How to get your website found on Google & AI Search
Yip, I heard you loud and clear. You want Google & AI Search to find your website. But? You don’t wanna lose your mind while doing it…
If you read my earlier blog (the one where I argue SEO isn’t dead and you don’t need a whole new AI strategy) you’ll know where I stand on all the noise. If you haven’t read it? Go read it now. This one is the practical bit where I guide you through how to get your website found on Google and AI Search (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google’s AI Overviews — yaddya, yaddya, yaddya).
I’m gonna start somewhere that most SEO and AI guides don’t — ‘cos I think it’s one of the most underrated pieces of the puzzle.
Your website is just one signal
Most people think about SEO as a website thingy. And yes, your website matters — a lot. But when someone asks an AI tool to recommend a copywriter, a photographer, a bookkeeper, a nutritionist — it's not just crawling your website in that moment.
It's drawing on everything it knows about you. Your website, yes — but also what's been written about you across the wider web. Whether your name and expertise show up consistently across multiple places. Whether other trusted sources reference you, quote you, or link to you.
Google has always rewarded this — it's what backlinks are fundamentally about. But AI takes it further. It's less about ranking and more about reputation. Does this person or business show up consistently enough, across enough credible sources, to be confidently recommended?
Which means the things that might feel like 'extras' — collaborating with other businesses in your space, being quoted in articles, writing guest content, getting listed in directories, building genuine relationships with people who talk about you online — are actually doing serious SEO and AI visibility work behind the scenes.
Word of mouth has always mattered. Now it leaves a digital trail too.
What to do:
Reach out for collab opportunities with complementary businesses (blog swaps, guest posts, joint content etc.)
Make sure you're listed in relevant directories and your business info is consistent across all of them
Ask stoked clients for Google reviews — these are cited more than most people realise (make it part of your offboarding process).
Show up as an expert in other people's content, not just your own
Can Google and AI actually understand what you do?
Can someone (or something) land on your homepage and immediately understand what you do, who you do it for and why they should care?
AI tools and search engines verify businesses by crawling your website. So your Homepage About intro section (that part where you've got a cute pic and a clever line or two about yourself) needs to do more than sound good. It needs to be clear.
Your personality-packed tagline might be doing wonders for your brand, but if Google and AI (aka, the bots) can't quickly work out what you actually do? They're not going to recommend you.
Make sure your Homepage About intro answers 3 things:
— What do you do?
— Who do you do it for?
— Why should they choose you? Like, what problem are you solving for them?
You can absolutely still have the personality — just make sure the clarity is doing the heavy lifting.
This same logic applies to how you write every page on your website. When an AI tool is pulling together an answer to someone's question, it's looking for content that clearly and directly answers that question. Not a long, winding paragraph that gets there eventually. Not a page that reads like it was written for an algorithm rather than a person.
Write like a human answering a real question. Give the answer first. Back it up second. Don't bury the good stuff in paragraph four.
And pop down to your footer while you're at it. Nobody's really reading it — but Google and AI absolutely are. It's a surprisingly useful spot to include clear, specific information about who you are, what you do, and your location if that matters. Don't waste it on just a logo and social links.
Start with the right keywords. Or the rest won’t save you
Here's the thing nobody tells you when you're trying to chuck together a website at 11pm with a glass of wine and a prayer: what you think your keyword is, and what your dream client is actually typing into Google, are often two very different things.
Keyword research sounds deeply unsexy. Kinda is, tbh — until you realise it's the thing that determines whether the right people actually land on your site, or whether you're just shouting into the void and wondering why your enquiry form or checkout is collecting dust.
Think like your customer or client
You know your industry inside out. Which means you probably use words your clients or customers don't. Your beautifully branded offer name, your industry jargon, your preferred terminology - none of that matters if your dream customer or client is searching for something completely different. Start by asking: what would I type if I was them, knew nothing about what I do or sell and just needed help?
Free keyword tools worth starting with:
Google Search autocomplete: start typing and see what it suggests. Real humans are behind every one.
People Also Ask: scroll down the results page for a goldmine of actual questions your audience is asking.
Google Search Console: if your site's been live for a while, this shows what people are already finding you for. Sometimes surprising.
Ubersuggest: free (with limits) and gives you search volume data without a paid subscription.
Keywords Everywhere: a browser extension that layers search data right into Google as you search.
