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Only Now You Ready for SEO… and Now AISEO Is Here
This year, Trinis seem to ‘ketch ah vapse’ with the sudden realization that SEO might be a good idea. For years, SEO remained on the backburner for most businesses in Trinidad & Tobago. Though it was never off the table, it never gathered enough momentum to become a bandwagon— you know the kind we Trinis like to jump on. It was talked about, rarely prioritized; it was something we would get around to… eventually.
But now as SEO has arrived at the front burner, the landscape itself has shifted— again. And this time, it’s not just about search engines anymore.
The SEO Most Businesses Never Really Did
More businesses are finally asking the right questions:
- Why aren’t we showing up on first page of Google?
- Why are my competitors showing instead?
- Why is paid advertising not working as expected?
When Forward Multimedia designs websites, we design them with a foundational level of SEO. We ensure that the site content, structure, and configuration are technically sound. That’s because our website plans do not include advanced SEO, which is on purpose as it would make the plan too expensive.
Unfortunately, that’s where any SEO work usually ends. Once the site is launched, it goes into cruise-control; client focus goes back to daily operations and any site development goes to the backburner.
Ongoing SEO takes a backseat
Ongoing SEO development fell by the wayside. Even simple practices, like regular blog posts for example, that would contribute to overall SEO even in a small way were difficult to implement.
Business owners also fail to appreciate that SEO is not a switch to turn on, it’s a process; first page of Google doesn’t happen overnight. So it’s always better to keep things moving once the proper foundation is in place.
Why SEO Is Suddenly a Priority in 2026
Partly because a new year brings the commensurate introspection to refocus and think about levelling up; everyone has grand plans for a new year. The other part is for pure survival given the state of the economy and the reality that all pointers pointing downward, so any edge will do.
Paid ads do not go in front of people who are looking
While paid social ads ostensibly go in front of those people who are interested in your product/service, they may not necessarily be interested to buy at that point. The essence of SEO is that you want your business to come up when people are searching for that product or service you have. The fact that they are actively searching means that they are closer to the conversion point of the sales cycle, which is action, as opposed to interest.
Paid Google Ads however, is the way to ‘fudge’ the organic aspect. If your are not findable via organic search, then you can pay Google to be placed in front of your target audience for the same keywords they are unable to find you with organically.
But that’s buying the cow when you could have the cow for free. If business owners pay even some small attention to developing their organic search results, there would be no need for paid Google ads, or the sometimes ‘Hail Mary’ dependence on paid social media ads. The truth is that many of your competitors outrank you by accident, not design. Hardly do Trinis pay that much attention to SEO, so a little effort from you would go a long way.
Enter AISEO: A New Layer, and Not a Replacement
So when you’re already late to the game, you realize the rules have changed. AI may be transforming and unraveling our online world, but it hasn’t killed SEO. It changed how search works and what gets rewarded.
Search engines are now:
- Summarizing answers
- Evaluating content quality more deeply
- Prioritizing clarity, structure, and usefulness
- Cross-referencing sources instead of just ranking pages
This is what ‘s generally being called AISEO. However, it doesn’t replace SEO fundamentals; it builds on them. So don’t think you’re off the hook— the SEO you never did is still coming back to bite you. You can’t optimize for AI if your foundation was never solid to begin with.
How unique is AISEO?
That being said, that classic SEO fundamentals remain the same and still need to be practiced, what does AISEO bring to the table, that’s drastically different?
SEO for AI search engines (and FYI it’s technically called Generative Engine Optimization or AEO) involves structuring content to be easily understood, cited, and summarized by AI tools like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT.
How it differs is while traditional SEO focuses on ranking in blue links, which we all know and love, AI optimization (AEO) focuses on getting cited as a source in a summary. But this is what ‘traditional’ SEO had evolved to— authority-building content though blogs, articles and positioning.
Example of AI ranking with traditional SEO
Proof of the point that SEO fundamentals have not changed, you can achieve a top rank on AI search with sound content: take a look at the Google’s AI search result for the keyword ‘social marketing trinidad’, which is the top phrasing of the keyword. You’ll see that Forward Multimedia is number one source and cited twice with 2 website pages.
