{"id":1831,"slug":"where-citability-case-strongest-vs-weakest-by-intent","title":"Where the findability / citability case is strongest vs weakest — informational / B2B research queries vs purely transactional / local intent","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","smb-owner","candid-team"],"topics":["kw-region","smb-website-adoption","ai-overview-prevalence","working-surface-capabilities"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** The *findability / citability* argument is **strongest** for businesses whose customers research questions (services, considered purchases, B2B), because AI Overviews and informational-query visibility concentrate there. It is **weakest** for purely transactional / local intent — AI Overviews appear on only a small share of e-commerce / shopping queries and local-pack-style searches, where Google still routes clicks to complete transactions.\n\n**Source:** Synthesis of [[pew-18-percent-google-searches-ai-summary-march-2025]] + industry analysis of AIO query mix (BrightEdge, Conductor 2025–2026).\n\n**Confidence:** Industry-consensus.\n\n**Why this matters for Candid:** Tells the SMB which lever applies. Trades / restaurants / local retail benefit most from the *interactive* and *live-data* capabilities (booking, availability, status). Service businesses and B2B benefit most from the *structured / fresh* capabilities (findability + citation). The four capabilities together cover the spectrum; no business type is left without at least one relevant lever, but the *specific* lever differs. Anchors [[rule-match-capability-to-business-type]].","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"zippia-27pct-us-smb-no-website-2026","title":"Zippia (via Wix, 2026) — 73% of US small businesses have a website; ~27% (more than 1 in 4) do not","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-website-as-working-surface-june-2026","title":"Research brief: the website as a working surface of the business — four capabilities, AI-citation decoupling, freshness as a real signal (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rule-match-capability-to-business-type","title":"R7 — Match the working-surface capability to the business type: booking + live availability for trades, calculator / assessment for consulting, queryable products + account for retail","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-21T13:17:17.741Z","updated_at":"2026-06-21T13:17:17.741Z"}