Site selection has always been about more than numbers. Spreadsheets can point to available sites and costs, but they can't capture the culture of a community, the resilience of its workforce or the values of its leadership. Today, artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the process of site selection by handling the heavy data work of scanning listings, flagging hidden risks and forecasting future conditions. The result is not the replacement of human expertise, but the opposite: site selectors now have more time and space to dig into the stories behind the data, offering clients a deeper understanding of what it will mean to operate in a chosen community.
The Assistant You Don’t Have to Hire
Finding the time to dig deeper into a community’s talent pipeline, future infrastructure plans or general story is challenging. In the past, the early stages of location analysis often meant poring over spreadsheets, databases and inconsistent listings. AI changes that by automating much of the initial filtering, scanning thousands of properties in seconds to integrate infrastructure data and flag sites that align with a client’s criteria.
Using AI-enhanced platforms, some communities are building economic development websites with integrated AI tools that capture available listings and include detailed site and infrastructure data. Unlike traditional listing platforms that rely on manual input, these tools provide selectors with the full picture of available sites.
Creating Space for Context
AI tools create the space necessary to shift site selector time from gathering information to interpreting it. With AI handling the heavy lifting, selectors can focus on providing the context and judgment that clients rely on.
Numbers alone can’t predict whether a community will be the right fit five or 10 years down the road, of course. That requires understanding the human side of a community.
For example, when Golden Shovel conducted stakeholder engagement in Odessa, Texas, business leaders revealed that the city afforded them a high level of privacy that protected their IP and manufacturing processes — something critical to a competitive landscape.
These insights rarely appear in datasets, yet they are often the deciding factors in how successfully a company can operate once a project is up and running. By combining technology-driven insights with real-world perspective, selectors can give clients a more complete view of their options.
Balancing Data with Human Insight: AI Can’t Replace Experience
In the site selection community, there may still be a preference for a traditional approach to gathering and analyzing information.
“AI will continue to advance and impact site selection with new tools being developed,” said Charles Sexton, Principal & CEO of Strategic Location Advisors. “Our team has implemented new AI technology for site comparison, data collection and even scoring. However, it is still critical to ensure accuracy for our clients by putting boots on the ground to investigate properties, utilities, workforce training, housing, improvement strategies and any other assets essential to their success.”
Ultimately, companies may use AI to narrow the field of potential locations, but they still need advisors to guide the final decision. Site selectors remain essential in validating results, negotiating deals and interpreting intangibles such as community culture, workforce resilience and political climate. On the community side, economic developers recognize this shift and are working to make their data more AI-ready so selectors can easily compare and evaluate locations.
AI isn’t replacing the art of site selection; it’s enhancing it. By blending machine-driven intelligence with human expertise, site selectors can deliver recommendations that are not only faster and more data-rich, but also more attuned to the realities that matter most to clients. T&ID
Contributor: Aaron Brossoit is co-founder and CEO of Golden Shovel Agency, an economic development communications firm working with more than 300 communities globally. Aaron is driven by a passion for exploring the intersection of technology and design and how they impact economic development. An expert in AI and its applications for economic development and site selection, he views business as a powerful platform for bringing new ideas to the world.
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