Malaysian Businesses Risk Missing Customers as AI Search Tools Gain Ground

A growing number of consumers are using AI search tools to find products and services, leaving businesses that only optimize for traditional Google rankings at risk of missing a significant share of potential customers.

According to research by BrightEdge, the presence of AI Overviews in Google search results has grown from 30% to 48% over the past year, with nearly half of tracked queries now showing these summaries. However, only about 17% of sources cited in AI Overviews also rank in Google's organic top 10.

Terence Lim, a Malaysian SEO specialist and founder of JinMatic, warns that businesses need to adapt to this new landscape. 'In my view, this citation gap shows that ranking #1 on Google is no longer enough on its own,' he said. 'AI search tools summarise answers directly, often without sending users to a website at all.'

Lim advises business owners to ask three questions: whether their website content directly answers common customer questions, whether their business information is structured in a way that search engines and AI systems can easily read, and whether they are tracking visibility in AI-generated answers. He recommends starting with a technical SEO audit to identify what's limiting visibility, paired with keyword research to understand what customers are actually searching for.