Earned exposure, SEO & AI search
Which businesses benefit most from showing up in AI search?
Short answer
Person-based professional services that people already ask AI about: insurance agents, estate planners, attorneys, public adjusters, and to a degree roofers. The more often people ask an AI for that kind of help, and the more one client is worth, the more it pays to be the expert the AI trusts.
If I were picking where AI search visibility matters most, I'd start with businesses built around a person. Insurance agents, estate planners, attorneys, roofers somewhat. Even big firms, as long as clients are really hiring a person.
The filter is simple: the more likely people are to ask AI about it, the better.
Why insurance first?
Frequency. I spent nearly twenty years in insurance, including years as an adjuster, and my rough read is that about 6% of people are shopping for insurance at any given time. That's a constant stream of people asking questions.
Estate planning is the opposite trade-off. Each client is very valuable, but people ask about it far less often. Both can work. Frequency is easier to build on.
What about public adjusters?
This is the clearest example I've built. When somebody's house burns down, the first thing they'll often do is go to ChatGPT or Google and type something like "my roof blew off, how do I make sure I don't get screwed by my insurance company?"
I built a directory for public adjusters with articles that answer those exact questions. Public adjusters are typically paid around 10% of the claim, and the deals can be worth $5,000 to $100,000 each, so one good lead matters. I see commercial insurance as an even bigger version of the same play.
Who is a bad fit?
- Tiny, price-sensitive businesses.
- Categories nobody asks AI about. If people don't ask, there's nothing to be recommended for.
The sweet spot I keep coming back to is established firms, think $1 million or more in revenue, where one client is worth real money.
What does the work involve for a business like that?
Owners of these businesses mostly won't create content themselves. So the work has to be done for them, built from their real expertise: interviews, long-form video, short clips, articles, LinkedIn posts. The goal is for the models to see that person as a trusted expert. Plenty of it won't be read by humans, and it still has to be true. That's the 10-80-10 rule.
Can any of this be guaranteed?
No. Nobody controls who an AI recommends. What you can build is the foundation: real expertise, consistent facts and lots of honest citations. More on that in how to get recommended by ChatGPT and what earned exposure is.
Answered by TJ Larkin. From team calls between August and October 2026. Last updated .