Brighton AI Search: How Brighton Brands Get Found in a Post-SEO World

TL;DR: “AI search” isn’t one thing. It’s an ecosystem of assistants (ChatGPT/Perplexity/Copilot), Google’s AI Overviews, Maps, YouTube, and niche vertical engines. To win in Brighton, shift from ranking pages to packaging answers: evidence-backed, structured, fast, and obviously local. That’s AI visibility—and it compounds.

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What “AI Search” Really Means (and why Brighton should care)

Classic SEO optimised for blue links. AI search optimises for selection inside generated answers. When someone asks:

• “Best family restaurants near the Lanes tonight?”

• “What’s the fastest way to rebuild a WordPress site with membership in Brighton?”

• “Is cold-water therapy good after a 10k on Hove seafront?”

…assistants assemble an answer from trusted snippets, sources, and structured facts—often mixing Maps, opening hours, prices, and steps. If your brand isn’t machine-obvious and citable, you’ll fuel the answer… while someone else takes the credit.

Brighton is packed with lookalikes—agencies, clinics, cafés, studios, charities. The city’s advantage is speed: we adopt early. Nail AI search now and you’ll bank discovery compounding into Q1/Q2.

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The AI Search Landscape (2025 snapshot)

• Google AI Overviews: Short, sourced summaries on high-intent queries. Loves tidy, factual Q&As, how-tos, definitions, and local completeness (GBP).

• ChatGPT / “SearchGPT” style experiences: Conversational tasks. Rewards attributed content, clear steps, and fresh dates.

• Perplexity: Aggressively cites; favours concise, sourced, topical pages (great for FAQs, comparisons, and researchy content).

• Bing Copilot: Similar to the above, with a Microsoft graph twist.

• Maps/Local: Still crucial—entity consistency, hours, services, photos, reviews.

• YouTube & Shorts: Transcripts are queryable. Chapters, precise titles, and factual descriptions feed AI selection.

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GEO, but make it Brighton: Your 6-Layer Stack

1. Entity Spine (non-negotiable)
   One canonical truth for your business details. Mirror it on your footer, Contact page, GBP, and top directories.

   • Legal + trading name

   • NAP (Name/Address/Phone)

   • Socials, Companies House, Trustpilot

   • Author list (named people with bios)

2. Task-Shaped Content
   Stop writing essays; build task pages:

   • 80–120-word intro (one problem → one solution → who it’s for)

   • Steps/checklists (3–6)

   • Pricing band (ranges + variables)

   • Evidence (numbers, screenshots, reviews)

   • 5–8 FAQs (atomic answers)

   • Author bio + last updated

3. Schema Discipline
   Ship clean JSON-LD from templates (no duplicates):

   • Sitewide: Organization/LocalBusiness with sameAs, hours, geo

   • Pages: Service, FAQPage, HowTo, Product/Offer, Article with author

4. Local Signals (Brighton reality)

   • GBP categories + services complete

   • Q&A seeded (real questions)

   • Real photos (front, inside, team, outputs), weekly posts

   • Review cadence + natural, timely replies

5. Media & Speed

   • Compress to WebP/AVIF, descriptive alt, captions that state facts

   • LCP < 2.5s, CLS < 0.1, INP < 200ms

   • Minimal render-blocking scripts

6. Measurement That Actually Proves It

   • FAQ/task-page entrances → conversions

   • GBP actions (calls, site clicks, directions)

   • Assistant/AI referrers when visible; UTM on experiments

   • Annotate deploys; track citation pickups where you can

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Playbook: Ship Your First 30 Days

Week 1 — Audit & Align

• Build your Entity Spine (NAP, authors, social, directories)

• Crawl your site; map queries to jobs-to-be-done

• Validate existing schema; remove duplicates

Week 2 — Refactor Content

• Convert 2–3 service pages to task pages (steps, prices, proof)

• Publish a /faqs/ hub (10–20 Brighton-specific Q&As)

• Add author bios and “Last updated” to key pages

Week 3 — Local & Speed

• Fill GBP services, Q&A, photos; schedule weekly posts

• Optimise images, lazy-load, trim JS; stabilise Core Web Vitals

• Interlink clusters → pillar → homepage

Week 4 — Prove It

• Tag task completions; compare baseline vs. post changes

• Review FAQ entrances and local actions

• Plan phase two (video transcripts, comparisons, calculators)

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Formats AI Search Loves (use these on Brighton pages)

• Atomic Q&As (60–120 words): precise, sourced, decisive.

