A few weeks ago I went to AI to figure out how to fix my refrigerator. It gave me the answer, and inside the answer were links to the websites it pulled from. That's the connection every pastor needs to see. People are asking AI their questions, and AI is sending them to the websites that have the answers. When the question is about a church, or about hope, or about help for their family, the link it sends them to could be yours. Ian Hyatt, co-founder of ReachRight, helps churches get found online, and I asked him what AI search means for a church that wants to be found. His first answer wasn't a new tool. It was something most churches stopped paying attention to years ago.
For years, getting found meant showing up on page one of Google. Google is still where more than 80 percent of searches start, but now it answers questions with an AI summary before anyone scrolls to a link. Beyond Google, people are asking ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude the same things they used to type into a search bar. Ian calls it AI search (the industry term is GEO), and his point is that it all works together: Google, AI, and the map results are reading the same websites and directories.
Here's the difference. AI doesn't hand someone ten links and let them pick. It reads what's out there, writes an answer, and drops a few links into the chat, the same way it did with my refrigerator. Either your church is in that answer or it isn't. When I studied marketing, we learned to go where the customer is already looking. Ian said it better: marketing is evangelism. It's how you draw people in so you can lead them to what God is doing.
Ian's first answer was that a lot of churches have forgotten their website. Churches have spent a decade pouring energy into social media and apps, and the website became the thing nobody updated. But when someone asks AI about churches in your city, AI combs websites and directories for the answer. Your website is the source material AI has to work with. Give it good material.
People still search “churches near me,” and that still matters. But now they also type things like, “I'm looking for a church in Austin where the dress is casual, it's spirit-filled, it's safe for my kids, and my kids will learn about Jesus.” That's four questions in one prompt, and AI goes looking for all four answers on your site.
Ian's advice is simple: build a first-time visitor page (Plan Your Visit, I'm New, whatever you call it) and put frequently asked questions on it. What should I wear? What's the worship like? What happens with my kids? How long is the service? Where do I park? Write the answers the way a person would ask them. A friend at my gym recently asked me those exact questions about a church she wanted to visit. People are asking AI the same ones, and your website can answer before anyone has to ask a friend.
A lot of people aren't searching for a church at all. They're asking AI something they wouldn't say out loud to a person: how to find hope, what to do about depression or addiction, where to get counseling, how to help a teenager who's struggling. AI answers those questions with links. If your church offers Christian counseling, a recovery group, a student ministry, or messages on hope, and that's actually written on your website, AI can point someone to you in the exact moment they're asking.
Ian told me he says this to pastors every day: if you're not accounting for AI, you're going to miss out. He's quick to add that we follow Scripture and need to be careful how we use any of this. But the people are already asking. The question is whether your church is part of the answer.
Read your website like a first-time guest and see if it answers what, when, where, what to wear, and what about my kids. Add an FAQ to your Plan Your Visit page. Write one plain page for each way your church helps people beyond Sunday morning. Make sure your Google Business Profile shows the same name, address, and phone number as your website, because Google checks that every month and AI reads the same directories. Then open ChatGPT or Claude and ask it to find a church in your city for a family like the one above. See if you show up.
In the full episode, Ian also explains how to land in the top three on the map when someone searches “church near me,” why consistency beats quick fixes, and how your church can get $10,000 a month in free Google Ads through the Google Ad Grant. Watch it below, or listen on Apple Podcasts, Buzzsprout, or YouTube.
Ian Hyatt and the team at ReachRight help churches with AI search and local SEO, the Google Ad Grant, websites, and social media. If you need a resource in this area, they're the ones I point pastors to.
This episode is brought to you by YourTeam.church, the assessment app that helps you place every volunteer where they thrive. Your church gets its own branded link, and your people are matched to a team based on their spiritual gifts and personality, with a look at what life is actually like on that team. Now available in Spanish. Try the Pro tier free for 30 days.
If you want to gain momentum, grow your church, and go the distance in ministry, make it easy for the people already asking to find you.
Keep believing and leading strong,
Josh Roberie
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