When you’re ready to get serious, check out SE Ranking
My go-to paid tool is SE Ranking. Accurate search volume, keyword difficulty, competitor data, AI overviews - alllll the good stuff. Worth the investment when you're ready to stop guessing and start knowing. But if it’s not in your budget, jump on the 14 day free trial to get you started.
One keyword. One page. That's the deal, OK?
Each page gets its own specific keyword. One that gets woven naturally into the title, headings, copy and metadata. Which brings us nicely to the next bit...
Sort your metadata. And mind your character counts
WTF is metadata? Basically, it's the behind-the-scenes introduction your website gives itself to Google before anyone even clicks through. If yours is currently serving up 'Home' or 'About' you can absolutely do better.
Your meta title (also called a page title) helps Google work out where the page belongs. Your meta description helps the right human decide whether it's worth the click.
Here's where Squarespace can be a little sketchy: the character limits in the platform are way more generous than what Google actually displays. So you can type to your heart's content and find half of it gets cut off in search results.
Stick to these:
— Meta title: 50–60 characters (spaces included) max
— Meta description: 150–160 characters (spaces included) max
Do this for every page. Not just your homepage. And the words you use? Yip, the keywords I yapped on about earlier.
Bonus tip: Use Word Counter to check your character count length.
The H1 eyebrow trick (stay on brand without sacrificing SEO)
Every page has one H1 (your main page heading). Google gives it a bitta weight when figuring out what the page is about, so your keyword needs to sit pretty in there. Keep it between 20–70 characters.
But sometimes? Your keyword is boring AF. 'SEO Website Copywriter' isn’t exactly exciting, is it? You've worked hard on your brand voice. You don't want your first impression to sound like a Yellow Pages listing.
So here's a workaround I use when writing deliciously on-brand website copy: turn your H1 into eyebrow text (a smaller line that sits above what ‘appears’ to be your main heading). It does the SEO heavy lifting quietly in the background, while your H2 (which displays bigger and bolder) is the line your reader actually feels first.
People don't read websites top to bottom like a book - their eyes scan and often go straight to the biggest, boldest thing on the page. So if your H2 is doing the connecting and your H1 is helping you get found, you get both. Findable and relatable.
Example:
SEO WEBSITE COPYWRITER ← H1 (eyebrow - smaller, sits above)
Betcha trying to write website copy wasn’t on your bingo card this month ← H2 (bigger, bolder - what the reader actually clocks first)
The reader feels the H2. Google clocks the H1. Happy days.
Add a FAQ section to your service pages
FAQs aren't just a nice-to-have. They're doing 3 important jobs at once.
For the humans reading your page: FAQs reduce friction. Answer the question someone's already thinking: 'how does this work?', 'what does it cost?', 'how long does it take?' and they're a whole lot more likely to reach out. It's the difference between someone clicking away because they weren't sure, and someone hitting ‘let’s do / buy the damn thing’ because you've already put their mind at ease.
For Google: FAQs are packed with the plain, conversational language that matches how people actually search. Short question, direct answer - Google loves it and will often pull FAQ content into search results directly.
For AI Search: Like Google, AI search tools pull answers from websites that give clear, trustworthy, specific information. A well-written FAQ is basically handing them exactly what they need on a plate. No separate AI strategy required - just be genuinely helpful and write clearly.
Your FAQ section is doing more work than you think.
Tidy up your page URLs
Every page has its own distinct web address - that's the bit after your domain name, like yoursite.com/this-part.
Keep it short, readable and yip, you guessed it, keyword inclusive — /seo-website-copywriter beats /about every time. It helps both people and search engines / AI understand what the page is about at a glance. And set it before you start sharing the link - changing it later (especially without adding a re-direct) can undo some of the groundwork you've built up.
7 tips is probs enough to get you started, without sending you into a spiral
For most small businesses, sussing these foundations will make a real difference to how Google and AI search find you and recommend you. Some businesses, particularly those in highly competitive industries or going after bigger goals, will need to go a little deeper. But that's a convo for another day.
For now? Start with these 7 tips to get your website found on Google and AI Search.
Hey cutie - I’m Pip, the creative and strategic website copywriter over here at Articulate Communications.
I’ve been told once or twice: I’ve got a way with words. And I sure as sugar know how to help you find your voice, share your stories, connect with your people, and sell while you sleep (or sip 2pm chilli coconut margs in the sunshine).
It’s my job to help you finally move from *meh* to memorable brand. And I do that with a saucy little blend of creative and strategic copywriting.
Wanna see what that looks like for you? Holla at me.