• Step Guides (HowTo): list tools, time, and safety notes where useful.

• Comparisons: A vs B vs C tables with criteria.

• Eligibility & Policy pages: who qualifies, what it costs, exclusions.

• Local Guides: “X in Brighton” with addresses, hours, and criteria.

• Short videos with chapters: titles that answer, not tease.

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Example: Brighton Service Page Skeleton (copy this)

H1: Web Design for Membership Sites in Brighton
Intro: 90 words: problem → solution → who it’s for → outcome
How it works (steps): Plan → Build → Migrate → Secure → Launch
Pricing band: “From £X–£Y; includes A/B/C; excludes D (estimate tool link)”
Evidence block: 3 metrics, 1 screenshot, 1 named quote
FAQs: 6 (timelines, SSO, payments, support, migration risk, SEO/GEO)
Author: 60–80 words + headshot, credentials
Schema: Service + FAQPage
CTA: Book a 20-min consult

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Brighton Use-Cases (anonymised)

• Clinic: Replaced long articles with Q&As + aftercare steps; added authors + dates. Result: appearances for “is X safe” style queries and more phone calls from Maps.

• Hospitality: Menu + event schema, photos weekly, hours synced. Result: “open now” discovery and weekend walk-ins up.

• Agency/E-com: Comparison tables + transparent pricing ranges; FAQ hub. Result: higher AI-sourced referrals and stronger “contact” intent.

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Governance = Trust (don’t skip this)

• Editorial policy: what you update and how you source facts

• Author policy: bios, credentials, scope of expertise

• Review policy: how you request and moderate reviews

• Accessibility statement: real fixes + contact route

These pages aren’t fluff; they’re trust objects that assistive models notice.

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Roadmap: Beyond 30 Days

• Transcripts + Chapters for every key video

• Calculators/Checkers (eligibility, pricing estimators)

• Data pages (original stats, methodologies, update cadence)

• Programmatic Q&As for long-tail tasks (curated, not spun)

• Partnership citations with local orgs; ensure sameAs completeness

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FAQ: Brighton AI Search (mark these up on the page)

How is AI search different from SEO?
SEO ranks pages in results. AI search selects evidence and answers from sources to build a response. You need both.

Do I still need keywords?
Yes—but expressed as questions, tasks, and comparisons. Keywords inform structure; the answer earns selection.

What’s the fastest win for a Brighton business?
Publish 10 Brighton-specific FAQs with FAQPage schema, perfect your GBP (categories, services, Q&A), and add author bios + “Last updated” to your top pages.

Will AI search kill clicks?
It moves them. Brands cited in answers still earn qualified traffic, especially to decision pages (pricing, booking, contact).

How do I measure success?
FAQ entrances, local actions, assistant referrers where available, and assisted conversions. Annotate deployments.

Which schema should I start with?
Organization/LocalBusiness sitewide, then Service, FAQPage, and HowTo where relevant. Keep it clean—no duplicates.

What about images?
Use real images, compressed (WebP/AVIF), with descriptive alt and captions that state facts. Models read context.

Do author pages matter?
Yes. Named, attributable expertise is a selection signal. Create proper bios with credentials and links.

How often should we update content?
Quarterly for evergreen; immediately for time-sensitive info (prices, hours, regulation). Always stamp Last updated.

Can this be done on WordPress without plugin bloat?
Absolutely. Use lightweight custom blocks (FAQ/Steps/Evidence) and a single JSON-LD injector per template.

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Meta pack (paste into your CMS)

• Slug: /blog/brighton-ai-search

• Meta title (≤60): Brighton AI Search: How Local Brands Get Found in 2025

• Meta description (≤155): AI search selects answers, not just links. A Brighton playbook to package evidence, schema, and speed for AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity & Maps.

• OG title: Brighton AI Search: The 2025 Playbook

• OG description: Make your brand citable, computable, and local—so assistants choose you.

Ready to make AI assistants choose you?
We run a 30-day Brighton AI Search Sprint: audit → refactor → schema → speed → measure.
👉 Book a 20-min consult (link) or email hello@brightonai.uk with subject “AI Search Sprint.”