Jane Pham, owner of Ted D Bare, a San Jose, CA-based waxing studio, explains why if your business dominates search engines, it will dominate AI.
Last year, when someone wanted a facial in San Francisco, they opened Yelp.
Yelp ranked you by review volume and star average. One bad review could tank you from 5 stars to 3.5, and at 3.5 you were branded and banished to the basement of invisibility. The only way out was begging relatives and besties to open fake accounts and prop you back up.
Not anymore.
Today's customers are skipping Yelp and asking ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini for recommendations. Short-form content has given everyone a touch of ADHD. Nobody has the bandwidth to read 50 reviews to figure out if Waxing With Suzy's 5-star rating is real or her cousin coming through. Today's customer wants a verdict, not homework. To be the studio AI recommends first, you have to understand how AI actually works.
AI doesn't have its own database. The internet is one giant warehouse full of every piece of information ever published: websites, articles, reviews, social posts. Search engines walk the warehouse and hand you a list of the most-talked-about businesses to read for yourself. AI walks the same warehouse but skips the list and summarizes the winners for you.
The more truth your business puts into that warehouse, the more search engines have to present and the more AI has to summarize. That's why if you dominate search engines, you dominate AI. They pull from the same shelves.
Here's what wins the AI game:
- A tricked-out SEO website. Not a nude palette and a Pinterest board that captures your soul. AI wants keywords in your H1 headings, internal links, and real SEO copy. A gorgeous site that doesn't rank on page one is just an expensive digital billboard rotting on page five with the rest of the misprioritized websites.
- A consistently updated Google Business Profile. Setup is not the win, the same way showing up at the gym on January 1 doesn't deserve applause. The real win is still lifting on June 15. Google wants the same: weekly photos, weekly posts, weekly review responses. Forever.
- Reviews with the right words. Five stars matter for the Yelp crowd. AI cares whether the review names your service, your city, and a few descriptors like fast, clean, friendly. Coach your clients. "She's amazing!!!" does nothing. "Best Brazilian wax in San Jose, quick and clean" does the work.
- Blog articles. Your 2016 website got you in the door, but are you still relevant in 2026? Google checks your blog. No new articles in three years tells AI you're old and crusty. One blog a month says you were worth recommending 10 years ago AND today.
- Backlinks. A backlink is when another website mentions yours with a clickable link back to your site. Say you publish a piece in Vogue called "Your Razor Is Lying to You," and your bio reads "Suzy Smith is the owner of Wax With Suzy, a San Francisco studio known for its no-nonsense approach to smooth skin." If Wax With Suzy is hyperlinked to waxwithsuzy.com, that's the backlink. Vogue just vouched for you in front of Google. The more credible the name pointing back to your site (i.e. local publications, Reddit, YouTube, industry sites), the harder AI leans in.
- Social media. Last for a reason. Your viral TikTok doesn't move Google. Your follower count doesn't move ChatGPT. Keep posting anyway because social is slowly earning its way into the SEO conversation, but the other five should take up 90 percent of your attention.
That's the entire game. The owner who does these six boring, repetitive things consistently is the one AI recommends as number one. Start today because two years from now, AI will recommend somebody. The only question is whether it's you or the studio down the street.
Jane Pham will be teaching two classes at Be+Well | Beauty and Wellness Show Las Vegas (IECSC is now a part of Be+Well), "Own the Algorithm: How Beauty Pros Can Dominate ChatGPT, Google & AI Search" on June 27, 2026, and "Own the Algorithm: How Beauty Pros Can Dominate ChatGPT, Google & AI Search" on June 29, 2026. To learn about the classes offered at the show, be sure to register to attend Be+Well Las Vegas from June 27-29, 2026. What's more, use code EDSPA20 to get 20% off education classes.