Recently I joined a Zoom discovery call with a potential client based in California.
Almost immediately she said:
“I want to be just like you.”
Naturally, I was a little bemused by this and asked what she meant.
She explained that whenever she searched on:
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…they kept referencing:
Julian Mills for HighLevel.
And then she said something that really stuck with me:
“I want to become known for my thing, just like that.”
That conversation genuinely hit home for me.
Because it highlighted something I think is becoming increasingly important in 2026:
AI search optimisation is no longer just about ranking webpages.
It is increasingly about:
- becoming associated with a topic
- building recognisable expertise
- reinforcing trust signals
- creating a digital presence AI systems repeatedly encounter
And importantly, this is generating real-world business opportunities.
Over the past 12 months something interesting has started happening.
Increasingly, new enquiries are telling me:
“I keep seeing you everywhere in AI searches.”
Not Google searches.
AI searches.
Platforms like:
- Google Gemini
- ChatGPT
- Perplexity AI
- Google Search AI Overviews
…are influencing how people discover businesses, experts and software recommendations.
And I think this is going to fundamentally change how we think about SEO and online marketing over the next few years.
Importantly, I do not think AI search optimisation is simply:
“traditional SEO with a new name”.
Something much bigger appears to be happening.
AI Search Appears To Reward Expertise And Reinforcement
One of the biggest patterns I’m seeing is this:
AI systems seem to favour people and businesses that become strongly associated with a specific topic.
For example, over time:
- Julian Mills
- julianmills.co.uk
- workshops
- HighLevel
- CRM automation
- AI receptionists
- marketing automation
…have all become heavily interconnected throughout my content ecosystem.
This is not through keyword stuffing.
It is through:
- repeated publishing
- workshops
- tutorials
- FAQs
- comparisons
- videos
- social posts
- Eventbrite listings
- courses
- communities
- reviews
- recurring terminology
I believe AI systems build confidence when they repeatedly see the same entities associated together.
Consistent Topic → Repeated Associations → Stronger Entity Recognition → Increased AI Mentions → More Trust → More Leads
This feels very different from old-school SEO.
Historically:
pages ranked.
Increasingly:
entities may rank.
Why Specialists May Win In AI Search
In traditional SEO many businesses tried to rank for everything.
But AI systems appear to reward:
clarity of expertise.
AI systems seem to become more confident when somebody repeatedly publishes around a narrow specialist area.
This may explain why:
depth and repetition around one topic often outperform broad generic content.
Why Personal Brands May Become More Important In AI Search
This is another major shift I think businesses are underestimating.
When AI systems generate citations and recommendations, a visible expert with:
- a real name
- a real image
- a specialist website
- workshops
- videos
- reviews
- articles
…often stands out far more than anonymous corporate content.
I have personally noticed this myself.
When AI search results show:
- Julian Mills
- my image
- julianmills.co.uk
…it visually and psychologically stands out more than:
“acme-corporation.com”.
Especially in AI-generated responses where citations are often condensed and limited.
This creates more trust instantly.
Personal Brand → AI Search Visibility → Trust & Authority → Website Visits → Workshops & Content → MarketerM8.com → HighLevel Software Sales
This idea also connects closely to a concept I recently wrote about called:
Internal Influencers, AI Search and Building Your Own Media Company
I believe businesses may increasingly need:
- visible specialists
- named authors
- workshop leaders
- educators
- technical experts
- community leaders
Because AI systems appear to trust identifiable expertise more than faceless corporate copy.
AI Search Is About More Than Blog Posts
Another major shift is this:
AI visibility appears to be influenced by your entire digital ecosystem.
Not just your website.
For example, my workshops are:
- hosted on WordPress
- managed using HighLevel automations
- promoted through social media
- published on Eventbrite
- turned into YouTube clips
- supported by FAQs
- connected to replay pages
- linked to related blog posts
This creates multiple reinforcing signals around the same topic.
Workshop ↓ Replay Page ↓ FAQ Content ↓ YouTube Clips ↓ Social Posts ↓ Repeated AI Signals
I suspect AI systems gain confidence when they repeatedly see:
the same expertise reinforced consistently across multiple platforms.
Why I Think HighLevel Is So Interesting For AI Search
The more I explore this topic, the more I think HighLevel naturally supports many of the behaviours that may help with AI visibility.
Not because HighLevel is an “AI SEO tool”.
But because it helps businesses create:
consistent expertise signals at scale.
For example, using HighLevel you can:
- create niche websites and landing pages
- publish blogs
- automate social posting
- manage workshops and webinars
- collect reviews
- gather video testimonials
- run courses and communities
- automate follow-up
- build FAQ pages
- create funnels around specialist topics
All of these activities reinforce:
what your business is known for.
