Over the past decade, companies doing online promotion have relied on the old paths of Baidu bidding, feed ads, and SEO. But in 2025, a quiet shift is happening in traffic entry points—more and more users are turning to AI tools like Doubao, DeepSeek, and Qwen to search for answers, find suppliers, and make purchasing decisions. Some clients have told us that previously, customers searching for "Zhanjiang engineering company" would flip through the first few pages of Baidu, but now they directly ask AI chatbots, "Which engineering company in Zhanjiang has a good reputation?" What does this change mean? It means that if businesses only focus on traditional search engines, they may miss a large number of potential customers being intercepted by AI search.
Yunxuan Network Technology has served SMEs nationwide for many years, from local brick-and-mortar stores in Zhanjiang to manufacturing factories in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta. We have seen too many clients anxious about customer acquisition: advertising costs keep rising, but inquiries are decreasing; websites are built, but no one visits; SEO is done, rankings improve, but the phone doesn't ring. Where is the problem? It's not that the product is bad, but that the logic of traffic distribution has changed. In the past, it was "people looking for information"; now it's "information finding people," or even "AI choosing information for you." What enterprises need to do is not to continue competing in the old track, but to combine tools like GEO optimization, website building, omnichannel promotion, and AI agents to form a new customer acquisition system that covers both local and national markets.
1. In the AI Search Era, Why Haven't Corporate Websites and SEO Become Obsolete?
Many people ask us: With AI search, do we no longer need websites and SEO? Quite the opposite. AI search answers are not generated out of thin air; they need to crawl and cite content from the internet. Your website, your encyclopedia entries, your press releases, and your professional content published on various platforms are all "source material" for AI answers. If you are absent from these places, AI will not recommend you. Therefore, not only should you have a website, but it must also be built to align with the underlying logic of AI retrieval; SEO should not only be done but upgraded to GEO—Generative Engine Optimization.
GEO optimization, simply put, is making your brand information preferentially cited in AI-generated content. How to do it? We have summarized a set of methods: First, content should be structured, using clear headings, paragraphs, and lists to facilitate AI crawling; second, information should be authoritative, with multi-platform presence to form cross-validation; third, keywords should be scenario-based—users ask "Which network company can do GEO optimization?" rather than "network company," so you need to anticipate these colloquial, long-tail questions.
For example, a client in Zhanjiang engaged in aquatic product trading used to rely on Baidu promotion for local orders, but out-of-town customers could hardly find him. We helped him restructure the website content, adding regional + industry keywords like "Zhanjiang aquatic product wholesale" and "Guangdong shrimp suppliers," and published professional articles on multiple industry platforms. Now, when out-of-town buyers ask AI tools "Which reliable aquatic product suppliers are there in Guangdong?", AI will recommend them based on this content. This is the nationwide customer acquisition opportunity brought by GEO optimization.
2. From Zhanjiang Online Promotion to Nationwide Customer Acquisition: Deepen Local Market, Broaden National Market
Many local businesses have a misconception: if they do Zhanjiang online promotion, they can only serve local customers. That's not true. Enterprises in Zhanjiang can sell products nationwide and provide services nationwide. The key lies in how to design the promotion strategy. Local customer acquisition and nationwide promotion are not an either/or choice; they can work in synergy.
Local customer acquisition focuses on "proximity" and "trust." For physical stores, renovation companies, and law firms in Zhanjiang, we typically use Baidu Maps optimization, local life platform listings, and Douyin same-city account operations to ensure customers find you first when searching for "Zhanjiang XX." Nationwide promotion focuses on "breadth" and "professionalism." You need a website that can carry your brand image, a promotion matrix covering Baidu, 360, Sogou, Douyin, and Toutiao, plus GEO optimization so AI search can also find you.
A construction equipment company in Zhanjiang used to do only local business and hit a growth bottleneck. We helped them do two things: first, upgrade the website to bilingual Chinese-English, highlighting technical strength and cases; second, publish content on national B2B platforms and industry news sites, while also doing GEO optimization. Six months later, inquiries from Shandong and Jiangsu increased significantly, and foreign trade orders also came in. This is a typical path for local enterprises to go national.
3. Website Building Is the Foundation, but You Need to Build an "AI-Friendly" Website
We have seen too many corporate websites that are either template sites or "showpiece sites"—pretty but useless. In the AI search era, the function of a website has changed: it is not only a display window but also a "digital identity" that AI uses to understand and recommend you. A qualified website should meet at least three points:
- Fast loading speed and good mobile adaptation—this is the basis of user experience and a scoring item for search engines and AI crawlers.
- Clear content structure, with each page having a clear title, description, and keywords, and being rich in images and text, rather than large blocks of unstructured text.
- Interactive entry points, such as online consultation, form submission, and AI customer service, so visitors can leave contact information at the first opportunity.
When building websites for clients, we pay special attention to the technical foundation: using semantic HTML tags, configuring structured data, and optimizing breadcrumb navigation—all to make it easier for AI to crawl and understand your website content. Many clients ask us after the site is launched: "Why was our website indexed by Baidu within a month, while the previous site wasn't indexed for six months?" The answer lies in these details.
4. How Do Feed Ads and Douyin Promotion Coordinate with GEO Optimization?
GEO optimization is a "long-term investment," while feed ads and Douyin promotion are "short-term bursts." They are not contradictory; rather, they should be used in combination. A common approach: first, use feed ads to quickly test product selling points and target audiences, accumulating conversion data; then feed this data back to the content team to optimize the website and GEO content; finally, use the free traffic from SEO and GEO to reduce overall customer acquisition costs.
