Hey. Hope you had a great week! I dig through the noise to find AI updates and news that are relevant to running a small business.

Let’s jump in.

Google made an important change this week that isn't about a new AI tool—it's about your privacy.

If you use Google Search, Lens, Translate, voice search, Maps, Shopping, Hotels, Flights, or other Google search services, Google may now save more of the photos, voice recordings, files, and other media you upload. That information can be used to help improve Google's AI models unless you adjust your privacy settings.

The change also introduces new privacy controls, but for many users, those settings are enabled by default.

Why this is important:

This is one of those updates that's easy to overlook but worth understanding.

Many small business owners use Google services every day to photograph products, translate customer communications, search for information, or upload files while working. If that's you, it's a good idea to understand what information you're sharing and decide whether you're comfortable allowing it to be used to train AI.

I'm not saying there's a right or wrong answer—just that it's worth making an informed choice instead of letting the default settings decide for you.

How to change it:

Review and change your preferences on your Google Search History

You can uncheck the “Save Media” box from other settings. You can also view and delete your saved history, and other personalized settings.

A new State of AI Discovery report looked at how people are finding businesses online, and one message came through loud and clear: traditional search is evolving.

Customers are increasingly discovering businesses through AI-generated answers, summaries, recommendations, and conversational search experiences instead of simply clicking through a list of search results.

That doesn't mean SEO is going away. It means SEO is becoming part of something bigger.

I've mentioned this before, but this report reinforces just how important it is.

The businesses that are easiest for AI to understand are usually the businesses that already have:

Those things have always helped your Google rankings.

Now they're also helping AI decide which businesses to recommend when someone asks, "Who should I hire?" or "What's the best company for...?"

If your website hasn't been updated in years, or your service pages are vague, AI has a harder time understanding what you actually do.

Good SEO isn't disappearing—it's becoming the foundation for AI discovery.

Instead of focusing on new AI tools, this week I’ve focused on understanding the new rules of doing business online.

AI is changing how customers discover businesses, how technology companies use data, and how information moves across the internet.

The good news is that you don't have to become an AI expert to keep up. But it is worth paying attention to the systems you already use and making sure your business is easy to find, easy to understand, and protected.

That’s it for this week—hopefully this gives you a clearer picture of how AI is an integral part of your business operations. See you next week with more practical AI updates.

Yours in success,
Kathleen

P.S. Forward this to one business-owner friend who’s still “figuring out AI.” You’ll look like the smart one. 😊