Runningfish is a San Diego digital marketing agency that has offered SEO and AI search optimization since before most agencies knew what AI SEO was. Founded in 2003 and based in Downtown San Diego, the agency works with businesses across Southern California that need to be found — not just on Google, but increasingly in AI-generated search results from tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. Here’s what San Diego businesses need to know about both in 2026.
What Traditional SEO Actually Does
Traditional SEO is the practice of getting your website to rank in Google’s organic search results. It involves technical site health, keyword targeting, on-page content, backlink building, and local signals like Google Business Profile. When someone searches “plumber in San Diego” and clicks a result that isn’t a paid ad — that’s traditional SEO doing its job.
It works by making your site easier for search engine crawlers to read, more authoritative through links from other sites, and more relevant through content that matches what people are searching for. Despite predictions of its death every few years, traditional SEO still drives enormous traffic volume — and it still matters in 2026.
What AI SEO Does — and Why It’s Different
AI SEO, also called generative engine optimization (GEO), is about getting your business cited or recommended in AI-generated answers. When someone asks ChatGPT “what’s the best web design agency in San Diego?” or asks Perplexity to recommend a local SEO company, the AI doesn’t return a list of blue links. It gives a confident, prose answer — and either your business is mentioned or it isn’t.
The signals that determine who gets cited are different from traditional ranking signals. AI models pull from training data, real-time web access (in some tools), high-authority sources, and structured content that clearly states what a business does, who it serves, and why it’s credible. Our AI SEO services are built around making that case to the models that matter.
The Numbers That Make AI SEO Hard to Ignore
According to a 2024 study by BrightEdge, 57% of consumer search queries are now influenced by AI-generated answers. That’s not a niche statistic — it means more than half of online searches are shaped by an AI model before the user ever clicks anything. For businesses that depend on search traffic, ignoring AI search is no longer a reasonable position.
Search behavior is shifting. Younger users especially are going directly to ChatGPT or Perplexity for recommendations instead of typing into Google. Google’s own AI Overviews now appear at the top of millions of search results, giving AI-generated summaries before any traditional results appear. Being cited in those summaries requires a different strategy than traditional SEO alone.
How AI Models Decide What to Recommend
AI language models don’t rank pages the way Google does. They generate responses based on patterns in their training data combined with retrieval from trusted sources. A business that’s frequently mentioned in authoritative publications, has clear and consistent information across the web, and produces content that directly answers specific questions is far more likely to be cited.
Structured data, clear “About” pages, FAQ content, and third-party coverage all factor in. So does the way your content is written — AI models respond better to direct, declarative statements than to vague marketing language. This is one area where our digital marketing approach pays off: content written for clarity tends to perform well in both traditional and AI search.
What You Need to Do Differently for AI Search
Traditional SEO optimizes for crawlers reading your site. AI SEO optimizes for models that need to understand who you are, what you do, and whether you’re trustworthy — often without ever visiting your site directly. The two strategies overlap but they’re not the same thing.
For AI search, the priorities are: consistent business information across every platform you appear on, content that answers questions directly (not keyword-stuffed text), coverage from third-party sources like local news, directories, and industry publications, and schema markup that makes your business data machine-readable. The Local SEO Checklist for 2026 covers several of these foundations, which apply to both AI and traditional search.
Which San Diego Businesses Benefit Most from AI SEO
Any business that gets chosen through a recommendation — rather than pure price comparison — benefits from AI SEO. That includes law firms, medical practices, home services contractors, restaurants, financial advisors, and B2B service providers. When a potential client asks an AI tool to recommend a family law attorney in San Diego, the attorney who shows up in that answer has a serious competitive edge over one who doesn’t.
Industries where trust and expertise drive the decision are especially well-positioned to benefit. Our law firm marketing work and home services SEO both incorporate AI visibility as a core component — because that’s where a growing share of referral-style searches are happening. Get a free quote today to see how this applies to your specific industry.
What Runningfish Offers for Both
Runningfish doesn’t treat traditional SEO and AI SEO as competing services. Both are part of a complete search visibility strategy. Traditional SEO still drives the bulk of trackable traffic — it’s measurable, it’s established, and it works. AI SEO is where the next wave of visibility is being built, and businesses that invest in it now will have an advantage that compounds over the next several years.
The agency’s approach to AI search optimization includes content architecture, structured data, third-party citation building, and AI-specific monitoring to track when and where your brand is being cited. Combined with traditional local SEO and on-page work, it’s a full-spectrum approach to being found — regardless of how a potential customer is searching.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need AI SEO if I’m already ranking well on Google?
Yes — and here’s why. Google rankings don’t transfer automatically to AI-generated answers. You can be #1 on Google for a keyword and still be completely absent from ChatGPT or Perplexity recommendations on the same topic. The criteria are different. Strong traditional SEO is a good foundation, but AI visibility requires additional, targeted work on top of it.
How do I know if my business is being cited by AI tools?
Manually querying tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews for prompts relevant to your business is a starting point. There are also emerging monitoring tools that track AI citations across platforms. Runningfish includes AI citation tracking as part of its AI SEO service — so you know where you stand and what’s changing over time.
What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?
Generative engine optimization is the practice of making your business more likely to be cited or recommended in AI-generated search results. It’s distinct from traditional SEO in that it focuses on factors like content clarity, third-party credibility signals, and structured data — rather than keyword rankings and link counts alone. AI SEO and GEO are used interchangeably and refer to the same set of strategies.
Is AI SEO worth it for small San Diego businesses?
It depends on your industry and how your customers find you. For businesses where word-of-mouth and recommendations drive decisions — contractors, consultants, lawyers, agencies, medical providers — AI SEO is worth investing in now, before competitors do. For purely transactional businesses (e-commerce, commodity products), traditional SEO and paid search still dominate. Not sure which camp you’re in? The Runningfish FAQ page covers this and we’re happy to give a straight answer on a call.
Ready to Get Started?
Whether you need traditional SEO, AI search visibility, or both — Runningfish builds strategies around how your customers actually search in 2026.
Get a Free Quote Today or call us at (858) 349-2429.