For example, a manufacturing factory we served produces industrial parts. They initially only did Baidu promotion, with high keyword prices and cost pressure. We suggested they do Douyin promotion, shooting short videos of equipment operation and quality inspection processes, while also optimizing the website content around "industrial parts customization" with GEO. Three months later, Douyin brought a lot of brand exposure, the website's organic search traffic increased by 40%, and overall customer acquisition costs dropped by 30%. This is the combined punch of "advertising traffic + content accumulation + AI search harvesting."
Of course, advertising is not just about spending money. When we help clients with bid management, we carefully control four aspects: keyword selection, creative writing, landing page optimization, and conversion tracking. Especially for landing pages—many enterprises direct traffic to the homepage, which is a waste. The correct approach is to create different landing pages for different keywords. For example, "Zhanjiang online promotion" and "nationwide customer acquisition solutions" should correspond to different pages to achieve higher conversion rates.
5. AI Agents: Keep Customer Service Online 24/7 and Never Miss an Inquiry
Many SMEs have a pain point: salespeople are busy during the day, and customer inquiries at night go unanswered; or when an inquiry comes in, the response is slow, and the customer leaves. When we build AI agents for enterprises, we are essentially equipping them with a tireless "digital salesperson." This agent can be deployed on the website, WeChat official account, Douyin private messages, and other channels, automatically answering common customer questions, collecting contact information, and even scheduling meetings.
A decoration company in Zhanjiang used our AI agent and saw a 50% increase in lead retention from nighttime inquiries. Previously, customers left messages at night and were only replied to the next day, and many were lost. Now, the AI agent interacts with customers the same night, understands their needs, recommends cases, and collects phone numbers. When sales follow up the next day, the customer has already been "warmed up." For enterprises looking to expand nationally, AI agents are even more essential—customers in different time zones can get immediate responses.
AI agents can also be linked with GEO optimization. We embed the enterprise's product information, advantages, and cases into the AI agent's knowledge base, so when customers ask AI tools "How is XX company?", the AI-generated content is more accurate and positive. This is equivalent to placing a "digital avatar" of you in the "recommended slot" of AI search.
6. How Can Local Physical Stores Use Digital Tools to "Walk on Two Legs"?
We have served many local physical stores, including restaurants, beauty salons, auto repair shops, and educational institutions. Their needs are clear: let nearby people know about the store and be willing to visit. For these clients, we have a set of "local life + short video + private domain" tactics.
First, list on local platforms like Meituan, Dianping, and Amap, complete store information, and encourage customers to leave positive reviews. Second, use Douyin same-city accounts to post store daily activities, promotions, and customer cases, and use DOU+ to precisely target people within a 5-kilometer radius. Finally, accumulate visiting customers into WeChat Work, regularly send benefits, and drive repeat purchases.
This approach seems simple, but there are many details in execution. For example, short videos are not just random shots; they need content planning and an understanding of the platform's recommendation mechanism. We helped a restaurant in Zhanjiang with Douyin promotion, from script design to shooting and editing, to advertising strategy—all inclusive. Three months later, the restaurant went from "waiting for customers" to "queuing for seats," and even attracted out-of-town tourists who came specifically to check it out. This is the combination of local customer acquisition and nationwide promotion—deepen locally, broaden nationally, and maximize traffic.
7. What Are the Most Common Pitfalls for SMEs in Omnichannel Promotion?
Pitfall 1: Starting advertising without clear goals. Many clients come and say, "Help me do promotion," but when asked what effect they want, they say, "Let's see first." Without goals, there is no measurement standard, and you don't know if the money was well spent. When we take on a project, the first step is always to help the client clarify their business, define target customers, and set quantifiable KPIs, such as "obtain 100 effective inquiries within three months."
Pitfall 2: Only doing Baidu promotion and ignoring other channels. Baidu is still an important traffic entry, but not the only one. Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Video Account, and Bilibili each have their own user groups. You need to choose the appropriate channel mix based on your industry and target customers. For example, for B2B enterprises, Baidu plus industry vertical platforms may be more effective; for B2C stores, Douyin plus local life platforms is more suitable.
Pitfall 3: Neglecting content quality and only posting hard ads. Users are now very averse to hard ads, especially in the AI search era, where content quality directly determines whether you get recommended. When we write articles and produce videos for clients, we emphasize "valuable information" rather than "boasting." For example, for machinery equipment, you can write "How to choose the right cutting machine"; for education, "At what age is it best for children to learn English?"—attract potential customers with professional content.
8. Why Choose Yunxuan Network Technology?
Yunxuan Network Technology has been deeply involved in the internet industry for 20 years, from the earliest website building, to later SEO optimization, and now GEO optimization and AI agents. We have always been at the forefront of digital marketing. We are not a simple agency or outsourcing company, but a full-chain service provider integrating strategy consulting, technology development, content creation, and advertising placement.
Our services cover the whole country. Whether your business is in Zhanjiang, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, or Chengdu, we can provide customized remote or on-site services. Our team includes engineers with technical backgrounds, planners who understand marketing, and copywriters who are deeply familiar with industries, enabling us to tailor a complete closed loop from website building to customer acquisition for your enterprise.
If you are worried about customer acquisition, feel free to contact us. We will first provide a free "digital marketing health check," diagnosing your website, search engine performance, and AI search visibility, and then give specific improvement plans. Whether you want to do well in Zhanjiang online promotion or expand to the national market, we can give you a hand.
In today's AI search reshaping the traffic landscape, competition among enterprises has shifted from "budget competition" to "strategy competition." GEO optimization, local customer acquisition, and omnichannel promotion are not multiple-choice questions but mandatory questions. I hope this article gives you some inspiration. Yunxuan Network Technology is willing to work with SMEs nationwide to seize the traffic dividend of the AI era and achieve truly effective customer acquisition.