Do you need a new website to show up in AI search
Sometimes no. Here's how to tell, and what each answer costs.
Sometimes the site you have is fine
A business doesn't need a new website if its current one has its words and prices in the page, a way for anyone to reach it, and details that match its other listings. Whether it appears in AI search results depends on more than its website anyway.
AI tools also use what other sites say about you, your Google listing included. Your website is the one part you fully control, and those three things are where it does its job.
The three signs at the bottom of this page take a few minutes to look for, with no tools, plus one question for whoever built your site. If your site shows all three and the answer is yes, keep it. Nobody can promise you a spot in AI answers, us included. OpenAI's own help page says placement in ChatGPT search "is not guaranteed."
Are your prices and services typed on the page, not in a picture?
No: Type them in. That's a small edit.
Yes
Can customers email you or fill in a form from your site?
No: Add your email address. That's a small edit.
Yes
Do your hours and phone number match your Google listing?
No: Make them match. That's a small edit.
Yes
Keep your site.
What makes a site hard for AI tools to read
Two things usually make a website harder for AI tools to read: words that only show up after the page opens, and prices and services shown as pictures.
Some sites send a nearly empty page and fill in the words a moment later, using code your browser runs. That code is called JavaScript. A person never notices it. Google can read words that load this way. It also says "not all bots can run JavaScript," and Bing tells site owners to avoid "hiding critical content" that way.
A price list in a photo reads fine to a person. Google asks that important content be "available in textual form."
Two more things matter. If your Google listing shows one set of hours and your site shows another, a tool reading both has two answers. Google tells owners to keep their Business Profile up to date. And a plain link to your booking page, an email address and a form that works for anyone are paths a person can follow, and so can an AI assistant helping them.
A price list in a photo
What a tool reads: a picture
The same list, typed in the page
Haircut, $40. Color, from $90.
What a tool reads: Haircut, $40. Color, from $90.
Example: Example Studio, a made-up salon.
What fixing your current site costs
Fixing an existing website so AI tools can read it has no standard price.
Some fixes are small. Typing a price list into the page instead of showing a photo is an edit. So is matching your hours to your Google listing. If that's all that's wrong, we'd tell you to do it yourself.
Words that only show up after the page opens are a different job. That comes from how the site was built, and only someone working inside your site can size it up. So the math is yours: the hours they quote times their rate. Get the scope and the full price in writing before any work starts.
Two Scoops Web doesn't fix existing sites. We build new ones, and we can move your words and photos over from the old one.
What a new website costs with us
A new website from Two Scoops Web costs $1,500, $3,500 or $6,500 for one of its three builds, a fixed price paid half to start and the balance before the site goes live.
The three builds hold 6, 12 or 24 pages, on top of home, about, contact, terms and privacy. Keeping one online runs about $20 a month, and we set that up for you. A bigger site, or one that needs a setup the three don't cover, is Custom. We scope it and write a build plan for free, then give you a fixed quote.
Every build puts your words, prices and services in the page from the start, so a search engine or AI tool that visits can read them. Each old page address points to its new one, so links people saved still work. Moving your content over is quoted after a free look at the old site.
Compare the packages. On WordPress? See moving off WordPress. Website redesign covers what a redesign includes.
Signs your website is fine as it is
A website is fine as it is when its prices and services are typed on the page, customers can reach you from it, and its details match your Google listing, three signs you can see without any tools.
- Your prices and services are typed on the page. They're written out as words, not shown in a photo of a price list.
- Customers can reach you from the site. Your email address is on the page or there's a form, plus a link to your booking page if you take bookings.
- Your details match your Google listing. The hours, phone number and service area on your site are the same as on your Google Business Profile.
One thing you can't see from the outside is whether your words and your contact form are in the page from the start, or only show up after it opens. Whoever built your site can tell you. Ask them: "Are my words and my form in the page when it's sent, or filled in after it opens?"
If all three signs are true and your builder says your words are there from the start, there's nothing to buy. Keep your site.
If your site needs more than an edit
Tell us about your business, and we'll set up a video call about whether a new site makes sense.