Building Websites for People, Google and AI

Your next customer might find you through Google, browse your website or ask an AI assistant for help. Your website needs to make your business easy to understand across all three.

At Waterfall Way Designs, we’re now building websites with people, Google and AI in mind. Based in Inverell, we help regional businesses keep up with how their customers find information and choose who to contact.

Over the last couple of years, AI has made a huge difference to how much we get done in our own business. It’s also opened up another way for customers to ask questions about the services they need.

Think of your website as a visitor information centre

A visitor information centre helps people find what they need in different ways. Your website does much the same job.

• People walk in and browse. They look at photos, read about your services and decide whether your business feels like a good fit. They need clear navigation, helpful information and an easy way to contact you.
• Google puts together the directory. It needs to discover your pages, understand what they cover and decide when to show them in search results.
• Using AI is more like phoning the visitor centre. Someone explains what they need, and the staff put together an answer using the information available to them.

That caller might ask, “Who can help me build a website for my small business in Inverell?”

They haven’t walked around the displays or searched through the directory themselves. They’ve asked a question and want a useful answer.

What makes a website useful for AI search?

Start with the questions your customers actually ask.

What do you do? Where do you work? Who do you help? What happens when someone contacts you?

For a regional business, saying “we provide quality solutions” tells people very little. Explaining your services, the towns you cover and the types of jobs you handle gives them something useful.

A helpful website should include:

• Clear descriptions of your products or services.
• Accurate contact details and service areas.
• Answers to common customer questions.
• Real examples of your work.
• Current information about your business.

These details help customers make decisions and give search tools useful information to work with.

The technical work behind the scenes

Alongside the content and design, there are technical ways to make website information easier to access and interpret.

Sitemaps and schema markup

An XML sitemap lists website pages to help search engines discover them. Think of it as a guide to the rooms in the visitor centre.

Schema markup adds structured labels to information, such as your business name, address and opening hours.

These are established website tools. Google says normal SEO practices remain relevant to its AI search features, and structured data should match what visitors can actually see on the page. Read Google’s guidance on AI features and websites.

Robots.txt and access settings

A robots.txt file gives instructions to compliant automated crawlers about which parts of a website they may access.

It’s also worth checking whether hosting or security settings are blocking intended search crawlers. Even helpful content has limited value for discovery if the relevant systems cannot reach it.

LLMS.txt files

An llms.txt file provides a concise guide to a website’s information for AI tools. Think of it as a briefing sheet that points the visitor centre staff towards useful material.

It is a proposed format, and publishing one does not guarantee that an AI service will use it or recommend your business.

MCP servers

MCP stands for Model Context Protocol. It provides a standard way for compatible AI applications to connect to information and tools.

In our visitor centre example, it’s like giving the staff access to a live system so they can check information when someone asks.

An MCP server could support a connection to a product catalogue or booking service. It requires an actual integration; adding one does not automatically place a business in AI search results

Does AI replace SEO?

Good SEO still matters. Google confirms that its existing SEO foundations apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode too.

You may hear the term GEO, or generative engine optimisation, used for work aimed at visibility in AI-generated answers.

Our focus is practical: useful content, accessible pages and accurate business information, with newer tools considered where they serve a clear purpose.

Can you guarantee my business will appear in AI answers?

No. There is no guaranteed place in an AI answer.

What we can do is make your website clearer, more useful and easier to access, giving your business a stronger foundation for being found.

Website design in Inverell, with ongoing support

Business owners already have plenty to manage. Keeping up with website technology is another job on an already long list.

At Waterfall Way Designs, we look after the content and technical details so your website continues to support your business as customer habits change.

If you want someone on your team who keeps up with these things, get in touch.

Contact Us to discuss your website.