A few years ago, if someone wanted to find “a good hotel in Zanzibar” or “reliable accountant in Dar,” they typed it into Google and scrolled through ten blue links. These days, more and more people just ask an AI tool like ChatGPT directly, “recommend me a good hotel in Zanzibar”, and get one clean answer, no scrolling required.
Here’s the uncomfortable question: if a potential customer asked ChatGPT to recommend a business like yours right now, would your name even come up?
For most Tanzanian businesses, the honest answer is no. Not because the business isn’t good, because nobody’s ever fed AI tools any information about it at all.
Wait, how does an AI even “know” about businesses?
Good question. AI tools like ChatGPT learn from what’s already written on the internet; websites, articles, directories, reviews. If there’s very little written about your business anywhere online, there’s very little for the AI to learn from, so it simply won’t mention you. It’s not being unfair. It genuinely doesn’t know you exist.
This is different from old-school Google SEO, where ranking high on a search results page was the whole game. Now there’s a second game happening at the same time, being the business an AI actually recommends when someone asks it a question in plain language, like they’re chatting with a friend.
Why this matters more than people realise
Think about how differently people search now:
- Old way: “hotels in Arusha” → scroll through ten options, compare yourself
- New way: “I need a quiet, affordable hotel in Arusha for a work trip, any recommendations?” → AI gives one or two names, decision basically made for you
If the AI never mentions your business in that second scenario, you’ve lost the customer before you even knew they were looking. This isn’t a “future trend” anymore, it’s already happening, quietly, every day.
The good news: almost nobody in Tanzania is doing this yet
Here’s the opportunity hiding inside all this. Most Tanzanian businesses, even good, established ones, have never thought about how AI tools “see” them. That means the businesses that get this right early have a real head start, the same way the first businesses to take Google SEO seriously years ago got years of easy visibility before everyone else caught up.
What actually makes an AI tool “know” and trust your business
- A real, well-written website with clear, specific information (not vague marketing fluff)
- Consistent information about your business across the internet; same name, same details, everywhere
- Reviews and mentions from real sources; directories, news mentions, partner websites
- Content that actually answers the questions people are asking, in plain language
None of this is exotic or overly technical, it’s mostly about making sure clear, accurate, well-written information about your business exists in enough places online that AI tools can confidently learn from it and repeat it.
A quick example
Imagine two safari companies in Arusha. One has a thin, outdated website with just a logo and a phone number. The other has a proper site explaining their tours, honest pricing, real traveler reviews, and mentions on a few travel blogs and directories.
When someone asks an AI tool “which safari company in Arusha should I use,” guess which one gets mentioned? It’s the one that actually gave the AI something to learn from.
How Azieni gets you ready for this
Our AI Search Optimization service specifically prepares your digital presence for this shift; building your website and content so it’s genuinely useful and specific (which is what both Google and AI tools reward), making sure your business information is consistent everywhere it appears online, and positioning you to be the name that comes up when a customer asks an AI tool for a recommendation, not your competitor.
Want to check where your business currently stands with AI tools like ChatGPT? Reach out to Azieni, we’ll show you exactly what’s missing, and get you ahead of the curve while most of your competitors haven’t even started thinking about it.