AI is making voice interaction with your phone or smart speaker a better than ever.



The way people find and use information is changing, and as AI tools improve and become better integrated, this trend will continue. At the heart of this shift is the rise of Voice Assistants that can simplify actions during people's busy lives.

50% of all searches by volume are voice

76% of UK residents use voice search monthly

63% have used a smart speaker recently.

All this means that people looking for local experiences, to buy goods and services, and for directions, are increasingly using voice search.

You need to be there when they call.



Voice Assistants

There are three primary kinds of voice assistant. Mobile, smart speakers, and computers. Of these three, mobile is the leader in terms of volume of use. People are instinctively asking for directions and recommendations on their mobile or smart watch. Particularly while they’re driving or walking, and it would be difficult to type. Here are the top five.

Google Assistant

Amazon Alexa

Apple Siri

Samsung Bixby

Microsoft Copilot

Begin by seeing what each of these tools knows about your business, opening hours, location, offering, and products. For example, I can get directions to Eaton Hall Shooting Ground, but the opening hours aren’t available on Apple Maps.



Voice Search in the UK

Local Business Search

In the UK voice search is used most often to find local businesses. Make certain yours can be found using voice search on the five assistants already mentioned.

Shopping Online

Voice assistants will recommend local businesses by product. You can search for wellington boots using Siri and currently it’s recommending a location in London, because that’s the nearest business that has optimised for that product. Make sure your business descriptions contain text about the things your most interested in promoting. Consider changing them occasionally to attract different customers. Based on the time of year perhaps.

Event Bookings

If I ask Siri to book a clay shooting lesson near me I get a generic result from BASC. BUT. If I ask for the cost of a guided deer stalking trip the top result is a business providing that service. Be certain your website is directly answering the kinds of questions people might ask.



Optimising for Voice Search

Be Conversational

The primary difference between voice search and our past understanding of search engine optimisation is that voice search is conversational, as opposed to SEO which has been keyword driven. The increasing integration of AI into voice assistants will mean that this trend will continue. When you’re writing content for you website, or your business listings, try to be a little more conversational.

Business Listings

Voice search is, more often than not, location based. This means it is even more important than ever to have all your business listings up to date on Google, Apple, Bing and Duck Duck Go etc. Customer reviews will become more important too as these services try to prioritise their results. Gather reviews online whenever possible.

FAQs

FAQ pages are an excellent way to store answers to potential questions in a conversational way. Add an FAQ to your website with the most common questions you get asked on the phone. That’ll be a good start. Then perhaps add questions you would like to be asked more often. Things like, do you provide lessons for beginners? Or can you accommodate a large group?



Voice Search Conclusion

AI is likely to make many interactions with your mobile and computer obsolete in the near future. The Voice Assistants and AI tools will be selecting the best results for you. It’s in the battle to beat out the competition in this space that technology companies will be seeking to make their next billion. The great news is that on a global scale there isn’t a lot of competition for promoting shotguns and rifles. That means early adopters will clean up while most simply don’t realise what they’re missing out on.