For years, sites have been structured according to the following model of discovery:
Search engine → Website → Customer
While that structure is still relevant, the advent of AI assistants opens up another one:
Customer request → Research via AI → Short list of companies → Website → Decision
Users do not have to look for businesses by name anymore, as they can articulate their problem and ask an AI assistant to suggest products, services, suppliers or companies.
And it raises an intriguing question for developers: how should they create digital experiences in cases when users can find a business as a result of AI-assisted discovery before visiting its website?
Website Is Becoming More than Just a Destination Point
Historically, a business website was optimized for the human audience and search engines.
Now it should also provide enough clarity for an AI-assisted discovery.
This means that developers and content creators should consider if all the relevant information is clear and structured:
- What does the company offer?
- Who are its customers?
- What industries are they working with?
- What problems do they solve?
- What products/services are offered?
- How to reach the company?
A great website that fails to communicate all these points can still cause friction.
Build Based on Intent Rather Than Keywords
The traditional search process tends to foster keyword-based mindset.
AI-powered discovery, on the other hand, tends to be more conversational.
The user could say something like:
"What tools allow a small manufacturer to track machine performance?"
In this case, the user is not looking for a particular product or brand.
Instead, they are stating an intent.
This means that the website content should address actual customer problems, use cases, workflows, and solutions, rather than simply listing product-related keywords.
Structured Data Is Still Important
Developers can also assist businesses in making their information machine-readable.
Depending on the website, it may include:
- Semantic HTML
- Page structures
- Descriptive headings
- Structured metadata
- Product information
- Organization information
- Service descriptions
- Business information
All this isn't just about AI. It is about being more accessible, discoverable, and usable.
Do Not Design for AI Instead of Humans
It might be tempting to think of the AI discovery as just yet another optimization problem.
It could result in an over-engineered content, automation or recommendations manipulation.
Instead, consider this much easier solution:
Design valuable user experience.
When content is accurate, accessible, structured and helpful, it will most likely work in all discovery channels.
Discovery Stack Redefined
Developers might find themselves designing a system where business discovery is a whole process of:
Customer Problem
↓
AI/Discovery
↓
Business Recommendation
↓
Website/Product Experience
↓
Evaluation by Human
↓
Conversion
All stages are important.
The business could be recommended by some AI, but a bad website might make the customer leave anyway.
On the other hand, having a great website won’t help if the business information is wrong or incomplete.
What Developers Can Do Right Now
You don’t have to completely rethink your website for AI.
First, focus on the basics:
- Communicate business information clearly.
- Use semantic structure.
- Describe customer use cases.
- Maintain consistency of important information.
- Deliver useful, problem-solving content.
- Ensure page accessibility and navigability.
- Involve humans in making decisions.
All of these changes help both traditional and AI-facilitated discovery.
The Larger Opportunity
Incorporating AI might shift business discovery from being based on keywords to becoming more intent-oriented.
This would mean building websites and applications that don’t just present information, but explain context.
The idea isn’t to get a business “visible to AI.”
The aim is to make the business understandable.
As AI becomes yet another filter between customers and businesses, developers can start designing more comprehensible, more relevant digital experience.
Companies interested in learning how they could apply AI, automation, and digital innovations in their business can contact Aperture Venture Studio.
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