Rethinking Search: AI’s Disruption and the Cannabis SEO Opportunity
Many people in the cannabis industry have been wondering if AI will take over or even eliminate the need for SEO. The answer is finally clear, thanks to big moves from OpenAI and insights from thought leaders like Dan Petrovic.
SEO isn’t dead.
In fact, it’s become even more essential for dispensaries and cannabis brands.
What Changed with AI and Search?
OpenAI’s GPT-5 completely shifts the search landscape. Unlike earlier AI models, GPT-5 comes with zero stored knowledge baked in. That means it literally can’t answer a question unless it searches the open web or taps into live data sources.
Remove its web access, and it’s lost even for simple queries. As Dan Petrovic broke down, GPT-5 needs web search to function. Without high-quality information to find online, it’s basically useless.
For local cannabis operators, this opens up something huge. When anyone asks AI:
- What THC beverages are available near me?
- Which dispensary has the best deals this week?
- What’s the difference between live resin and live rosin?
The AI can only respond if your content exists, is visible, and is easy for both search engines and AI crawlers to find and understand. The game isn’t just about ranking on Google anymore, it’s about being the content that AI finds, cites, and shares with searchers.
The Shift: From Simple Keywords to Real Conversations
Customers aren’t just plugging two or three keywords into Google. Instead, they’re asking AI full questions, just like they’d text a friend or talk to a budtender. This is called conversational search, and it completely changes what successful dispensary SEO looks like.
Modern cannabis consumers want specific strain effects, dosage details, product comparisons, and where to buy what they want right now. Your menu, blog content, and “about” pages all need to anticipate these long, natural questions. Short, generic content won’t cut it anymore. Detailed FAQ pages, product explainers, and up-to-date menus that answer actual customer questions put your dispensary front and center in AI-generated answers.
Want to get started here? Check out our Cannabis Dispensary Google Business Profile Guide for practical tips on showing up in both local and AI-powered results.
AI Citations: The New Holy Grail for Cannabis Brands
It’s not enough for your website to be indexed by Google. In 2025, you want to be the source that AI platforms cite when answering someone’s cannabis query.
How does AI decide who to cite? It looks for:
- Clear, well-formatted information
- Topical depth and trusted expertise
- Structured data (schema) that the AI can easily read
- Freshness and regular content updates
So, if you’re still using outdated iframe menus or generic landing pages, you’re invisible to these new AI-powered systems. Your competition, not Weedmaps or Leafly, but other local dispensaries, will be cited and win new customers if they do this work, while you don’t.
Trust, Compliance, and E-E-A-T in the Cannabis World
Cannabis is regulated and falls under Google’s YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) category, which means experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness, or E-E-A-T, matter even more. AI models prioritize content from brands and people that show real-world knowledge and integrity.
For dispensaries, this means:
- Have your staff and/or budtenders to create video explainers and write blog posts
- Encourage real customer reviews and testimonials
- Link out to compliance documentation and demonstrate up-to-date knowledge
- Highlight any industry certifications or awards
The more trust and real experience you display, the more likely it is that AI will showcase your content in its answers.
Technical SEO: Still the Core of Great Cannabis Marketing
We can’t talk about AI’s impact on SEO for dispensaries without touching technical SEO. The basics matter more than ever. Fast load times, secure HTTPS, mobile-friendly layouts, and crawlable sitemaps set you up for both Google and AI-powered search.
Where most dispensaries still trip up? Menus. If you have an iframe menu, switch it out. AI and Google can’t see or use that content, which means your products stay invisible. Moving to a native ecommerce menu platform that produces search-friendly, clean HTML makes everything you offer discoverable for shoppers and AIs alike.
Need a technical tune-up? Check out our Cannabis SEO Agency services for help making your site completely AI and search-ready.
Embracing the “AI + SEO” Approach
Some operators are still pouring cash into generic, auto-generated content, hoping AI will carry the load. Here’s the reality: AI search is all about surfacing quality, reliable, locally relevant answers. Dispensaries that double down on real SEO optimized, useful pages that tackle specific customer questions will show up at the right time buyers searching for cannabis.
The keys are:
- Pages that clearly and concisely answer real questions your customers ask
- Optimization for the language and phrases local customers use, not random buzzwords
- Solid site structure so machines know what your content is about
- Real human input, user reviews, and demonstration of local expertise
- Understanding the balance between educational content and local content that will move the needle in your local market
Monitor your impressions, not just clicks. Pay attention to which pages are mentioned in AI summaries, not just the top three results.
The Takeaway for Cannabis Operators in 2025
SEO has never been this important. The best AI in the world can’t do its job unless it finds and relies on your content. The future of dispensary marketing isn’t some standoff of “AI vs SEO.” It’s about AI highlighting the best, most trusted, and most relevant answers from the cannabis community, and that comes straight from great SEO.
So, if you’re tired of getting outshone by directories and bigger brands, now’s the time to invest in your own organic visibility. Make your website and content the resource every AI wants to cite.
Want a deeper dive? Check out our guides to AI & SEO for dispensaries or connect with us to future-proof your cannabis business.
Double down on real SEO now because in 2025, your brand’s future depends on it.
