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Strategic Visibility in the AI Search Era: A CEO’s Guide
Unlock the Value You’ve Built
Best practices for founders and CEOs in the lower middle market
Google’s recent shift toward AI-generated search results is fundamentally reshaping how companies are discovered, evaluated, and trusted online. For middle-market founders and CEOs, this change isn’t just a marketing development; it’s a strategic inflection point. AI-powered search is prioritizing fresh, authoritative, and structured content, while de-emphasizing static websites and traditional SEO tactics.
For companies preparing for growth, capital raises, acquisitions, or exits, digital visibility increasingly influences market perception, valuation narratives, and deal readiness. The following explains how Google’s new AI search works, why it matters for middle-market businesses, and how leadership teams can adapt to stay visible, credible, and competitive.
What’s going on with Google’s AI search changes… and do these affect us?
Yesterday, we received a message from one of our clients, a thoughtful, growth-oriented CEO who asked a simple but increasingly common question: “What’s going on with Google’s AI search changes… and do these affect us?”
The CEO runs a successful, multi-market services business. He, like many middle-market leaders, has built their company through relationships, reputation, and operational excellence. In the past, they’ve viewed their website and occasional news announcements as “enough.”
However, the landscape is shifting rapidly. In this new era, if you’re not actively participating in marketing efforts and ensuring you have a strong digital presence, it not only will lead to not being seen, but it can hurt how your company is viewed from a perception standpoint by customers, prospects, investors, potential investors, and potential buyers in the event you have an interest in selling.
How Google’s AI Search Actually Works (And Why it Matters)
In May 2024, Google officially began rolling out AI Overviews, which now appear at the top of many search results. Instead of just listing links, Google uses large language models (LLMs) to synthesize information from multiple high-trust sources to answer the query directly.
Here’s a simplified version of the process:
This is a dramatic change from traditional SEO, where ranking on page one of Google was mostly about keyword optimization, backlinks, and technical site health.
Today, Google rewards brands that behave like authoritative publishers (consistently creating high-quality, structured, trustworthy content that demonstrates expertise in specific domains).
For CEOs, it’s helpful to understand the strategic levers that Google’s AI models use to decide who to feature:
Topical Authority: Google increasingly favors companies that build a dense, interconnected set of content around their areas of expertise. Think clusters of blog posts, whitepapers, and social content reinforcing a clear theme over time.
Freshness Velocity: AI Overviews prefer content that is current and regularly updated. Stale, static websites are de-prioritized.
Structured Data (Schema): Schema markup (code embedded in websites that helps Google understand content) makes it easier for AI systems to retrieve and feature specific information.
Author Trust Signals: Named authors with consistent publishing histories and high engagement are favored. This is why executive LinkedIn thought leadership now directly impacts search visibility.
Engagement & Citations: Content that earns shares, comments, and links across platforms signals real authority to the algorithm.
For middle-market companies, this represents both a challenge and an opportunity. Most have deep expertise but limited digital expression of that expertise. Closing that gap should be a strategic priority.
Why This Matters for Growth, Valuation & Transactions
At Westlake Securities, we help companies grow, create value, and prepare for major transactions—from capital raises to acquisitions and eventual exits. In that work, digital presence increasingly influences real outcomes as its often the first thing people do when they are assessing a company. Yes, that includes potential investors, buyers and target acquisition companies.
Here’s how:
Valuation Narratives: Buyers and investors Google you early. The story they find online shapes their perception of your market position, differentiation, and credibility (before they ever meet your team).
Pipeline Acceleration: Organic visibility drives inbound opportunities. Companies featured in AI Overviews will own more of the “top of the funnel.”
Due Diligence Efficiency: A robust digital footprint answers basic questions proactively. It reinforces your story during diligence, making investor conversations smoother.
Competitive Signaling: Companies that dominate digital space are perceived as market leaders, even when their operational scale is similar to competitors.
For CEOs, this isn’t about chasing clicks. It’s about strategically controlling how the market perceives your company in an increasingly AI-mediated environment. Learn more about how our team can help with this.
What Should You Do From Here?
At Westlake Securities, our CMO Services team has developed a playbook to ensure our clients thrive in the AI Search Era. Next week, we will be providing a 5 Step Guide for CEOs, but in the meantime, if your company would like to discuss how we can help you build visibility, drive growth with the goal of enhancing your valuation perceptions and prepare you for your next chapter, please reach out to set up time with our team.
Next Steps For CEOs