between Google SEO and AI visibility; a well-executed AI visibility strategy raises your floor across the board.
If you're a UK small business starting from scratch, prioritise in this order: Google Business Profile, AI search visibility (content + schema + citations), then YouTube or Reddit depending on your sector. Don't spread resource across ten platforms before you've nailed the top three.