Independent Business: Has the rise of AI affected online sales? | small business

By /

We’d like to learn more about how changing the way we search online with the rise of AI will impact your business.

Independent businesses, even if they are based on the high street, have traditionally relied on online advertising to increase visibility and sales. However, with the introduction of AI Mode and AI Overview Summary on Google and the proliferation of LLMs like ChatGPT or Google Gemini, people’s search habits are changing and this can impact the online visibility of small businesses.

With this in mind, you’ll want to find out whether there’s been a change in organic traffic to your business site or online sales in recent months. Can customers still find your company online? Have you found a new opportunity? Or have you experienced serious difficulties? How is your business innovating to be visible online? Are you changing your strategy?

We also want to hear from our customers. Have you found it more difficult to track down independent retailers or find relevant products online?

You can let us know using the form below or sending us a message.

“,”prompt”:”Please share your experience”,”Contact us”:[{“name”:”whatsapp”,”value”:”+447766780300″,”urlPrefix”:”https://wa.me/”,”guidance”:”https://www.theguardian.com/info/2015/aug/12/whatsapp-sharing-stories-with-the-guardian”}],”displayOnSensitive”:false,”elementId”:”e7ab229e-51f9-4f29-ba8b-02a41c5118aa”,”title”:””,”isNonCollapsible”:true,”formFields”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.CalloutFormFieldBase”,”name”:”name”,”id”:”190882494″,”hideLabel”:false,”label”:”Name”,”hidden”:false,”type”:”text”,”required”:true},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.CalloutFormFieldBase”,”name”:”where_do_you_live”,”id”:”190882495″,”hideLabel”:false,”label”:”Where do you live?”,”hidden”:false,”type”:”text”,”required”:true},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.CalloutFormFieldBase”,”name”:”tell_us_a_bit_about_yourself_eg_age_background_what_you_do”,”id”:”190882496″,”hideLabel”:false,”label”:”Tell us a bit about yourself (e.g. age, background, what you do)”,”hidden”:false,”type”:”text”,”required”:false},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.CalloutFormFieldRadio”,”name”:”does_one_of_the_following_apply_to_you”,”options”:[{“label”:”Small business owner”,”value”:”Small business owner”},{“label”:”Work in independent retail”,”value”:”Work in independent retail”},{“label”:”Customer”,”value”:”Customer”},{“label”:”Other”,”value”:”Other”}],”id”:”190882761″,”hideLabel”:false,”label”:”Does any of the following apply to you?”,”hidden”:false,”type”:”radio”,”required”:true},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.CalloutFormFiel dBase”,”name”:”if_you_selected_other_please_tell_us_about_it_here”,”id”:”190882763″,”hideLabel”:false,”label”:”If you selected ‘Other’, please tell us about it. here”,”hidden”:false,”type”:”text”,”required”:false},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.CalloutFormFieldBase”,”name” :”have_there_been_any_changes_to_organic_traffic_to_your_business_site_or_online_sales_in_recent_months”,”description”:”Please include as much detail as possible “,”id”:”190882497″,”hideLabel”:false,”label”:”Have you seen any recent changes in organic traffic to your business site or online sales? months?”,”hidden”:false,”type”:”textarea”,”required”:true},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.CalloutFormFieldBase”,”name”:”are_customers_still_ able_to_discover_your_company_online_amid_the_rise_in_ai_have_you_found_new_opportunities_or_have_there_been_significant_challenges_”,”description”:”Please include as many details as possible “,”id”:”190882567″,”hideLabel”:false,”label”:”With AI on the rise, customers are still online. Can you find your company or have you encountered significant difficulties? “,”hidden”:false,”type”:”textarea”,”required”:false},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.CalloutFormFieldBase”,”name”:”how_is_your_business_innovating_to_get_seen_online_are_you_changing_strategy_”,”description”:”Include as much detail as possible Please “,”id”:”190882759″,”hideLabel”:false,”label”:”How is your business transforming its presence online? “,”hidden”:false,”type”:”textarea”,”required”:false},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.CalloutFormFieldBase”,”name”:”if_y oure_a_customer_have_you_found_it_harder_to_track_down_independent_retailers_or_find_relevant_products_online_”,”description”:”Please include as many details as possible “,”id”:”190883016″,”hideLabel”:false,”label”:”If you are a customer, it is better to track down independent retailers or find related products online. Is it difficult? “,”hidden”:false,”type”:”textarea”,”required”:false},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.CalloutFormFieldBas e”,”name”:”if_you_are_happy_to_please_upload_a_photo_of_yourself_here”,”id”:”190882498″,”hideLabel”:false,”label”:”If you are happy to upload your own photo here Please.”,”hidden”:false,”type”:”file”,”required”:false},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.CalloutFormFieldRadio”,”name”:”can_we_publish_your_response”,”options”:[{“label”:”Yes, entirely”,”value”:”Yes, entirely”},{“label”:”Yes, but contact me first”,”value”:”Yes, but contact me first”},{“label”:”Yes, but please keep me anonymous”,”value”:”Yes, but please keep me anonymous”},{“label”:”No, this is information only”,”value”:”No, this is information only”}],”id”:”190882499″,”hideLabel”:false,”label”:”Can post response “,”hidden”:false,”type”:”radio”,”required”:true},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.CalloutFormFieldBase”,”name”:”phone_number”,”description”:”Your contact details are only available to your guardian. Displayed.”,”id”:”190882500″,”hideLabel”:false,”label”:”Phone number”,”hidden”:false,”type”:”text”,”required”:false},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.CalloutFormFieldBase”,”name”:”email_address_”,”description”:”Your contact information will help us contact you for further information. Guardian.”,”id”:”190882501″,”hideLabel”:false,”label”:”Email address “,”hidden”:false,”type”:”text”,”required”:true},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.CalloutFormFieldBase”,”name”:”you_can_add_more_information_here”,”description”:”Ask if it includes someone’s name. first.”,”id”:”190882502″,”hideLabel”:false,”label”:”You can add more information. here”,”hidden”:false,”type”:”textarea”,”required”:false},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.CalloutFormFieldRadio”,”name”:”would_you_be_interested_in_speaking_to_our_audio_andor_video_teams”,”options”:[{“label”:”Audio only”,”value”:”Audio only”},{“label”:”Video only”,”value”:”Video only”},{“label”:”Audio and video”,”value”:”Audio and video”},{“label”:”No, I’m not interested”,”value”:”No, I’m not interested”}],”id”:”190882503″,”hideLabel”:false,”label”:”Would you like to contact our audio and/or video team?”,”hidden”:false,”type”:”radio”,”required”:false}],”_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.CalloutBlockElementV2″,”tagName”:”uk-callout-retailers- and-online-sales-amid-ai”,”activeFrom”:1766102400000,”id”:”83749b7e-46be-4c1b-bdd1-f7c11921ba43″,”cal loutsUrl”:”https://callouts.guardianapis.com/formstack-campaign/submit”,”formId”:6393196},”pageId”:”business/2025/dec/19/independent-businesses-have-your-online-sales-been-affected-by-the-rise-of-ai”}”>

Share your experience

You can let us know using the form below or sending us a message.

Your responses, which can be anonymous, are secure as the form is encrypted and only your guardians have access to your contributions. We will only use the data you provide for the purposes of that functionality, and we will delete personal data that is no longer needed for this purpose. For other ways to connect safely, see: Tips Guide.

Do any of the following apply to you?