SEO in 2026: A Practical AI Search Plan for UK Startups

Most UK startups are still treating SEO like it’s 2019: publish more blogs, chase more keywords, hope Google sends traffic.

That approach is getting expensive fast—because the first “search” increasingly isn’t a search engine at all. A January 2026 report from agency Eight Oh Two found 37% of consumers now begin with AI tools instead of traditional search, mainly because they want one summarised answer rather than ten blue links. The same report found 40% get annoyed clicking through too many links and 37% dislike the volume of ads.

For a startup, this changes the job. You’re not only trying to rank. You’re trying to be understood, trusted, and recommended by answer engines (ChatGPT-style tools, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity-style experiences). In this post—part of our AI Tools for UK Small Business series—I’ll break down what’s shifting, what to do in the next 30–90 days, and how to avoid paying for “GEO” hype that’s just old SEO in a new hoodie.

AI search is replacing the first click (and that’s the point)

AI-driven search is winning because it removes friction: fewer ads, fewer tabs, faster clarity. The Eight Oh Two research points to a simple reality: people want less noise.

The new behaviour: “AI first, then verify”

Here’s the pattern the data hints at:

• Users ask AI for a quick answer.
• They verify elsewhere if it’s important.

Eight Oh Two found trust is rising: 60% think AI gives better and clearer replies than traditional search, while only 6% say it’s worse. But people aren’t blindly accepting it—85% check AI answers elsewhere.

That verification step matters for startups. If AI summarises you poorly, or if the follow-up search results don’t confirm the summary, you lose credibility twice.

What people still prefer “classic search” for

Traditional search remains strong for:

• product reviews and pricing
• news
• images and video
• health topics

So don’t plan for “SEO is dead.” Plan for two lanes:

1. Answer-engine visibility (being included in the summary)
2. Search-engine validation (being the trusted source people click to confirm)

Brand discovery is becoming a shortlist problem

AI recommendations don’t show ten options; they tend to show a short list with reasons. That’s brutal for early-stage startups because being “ranked 8th” is no longer a consolation prize—you’re often not seen at all.

Eight Oh Two found:

• 47% say AI affects which brands they trust
• 47% have used AI to help choose a product
• 57% used AI to find best prices
• 54% compared products using AI

This is the new funnel: your brand needs to be extractable (AI can explain it in one sentence) and verifiable (other sources back it up).

A practical test: the one-sentence “AI description”

If you can’t write a clear sentence like this, AI won’t either:

“[Startup] helps [specific customer] achieve [specific outcome] by [how it works], with proof from [evidence].”

Example:

“We help UK ecommerce brands cut support tickets by 22–35% in 60 days using an AI chatbot trained on their last 12 months of Zendesk conversations.”

That sentence is doing more than positioning. It’s entity clarity: who you are, what you do, for whom, and why anyone should believe you.

What experts predict for SEO in 2026 (and what I agree with)

The expert commentary in the source article converges on a few themes. I’ll be blunt: the useful advice is boring, and the hype is expensive.

1) Credibility beats keywords

Multiple experts (including Ivan Vislavskiy, Sasha Berson, Karina Tymchenko, Trond Nyland, and others) point to the same direction: authority and trust signals are what win in 2026.

This is why mass content strategies are fading. If your site has 200 thin posts that don’t show real experience, you’re not building trust—you’re training both humans and machines to ignore you.

My stance: If your content doesn’t contain original specifics (numbers, screenshots, process details, named authors, real examples), it’s a liability.

2) Local SEO becomes the “easy win” for many startups

Local signals—Google Business Profile consistency, reviews, citations—show up repeatedly in the predictions. And it makes sense: answer engines need structured, confidence-building signals.

If you’re a UK startup with a local footprint (agencies, clinics, trades, hospitality, local SaaS serving regions), local SEO is still one of the best ROI plays because it’s measurable and defensible.

Quick checklist (UK-focused):

• Google Business Profile fully completed (services, categories, opening times, photos)
• NAP consistency (Name, Address, Phone) across key directories
• Review velocity (steady, not spiky) + owner responses
• Location pages that aren’t copy-paste clones (real local proof)

3) Technical SEO rises because AI crawlers are messy

Elie Berreby makes an important point: AI search has created more crawlers, and some are less capable than Googlebot—especially around JavaScript rendering.

