Article
7 Aug 2026
What Microsoft Says About AI Search, and What It Means for Local Businesses
Microsoft has published an official guide to AI search. It was written for retailers, but here is what it means for local and service businesses.
What Microsoft Says About AI Search, and What It Means for Local Businesses
In January 2026, Microsoft published an official guide to AI search, called "From discovery to influence: A guide to AEO and GEO." It was written for retailers. But the shift it describes affects every business that wants to be found online. If you run a local firm, an advice practice, a clinic, or a trade business, here is what it means in plain English.
The big shift: from being found to being chosen
For years, search was about ranking. You wanted to appear on page one of Google so people would click through to your site.
Microsoft's message is that this is no longer the whole game. When someone asks ChatGPT, Copilot, or Google's AI for a recommendation, the AI does not hand them ten links. It gives them an answer. Often one name, or a short list.
So the goal has changed. It is not enough to be found. You have to be the business the AI chooses to name. Microsoft calls this the move from discovery to influence.
The three things that decide whether AI recommends you
Microsoft's guide sets out three areas that matter. Stripped of the retail language, they are:
Complete, structured information. AI trusts businesses whose details are clear, consistent, and complete across the web. Microsoft's own line is that completeness beats cleverness. The business with every field filled in gets recommended more often than the one with clever copy and gaps.
Content that answers real questions. AI reads for meaning, not keywords. Content that explains who you help, what problem you solve, and why you are a good choice gets picked up. Content that only repeats keywords does not.
Trust signals. AI looks for proof: reviews, ratings, mentions, credentials. The more verifiable trust you have, the more confident the AI is in recommending you.
"But I don't sell products"
Microsoft wrote the guide for shops, so a lot of it talks about product feeds, prices, and stock. If you run a service business, you have none of that. That does not mean the guide skips you. It means you translate it.
Your version of a product feed is your Google Business Profile, your directory listings, and the structured data on your website. That is the information you actively give the AI about who you are and what you do. Fill it in fully and keep it consistent, and you are doing exactly what Microsoft tells retailers to do with their catalogs.
The rest maps across cleanly. Clear content that answers real questions works for a will writer or a physiotherapist just as well as for a shop. Reviews and credentials build trust in any field.
What to do about it
If you want AI to start recommending your business, start here:
Fill in every field on your Google Business Profile. All of it.
Get listed, consistently, on the directories that matter in your sector.
Add structured data to your website so AI can read it cleanly.
Write content that answers the questions your customers actually ask.
Build reviews, and keep them coming.
None of this is flashy. That is the point. Completeness and consistency win.
The takeaway
The most important thing about this guide is not the tactics. It is who wrote it. Microsoft, one of the companies building these AI systems, has now said plainly that search is moving from clicks to recommendations, and that trust and clear data decide who gets named.
This is no longer a fringe idea. It is where search is going. The businesses that sort this out early will be the ones AI recommends by default, while everyone else is catching up.
Common questions
What is GEO? GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimisation. It is the work of getting your business named and recommended by AI search tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Google's AI, rather than only ranking on a traditional results page. For the full explanation, see What is GEO?.
Does traditional SEO still matter? Yes. Microsoft is clear that SEO is still the foundation. It is just no longer the finish line. You need the basics in place, then the AI-specific work on top.
I run a local service business, not a shop. Is this relevant? Yes. The guide is written for retailers, but the principles apply to any business. Your profiles, listings, schema, content, and reviews are your version of the product data Microsoft describes.
Related reading
At LP Consulting, this is what we do. We help local businesses get found and recommended across AI search. If you want to know how your business shows up when someone asks AI for a recommendation, get in touch.