The first underwriter a small business now meets is not a human. It is an AI engine. And the same is true in reverse — the first vetting a business gets from a prospective customer is no longer a Google search.
Traditional banks have largely exited the subprime SMB borrower. The approval math no longer works — and a parallel funding economy has emerged to replace them.
Small businesses can't out-spend Sephora or Home Depot — but they can out-cite them. The 2026 playbook for SMB AI visibility across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews — and how to rebuild your website as the citation surface.
The following is a Q & A with Bobby Peddi, is the Founder and CEO of TRUiC.
Every business goal — revenue, retention, recruiting, reputation — now runs through a SaaS stack. The companies that pick well, ship goals faster.