For UK startups on modern JS-heavy sites, this is a quiet risk:

• your pages look fine to humans
• Google may render them
• but AI crawlers may see a blank shell

Practical fix: Make sure critical content is server-rendered or otherwise crawlable, and check logs to understand what bots are hitting your site.

4) Expect a flood of “GEO/AEO gurus” selling basics

More than one expert warns about hype: “AI SEO” pitches that ignore the reality that good SEO fundamentals still power AI visibility.

If someone sells you “GEO” but doesn’t discuss:

• crawlability and indexing
• internal linking and site structure
• structured data
• brand/entity consistency
• reputable mentions

…you’re probably buying a rebrand of weak tactics.

The 30–90 day AI SEO plan for UK startups (what to actually do)

You don’t need a new department to start. You need a focused set of assets and signals that answer engines can pick up—and humans can verify.

Step 1 (Week 1–2): Build an “entity pack” for your brand

Answer engines thrive on consistency. Create a single source of truth and then make sure the internet matches it.

Your entity pack should include:

• a one-sentence description (see earlier)
• 3–5 “proof points” (metrics, customer counts, time saved, outcomes)
• clear category and subcategory (“HR software for UK SMEs”, not “platform for growth”)
• leadership bios with specific credentials
• a short FAQ with direct answers

Then apply it across:

• homepage and about page
• founder LinkedIn and company LinkedIn
• press kit / media page
• key directory listings

This matches the broader trend experts mention: founders and spokespeople increasingly rank alongside brands, and it’s easier to validate people than vague company claims.

Step 2 (Week 2–6): Create “verification content” that survives the double-check

Remember: 85% verify AI answers elsewhere. Your website needs to be the place that closes the loop.

Create a small set of pages that do the heavy lifting:

1. One flagship guide (deep, practical, opinionated)
2. Two comparison pages (what you do vs alternatives)
3. One proof page (case studies with real numbers)
4. One pricing explainer (even if you don’t show full pricing)

Make these pages easy to extract:

• short summaries at the top
• scannable subheadings
• exact numbers and timeframes
• named authors and dates

Step 3 (Week 4–10): Earn mentions that AI can trust

PR isn’t just “nice to have” anymore. It’s becoming part of the ranking system because it creates independent corroboration.

Startups don’t need a massive PR retainer to do this well. You need a repeatable motion:

• publish one strong piece of original insight (survey, benchmark, teardown)
• pitch 10–20 relevant journalists/newsletters/podcasts
• turn founder commentary into bylined articles
• keep the messaging consistent across every appearance

If you’re not getting mentioned anywhere outside your own channels, you’re asking both Google and AI to take your word for it. They won’t.

Step 4 (Ongoing): Use video and community signals without treating them as “extra”

Several experts call out TikTok, comments-driven discovery, and video caption indexing. The point isn’t “go viral.” The point is: people are searching inside platforms and those platforms are becoming sources that AI systems learn from.

What works for UK small businesses:

• short videos answering one customer question each
• repeat the core phrase you want to be associated with (naturally)
• capture FAQs from comments and turn them into follow-ups
• show real people and real processes (screens, packaging, demos, behind-the-scenes)

If your brand feels generic, AI will summarise you generically. If your brand is specific, AI has something to grab.

People also ask: what should a startup measure when clicks drop?

When AI Overviews and zero-click results reduce traffic, measuring “sessions” alone becomes misleading.

Track a broader set of visibility and demand signals:

• branded search growth (Google Search Console)
• impression share on non-branded queries (GSC)
• referral leads from “verification pages” (case studies, comparisons)
• demo requests / inbound leads attributed to organic
• review volume and rating (especially local)
• mentions/backlinks from relevant publications (quality over quantity)

A useful internal metric I’ve seen work: “Qualified organic conversions per published asset.” If you publish ten posts and none drive qualified actions, stop publishing and fix the strategy.

What UK startups should do next

AI-driven search is forcing a higher standard: clarity, proof, and consistency across the web. The Eight Oh Two stats (37% starting with AI, 60% preferring AI clarity, 85% verifying elsewhere) point to a simple playbook: be the brand AI can summarise in one sentence—and be the brand that holds up when someone checks.

If you’re building your 2026 marketing plan right now, don’t budget for “more content.” Budget for fewer, stronger assets, technical crawlability, local trust signals where relevant, and steady third-party validation.

What would change in your pipeline if your startup became one of the three brands that AI recommends—every time someone asks for a tool “like yours” in your category?