Why HighLevel May Become Extremely Valuable In The AI Search Era
The businesses likely to succeed in AI search may not simply be the businesses producing the most content.
They may instead be the businesses best able to create:
- connected expertise ecosystems
- repeated topic reinforcement
- consistent publishing
- reviews and testimonials
- workshops, webinars and courses
- communities and engagement
- automated follow-up
- multi-platform visibility
This is where platforms like HighLevel become particularly interesting.
Because HighLevel allows businesses to connect:
- websites
- blogs
- social posting
- CRM
- email marketing
- workshops / webinars
- communities
- reviews
- funnels
- automation
- AI tools
…into one unified system.
That matters because AI search appears to reward:
consistency
and
reinforcement.
Workshop → Social Posts → Replay Page → FAQ Content → Email Follow-Up → Reviews → Community Discussion → More AI Signals
Traditionally, businesses often managed these activities across disconnected platforms.
But increasingly:
AI visibility may favour businesses able to create connected ecosystems of expertise and engagement.
That is one reason I believe HighLevel is becoming increasingly important.
Not simply as a CRM.
But as what I increasingly describe as:
an AI Operating System for marketing and business.
AI Search Rewards Content That Is Easy To Retrieve, Quote And Understand
AI systems are not reading webpages like humans.
They are:
- chunking
- extracting
- summarising
- comparing
- synthesising
Which means content structure matters enormously.
I increasingly think one of the hidden factors in AI visibility is:
“Chunkability”.
In other words:
how easily can an AI system extract, understand and reuse your ideas?
Weak AI Retrieval Example
Businesses should create multiple supporting assets around workshops because this helps reinforce authority signals and creates additional opportunities for visibility across search systems and social platforms.
Strong AI Retrieval Example
Workshop → Replay Page → FAQ Content → YouTube Clips → Social Posts → Repeated AI Signals
The second example is:
- easier to skim
- easier to understand
- easier to quote
- easier to summarise
- easier for AI systems to retrieve
Practical Formatting Tips For AI Retrieval
- Use clear descriptive headings
- Add FAQ sections
- Use concise summaries
- Create comparison tables
- Include step-by-step processes
- Use bullet points generously
- Break up large paragraphs
- Add practical examples
- Use flow diagrams where appropriate
- Reinforce named entities naturally
Don’t Let AI Write In Isolation
One of the biggest mistakes I think businesses will make in 2026 is allowing AI to churn out endless generic content with little or no human input.
When AI systems search for answers themselves, they do not need more AI-regurgitated summaries.
They already “know” the generic information.
What they increasingly appear to value is:
- real-world experience
- original observations
- practical implementation
- human perspective
- genuine expertise
- creativity
- opinion
- examples
- lessons learned
The 10-80-10 Rule
The 10-80-10 Rule.
10% Human Ideas & Experience ↓ 80% AI Assistance & Execution ↓ 10% Human Refinement & Polish
The businesses that win may not be those using the most AI.
They may instead be the businesses best able to combine:
human expertise with AI leverage.
Ironically, in an AI-driven world, genuinely human insight may become more valuable than ever.
Podcasts And Public Speaking May Become Powerful AI Signals
Another area I think businesses are underestimating is the power of:
- podcast interviews
- guest appearances
- webinars
- conference talks
- public speaking
These activities create something incredibly valuable in AI search:
Third-party authority signals.
Podcast Interviews → Third-Party Mentions → Stronger Entity Associations → Increased Authority Signals → More AI Visibility
Practical Tips To Improve AI Search Visibility
- Become known for one main topic
- Use named authorship
- Write from experience
- Use FAQ sections
- Create supporting content ecosystems
- Publish across multiple platforms
- Keep content fresh
- Use clear structure
- Encourage reviews and testimonials
- Teach publicly
- Build a personal brand
- Create consistent topic associations
- Use AI as an assistant, not a replacement
- Appear on podcasts and speak publicly
- Build external authority signals
Final Thoughts
Of course, this is still early and AI search algorithms will continue evolving rapidly.
But from what I’m personally seeing, the businesses likely to win are not those producing the most generic SEO content. Optimising for SEO these days is just the price of admission.
The winners may instead be the businesses that:
- demonstrate real expertise
- consistently publish around one topic
- teach publicly
- build strong digital ecosystems
- reinforce trust across multiple platforms
- create structured, retrievable knowledge
- build recognisable personal brands
That appears to be what AI systems increasingly trust.
And importantly:
it is already generating real-world leads.
Written by Julian Mills – HighLevel consultant and marketing strategist.
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