AI is rewriting Search – with Aris Vrakas from Rankbee

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In this episode of Beside Ourselves, Giles and Theo sit down with Aris Vrakas, CEO of Rankbee, to talk about one of the most quietly significant shifts in digital marketing: the rise of AI-powered search, and what it means for businesses.

The conversation opens with a question that sounds simple — but isn’t: how are people actually finding things on the internet now? Aris paints a picture of a market in mid-transition — one foot still in traditional Google search, the other stepping into a world where people type their whole situation into ChatGPT or Perplexity and trust the answer they get.

The zero-click attribution gap: when a prospect gets a shortlist of providers from AI, it does not register in your analytics.

The uncomfortable truth he surfaces early on is what he calls the zero-click attribution gap. When a potential customer describes their problem to an AI and gets a shortlist of providers, none of that registers in your analytics.

No session, no click, no conversion event. The decision happens upstream of anything you can measure — and Aris estimates that in some sectors, around 30% of customer decisions may already be playing out this way, invisibly.

From there, the discussion moves to what this actually demands of businesses. Giles raises the obvious question: do we just bin SEO and start again? Aris is reassuring on this front: AI Engine Optimisation is an extension of your SEO strategy, not a replacement. But the logic underneath it has shifted fundamentally.

Traditional SEO rewarded keyword density and domain authority. AI evaluates you the way a thoughtful human would: are you local, credible, appropriately priced, properly accredited, clearly experienced in the right area? It builds a picture from attributes, not keywords.

This leads to one of the episode's most interesting threads: the opportunity for smaller businesses. Because AI genuinely tries to assess fit rather than just surface the biggest players, local and specialist firms can now beat national competitors they could never have touched under the old SEO regime. Giles calls it a David and Goliath moment, and Aris agrees — with the caveat that the window to get ahead of it is open now, but won’t be forever.

Aris closes with a clear practical tip: make sure the six to twelve attributes an AI would use to evaluate your business are all addressed within one click of your homepage. Not buried deep in your site. Surfaced, substantive, and convincing.

AI toolkit we love: Claude Code

Aris named Claude Design, which he’s been using extensively for design and content work — onboarding flows, email templates, UX copy. Both Theo and Giles agreed that Claude has been quietly expanding beyond Code and is quietly becoming a good addition to the Designer’s toolkit.

3 takeaways for business leaders

1. The data is lying to you by omission. If AI-driven decisions don’t show up in your attribution, you’re measuring the wrong thing. The 5% of traffic you can see may be masking 30% of the influence you can’t.

2. AI rewards genuine credibility. Unlike SEO, which could be gamed, AI evaluates context and substance. Good content, proper schema, and clear positioning aren’t just best practices. They’re also a competitive advantage.

3. Smaller and more specific is a strength. AI tends to surface the right fit over the biggest brand. If you’re genuinely expert, genuinely local, and genuinely clear about what you do, you’re better placed than you think.

Find Aris and the Rankbee platform at rankbee.ai. Beside Ourselves is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube. Beside Partners helps SMEs navigate AI adoption with clarity and confidence. Find out more at besidepartners.com.