AI chatbot adoption is moving rapidly. We can already ask the tools to help us find local restaurants, a good deal on an item we’re looking to purchase. And soon, we’ll even be able to buy products from Walmart through ChatGPT. 

All of this is possible, because the underlying Large Language Model algorithms absorb massive amount of human generated content, from reviews to Reddit posts, to figure out the world and how to answer queries. 

The way LLMs work poses a challenge for small businesses, which are going to have to figure out how to get noticed by these algorithms, when the online chatter about them is far less than for big brands and retailers. 

“Anybody who says that they know how to optimize for an answer on ChatGPT is probably feeding you some, you know, kind of snake oil,” says Sucharita Kodali, retail and e-commerce analyst at Forrester Research. 

“Nobody knows how the ChatGPT answer engine works, or where it's pulling its information from. It's a black box,” she said.

Some companies are beginning to think about this challenge now, and starting to pivot in response, even as the AI future — and even the present — remains largely uncertain. 

“There has been, historically, this area of marketing spend called Search Engine Optimization, also known as SEO. And now I hear that more companies are investing in something called AEO, which is answer engine optimization,” Kodali said. 

Logan England, head of e-commerce for Thread, a specialty wallets and accessories retailer, is among those jumping in. He’s planning for a future that isn’t here yet, but which he can see in the horizon. 

That’s because Thread’s online traffic has not shifted very much, yet. England said it’s still coming from web search, email and text-based campaigns, as well as influencers, and online marketplaces like Amazon and Target Plus. 

“I do think that, you know, traditional search is still very relevant, and I think that is what we're trying to keep an eye on. Could it shift very quickly though? Yes,” he says. 

To prepare for what’s to come, Thread is trying to figure out what  companies running AI tools need from Thread in order for its products to get mentioned in AI responses. 

For example, England says his team is looking at every detail of Thread’s website — even image files and how they’re named — with an eye toward discoverability by AI chatbots. 

“They only can read like the text, the back end of a website. They can't see it like a human,” England says. “If it's just like ‘image underscore one’, it's not very helpful. But, if it's ‘elastic wallet’ or ‘leather bifold wallet’, it's a lot more helpful for the understanding of the website.”

That’s the technical side of it. There’s also the content side, or as Keri McGhee of the AI marketing company Attentive puts it: “influencer game.” 

“A small business who has a great social game or a great influencer game, is going to show up in all of those [AI] searches,” McGhee said , adding that the brands Attentive works with, which are having the most success, have content spread out on Reddit, LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram and elsewhere. 

“You have to be where your audience is,” said McGhee.  

Of course, bigger businesses have more resources to make content and get attention. Small businesses will have to figure out how to stand out among louder rivals.  

McGhee says they will likely need to focus on content that is “more hyper local and hyper personalized. Those are the kind of trends that I think we're seeing.”

For example, small businesses might focus more on getting noticed when AI is looking for the best taco joint nearby. 

In the case of Thread wallets, it might focus on AI responding to skateboarders and surfers looking for slim wallets. That’s how the company got started. 

The potential for that kind of hyper-specific targeting has left Thread’s Logan England optimistic about the future. 

“Tools are coming out every day, so it's evolving quick. But, I think general sentiment of it is… it's good for marketers, good for business,” he said.

Whether it remains good will depend on how Thread and small businesses like it learn to evolve right alongside AI’s capabilities.