What happens when AI search gets your business wrong

If AI search gets your business wrong, I’d start by searching your name and your business name, reading what it says, and checking the sources it points to. Then I’d compare those sources with what your business actually does. A confident answer can still describe the wrong work.

Google told me my friend was best known for coffee

I was recently Googling my friend Alec. I was like, I wonder what Alec is like. I wonder what he does.

The AI overview said Alec was “best known for his coffee.”

I hadn’t heard him talk about coffee in kind of a long time. I’d talked to him recently, so I pushed back. I told the AI I didn’t think that was right.

It kept telling me he was best known for his coffee. It gave me a picture of Alec pouring coffee, and it gave me sources.

So I was convinced. I was like, do I even know who Alec is?

But the last time I talked to him, he told me that he designs and builds homes. Completely different thing.

A sourced answer can still miss what you do

That answer had information about Alec and coffee. But it didn’t tell me about the work he’d told me he was doing.

For a service business owner, that’s a useful distinction. Someone can find information about you online and still come away without knowing what they can hire you for.

The picture and sources made the answer convincing to me. They didn’t make it a useful description of his home design and building work.

I’d want to know if that was happening with my business before someone used that answer to decide who to call.

Search yourself, then follow the sources

Here’s the check I’d suggest for a service business owner:

1. Search your name and business name. Include your city to help distinguish your business from others with similar names.
2. Ask what your business does. Read the answer as someone who has never met you. Does it explain the service you want people to hire you for?
3. Open the sources. Check whether they describe your current work, older work, or someone else entirely.
4. Compare the information you control. Look at your website, Google Business Profile, and social profiles. Check that your services and service area are clear and consistent.

Fix unclear information without expecting an instant change

If you find outdated or unclear information on a page you control, I’d start there. Describe what you do in familiar words, and make it easy to find.

If the problem comes from another website, check whether you can request a correction. Keep a note of the incorrect answer and the source so you can check again later.

Those changes don’t guarantee that an AI answer will update right away or describe you correctly every time.

At Protocol Text, based in Lincoln, Nebraska, my focus is organic visibility: helping service businesses show up on Google Maps, their website, social media, and AI search without ads. Searching yourself is a practical place to start. See what people are being told about the work you do.