The ‘Real Customers’ of Websites Are No Longer Human—What Small Businesses Should Do Right Now

Do you know who is visiting your company’s homepage?

The answer is “mostly AI.”

According to Barracuda Networks’ 2024 survey, approximately 47% of overall web traffic is generated by bots and AI agents, with malicious bots accounting for over 30% of that total. A recent report from Imperva also indicates that bot traffic has surpassed human traffic. In other words, more than half of the “customers” visiting your homepage are no longer human.

This is not just a concern for large corporations; small businesses are particularly affected by this structural change.

What Is Happening

First, let’s clarify the facts.

There are three main reasons why AI agents are crawling the web:

1. Information Gathering by Search AIs: AI searches like Google SGE, Bing Copilot, and Perplexity crawl websites to generate answers. They access sites at a frequency that far exceeds that of traditional search engine crawlers.
2. Rise of AI Agents: AI agents like ChatGPT plugins and AutoGPT retrieve information from websites on behalf of users, performing comparisons, summaries, and decision-making.
3. Proliferation of AI-Generated Content: In Meta’s AI applications, AI-generated clickbait articles populate the “For You” section, leading to further AI crawling of linked content. A cycle is emerging where AI goes to read AI-generated content.

In short, the “readers” of the web are being replaced by AI. Humans are only reading the answers provided by AI searches and are not visiting the original sites. This trend is accelerating.

What Changes for Small Businesses

Now, let’s get to the crux of the matter: “So, how does this relate to my company?”

1. The Foundations of SEO Are Crumbling

Traditional SEO followed the flow of “ranking high on Google search → getting clicked and visiting the site → inquiries.” However, with the proliferation of AI searches, users are satisfied with the AI’s answers and do not visit the site. This is known as “zero-click searches.”

A SparkToro study found that approximately 60% of Google searches end in zero clicks. As AI searches become more mainstream, this number is likely to rise.

Many small businesses invest around 50,000 yen a month in SEO strategies. The premise of that investment is beginning to crumble.

2. The ‘Readers’ of Homepages Have Changed

AI agents read HTML structure, metadata, and structured data (JSON-LD). Beautiful designs and animations intended for human users are irrelevant.

In other words, the “appearance” of a homepage that has been renewed at a cost of 500,000 to 1,000,000 yen is of no concern to AI, the largest reader. What AI can read are text information and structured data.

This also relates to cost structure. Spending 1,000,000 yen on visual design versus 200,000 yen on structured data and content organization— which one reaches the “readers”? The answer is clear.

3. Being ‘Chosen by AI’ Becomes the New Customer Acquisition Strategy

When AI searches are asked, “What are the recommended construction companies in this area?”, whether your company is included in the answer will become a new turning point for customer acquisition.

AI references clear and structured information: location, services offered, price range, achievements, and reviews. Whether these are organized in a machine-readable format will determine if they make it into AI’s responses.

Large corporations are automatically picked up due to their brand power and information volume. Small businesses need to be intentional about this to be recognized. This is where the competition lies.

Let’s Talk About Security

The increase in AI agents also brings security risks.

There have been reports of Meta’s AI chatbots being misused, leading to a large number of Instagram accounts being hacked. AI-driven phishing attacks are more sophisticated and harder to distinguish than traditional methods.

Small business websites are not exempt from this. Issues such as server crashes due to massive bot traffic and spam flooding inquiry forms are already occurring. Even a few thousand yen a month for a WAF (Web Application Firewall) or the free plan from Cloudflare can provide basic protection. If you haven’t done this yet, you should start today.

Five Things Small Businesses Should Do Right Now

Enough with the abstract discussions. What should you specifically do?

① Add Structured Data (Cost: 0 to 50,000 yen)

Add structured data (JSON-LD) compliant with Schema.org to your site. Include your company name, address, phone number, business hours, services, and reviews. If you’re using WordPress, this can be done in about 30 minutes with a plugin. This alone significantly increases the chances of being “read” by AI.

② Thoroughly Complete Your Google Business Profile (Cost: 0 yen)

AI searches reference Google’s data. If your profile information is outdated, lacks photos, or you haven’t responded to reviews, you will be excluded from AI’s potential answers. Many companies are not doing this, even though it’s free.

③ Create an FAQ Page for AI to Answer (Cost: 0 to 30,000 yen)

What would customers likely ask AI? Questions like “How much does exterior painting cost in XX City?” or “What is the delivery time?” Identify these questions and create a clear response page. Use a Q&A format, one question at a time, including specific numbers. AI prefers this type of page.

④ Review robots.txt and AI Crawler Settings (Cost: 0 yen)

Decide whether to block or allow crawlers from AI companies like GPTBot, Google-Extended, and ClaudeBot. If you have no settings, all AIs can crawl without limits. If you want your information to be used by AI, allow it. If not, restrict it. Either way, it is important to set your intentions.

⑤ Minimum Server Load and Security Measures (Cost: 0 to 3,000 yen per month)

By simply implementing Cloudflare’s free plan, you can visualize bot traffic and establish basic defenses. A paid plan for around 3,000 yen per month can also allow you to control AI crawlers. It’s too late to respond after your server crashes.

The Essence Is Cost Redistribution

To summarize:

• Spending 1,000,000 yen on a homepage renewal is less effective than spending 200,000 yen on structured data and content organization to reach “readers.”
• Investing 50,000 yen a month in SEO may yield less effect than updating your Google Business profile for 15 minutes each week.
• The accuracy and structure of information that AI can read are more important than visual appeal.

If the “readers” of websites are shifting from humans to AI, then investment priorities should shift as well.

This is not a call to stop catering to humans. While the opportunities for humans to directly view the site may decrease, they will not disappear entirely. However, the priority of where to allocate limited budgets has changed.

The strength of small businesses lies in their speed of decision-making. While large corporations are circulating internal approvals, small businesses can add structured data today, update their Google Business profile tomorrow, and publish an FAQ page next week.

The new “reader”—AI—does not consider the size of the company. It looks at the quality and structure of information. This is, in fact, an opportunity for small businesses.

If you’re going to act, do it today.