AI Crawls Reshape Local Search
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May 6, 2026
I sat down with Shawn Davis, Head of Content and Communications at Duda, for one of the most rigorous AEO conversations I’ve had on this show. Shawn led the team behind Duda’s recent study analyzing 858,000 paid websites and nearly 70 million AI crawler visits in a single month, and what they found should be on the desk of every agency owner and local business right now. AI-crawled sites generate 3.2x more human traffic, 2.7x more form submissions, and 2.5x more click-to-call events than sites the AI engines ignore.
In Part 1, we cover the origin story, why SMBs were left out of the AEO conversation until now, the methodology behind the study, and the headline finding that belongs in every agency proposal. Part 2 drops next week.
About Chris Raulf
Chris Raulf is an international AI and SEO expert, global keynote speaker, and founder of Boulder SEO Marketing. He’s known for his Micro-SEO Strategies℠ and helps brands worldwide grow their online visibility using human-focused, AI-powered strategies.
