How AI Search Is Reshaping How Clients Find You

A dietitian asked Amanda Hamilton a simple question that changed everything. Amanda was building the dietitian's website when she heard it: "Could you also help me show up on Google?" Amanda, a researcher at heart, started digging into what the dietitian's future clients were actually typing when they went looking for help. Within a few weeks, the site was ranking. That one project taught her a lesson that now anchors her entire agency: a beautiful website means nothing if nobody can find it.

From Design Studio to Search Strategy

Amanda Hamilton is a rare combination in her field. She is a designer, a developer, and an SEO and AEO strategist in one person. She holds a degree in graphic design from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and she spent more than fifteen years working across print shops, in-house teams, agencies, and freelance design. Along the way, she earned industry recognition for her work.

That blend matters more than it might sound. Most SEO agencies cannot design, and most designers don’t understand search. Amanda does both, so her clients end up with websites that get found, look like their brand, and turn visitors into booked clients. She built Anchor ‹A› Digital Design Co. in Nebraska on a single guiding principle: clarity over complexity.

Today, the boutique agency focuses primarily on private practice therapists, though it also serves photographers, dietitians, and other local service providers across the world. The timing isn’t accidental. Independent practices face a difficult moment, and Amanda believes they can still win.

Why AI Search Changes the Game for Local Practices

The way people find a therapist is shifting. More potential clients now ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews for recommendations instead of scrolling through a long list of links. They want a direct answer, and these tools are happy to give one. The trouble is that most small practices aren’t showing up in those answers at all.

At the same time, referrals are drying up as large, venture-backed therapy platforms flood the market. For an independent practice owner, that combination can feel discouraging. Amanda sees it differently.

"Every city has practices showing up first on Google and getting recommended by ChatGPT, even in the most crowded markets," she says. "Someone is winning those spots. The question is why it is not you, and the answer is almost never that there are too many therapists in your area."

She is quick to calm the worry that this is some brand-new battle requiring new weapons. "AI search is not replacing SEO. It’s built on the same foundation: clear structure, relevant content, and trust. The practices that get that foundation right are the ones AI tools recommend."

There is also an opening that will not stay open forever. "Right now, the bar for showing up in AI search is surprisingly low," Amanda explains. "Most local practices haven’t done the basics, so the ones that do stand out quickly. That won’t last. As more businesses catch on, the practices that started early will already be the established answer."

Small, Strategic Changes Instead of Costly Overhauls

Most practice owners who come to Amanda aren’t starting from zero. They’ve written blog posts, set up a Google Business Profile, and tweaked their website more than once. What they lack is a way to tell whether any of it is working.

"Most of the practice owners I talk to have already done a lot of work," Amanda says. "They’ve  blogged, set up their Google Business Profile, and tweaked their website. The problem is not effort. It’s doing the right steps in the right order."

So she begins with respect for the work already done. Rather than recommending an expensive website rebuild, she identifies the handful of changes that make the biggest difference in visibility. Every recommendation flows from frameworks she developed and tested with real clients: the CITE System, the Local Authority Method, and the Booked Out By Search Framework.

Her work is also conversion-first, because traffic alone does not keep the lights on. "Traffic doesn’t pay the bills. Booked clients do," she says. "If your website is not built to turn visitors into inquiries, more visibility just means more missed opportunities."

Results That Tell the Story

The outcomes illustrate what this approach can do. After a round of website optimizations, a Milwaukee therapy practice doubled its weekly inquiries and cut its Google Ads spend by more than half. Jennifer Schultz Photography in Lincoln, Nebraska, had been aiming for roughly fifty senior sessions a year. After working with Amanda, the studio booked ninety, while still turning clients away.

These are examples, not promises. Amanda is deliberate about that distinction, and it reflects a larger commitment to integrity. She won’t take on a client who is not a genuine fit. She will not guarantee a specific number of leads. She will not use shortcut tactics that put a business at risk. If a client's real problem isn’t search, she tells them so.

"There’s a huge gap between having a website and having a findable website," she says. "That gap is where independent practices can win, even in markets that feel crowded."

A Researcher Who Keeps Testing

Amanda doesn’t rest on what worked last year. As a researcher by nature, she’s constantly testing what gets practices found right now, so her clients' strategies never go stale. That curiosity shows up in her work beyond client projects.

She is the author of Findable: Why Your Website Isn’t Showing Up in AI Search (And the 6 Steps That Fix It), a practical guide that walks local service owners through the same framework she uses with clients. She is also leading an upcoming multi-city study, The State of AI Search for Therapists 2026, which will track how AI tools recommend therapists across cities including Milwaukee, Denver, Austin, Charlotte, and Omaha.

Her range of services reflects how different owners prefer to work. The diagnostic Findable Audit gives a clear starting point. The Booked Out By Search program teaches owners to manage their own visibility over ninety days. For those who would rather hand it off, Anchor ‹A› offers done-for-you optimization and ongoing monthly management.

Your Next Step Toward Being Found

If you are an independent therapist or local service provider who suspects the right clients simply cannot find you, there is a clear and low-pressure place to begin. Amanda's ebook, Findable: Why Your Website Isn’t Showing Up in AI Search (And the 6 Steps That Fix It), lays out the exact steps she uses to help practices become the trusted answer in both Google and AI search. Read it, apply what fits, and start closing the gap between having a website and having a findable one. The practices that begin now will be the ones AI tools recommend tomorrow.

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