Something that's been on my radar the past few months: a growing number of renters are skipping Google entirely and just asking ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI "where can I find storage units near [city]."
The AI returns a short list of recommendations. No page two, no scrolling. You're either on the list or you're not.
I've been testing this across a bunch of facilities and the results are pretty stark. Facilities with structured FAQ content and proper schema markup on their site show up. Facilities without it often don't, even if they rank well on traditional Google.
The good news is there's a fairly clear playbook for it:
FAQ pages that directly answer "what are the best storage options near [city]" type queries in plain language
Schema markup (FAQPage and LocalBusiness JSON-LD) that lets AI systems read and trust your data
A complete, active Google Business Profile - AI pulls heavily from GBP data
I wrote up the full breakdown in an article for Inside Self-Storage if anyone wants to go deeper: https://www.insideselfstorage.com/marketing/ai-search-and-business-discoverability-what-self-storage-operators-need-to-know-and-strategies-to-remain-visible
Happy to answer questions here too. Has anyone else noticed AI search driving traffic or leads to their facility yet?