These pages were not written with AI SEO in mind. In fact, they were not written with technical SEO in mind— they were written to be valuable to the visitor. Once you wrap your head around this concept, applying SEO will be much easier.
Also bear in mind that an appearance at the top of any search result, whether regular listing or AI, is never permanent, and always at the mercy of the algorithm at that moment in time your visitor types in a search query. This is because Google results are not universal; they are highly personalized and localized based on factors like physical location, browsing history, device type, and real-time experiments conducted by Google.
This is code for supplementing their algorithms with the unique user information gleaned from their online behavior surreptitiously tracked from browser, mobile phone usage, and even what you’re literally thinking at the time, which is an open secret. Bottom line, it’s possible for two people to see a different ranking for the exact same search query.
How Trinis are searching in new world of AI
In quick time Google updated the search results page with the new AI Overview at the top, even allowing us to ‘Deep Dive’ into an AI conversation to refine the search result. It’s as if we’re not drowning in information already.
The probability is high that Trinis would favor the AI mode as it allows the search process to get more specific, especially as the AI does all the heavy lifting by doing the necessary research and summaries while we rock back in the ‘hammeck’.
It’s therefore quite possible that the top ranked sites on the page may not even get a view, much less a click, as visitors launch straight into the deep dive option.
There is Still a Real Opportunity for Local Businesses
There is actually an upside if you’re catching that, er… vapse: Many businesses are still behind for the same aforementioned reason… and… they’re still asleep at the wheel. That means the opportunity is wide open if you are willing.
It’s a good time as any to start brushing up your website content to position it in a more customer-focused manner, while at the same time, implementing the key technical SEO elements.
SEO expertise not a prevalent skill in T&T
SEO is so broad a service that one can specialize in as you can go very granular. For example, Google’s ‘Search Console’ for precisely that, is loaded with many features and tools to measure, track, and develop search performance. Those who are competent at such a granular level are known as SEO Experts, which is after a lot of study and practice. (For some guidance, refer to Google’s SEO Starter Guide).
In Trinidad & Tobago we do not have that many SEO Experts, i.e. full professionals, but then again, do we actually need such a level of expertise? The answer is no, not at the moment. Our local market is not saturated or that competitive, even though competitors may be formidable. Additionally, Trinis by nature will not pay for that level of SEO. However, those with the skills on the higher end of the spectrum (like us, as evidenced by our own rankings) have a high probability of good results.
Top ranked keywords have potential to court
Even if your preferred keywords are being held by your competitors, it doesn’t mean they own them. With the right approach there are still opportunities to improve your rankings, even surpass them.
It’s a reality in 2026, there are many businesses at top of search, not because they are better, but because there are no worthy adversaries. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king, and it would show, as there would always be a disconnect between being a top result and living up to it when the customer engages with you.
It's okay to have one eye on the Caribbean
Many local businesses have their eye on the Caribbean, but it will still be an uphill battle. It would depend on the nature of the product/service and the receptiveness of our Caribbean neighbors. It’s a fact that Trinis are not the most welcome or regarded. That’s the reality, it is what it is.
It will also depend on the distribution model. If your products are in stores in the various islands, for example, snacks in groceries, then it would be relatively ‘easier’ to promote as they are in front of the local people.
If you’re operating out of T&T, either by physical business or online store, then you have the challenge of branding and promoting, then contending with logistics to ship.
Think twice about US/Canada/International SEO
If you’re looking for trouble, you’re sure to find it if you’re thinking about getting found in international markets— the mass international markets to be precise, as you won’t be just a tiny fish in a big pond, you’ll be krill. But if you’re stubborn and don’t want to think twice, then think long and hard.
It’s probably likely your target is the West Indian diaspora, and if so, then you stand a much better chance. However you would need to apply a bit more expertise than what you would do locally, as though they are ‘our people’ the market is not exactly the same.
Conclusion
SEO didn’t suddenly become important in 2026, it always was. What changed is that search behavior evolved and AI raised the bar. The businesses that succeed now won’t be the loudest or the flashiest. They’ll be the ones who understand that visibility is built, not hacked with fancy website animations and over the top effects (See this article which discusses this).
And that’s where strategy still matters most. The best strategy is usually the most simple.