AI has changed many aspects of digital marketing. People have asked me, "Is search engine optimization (SEO) still needed now that many searches are done with AI platforms?" People have also asked me, "How can I get my brand and content to appear in AI responses?" Let's look at these questions.
What Is AI Search Optimization (GEO/AEO)?
AI search optimization is getting your brand and content to appear in AI responses, including AI overviews in search engines (Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, etc.) and AI platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, Claude, Gemini, Llama, etc.).
AI search optimization is becoming increasingly important because over the last few years, an increasing percentage of searches are occurring within AI systems rather than traditional search engines.
There isn't yet a single term for this; a few terms used are Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and AI Optimization (AIO). Some define these terms differently, but many use them interchangeably, as I will in this post.
AI search optimization is a counterpart to search engine optimization (SEO), which is getting your brand and content to appear in search engine results (Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, etc.).
How Does AI Search Differ from Search Engines?
As we'll see, there are many similarities between AI search and traditional search engines, but there are also several differences.
- AI search's goal is to give answers to questions, not to give links to websites (though it may do that).
- AI search tries to provide direct answers to questions, so it seeks clear, concise questions and answers within source content.
- AI search often tries to provide supporting data (stats, study results, quotations, etc.), so it looks for such data within source content.
- Users usually ask AI search questions in natural language, as sentences or even paragraphs. This makes it more difficult to track how you're appearing in AI responses than in search engine results.
- AI search generates a response unique to each user, so it's more difficult to track how you're appearing in AI responses than in search engine results.
- Users click through from AI search responses to websites far less often than they click from search engine results, so many websites have experienced declining traffic over the last few years.
- Users who click through from AI search responses to websites tend to view fewer pages but spend slightly more time on them, and tend to convert at a higher rate than users from search engines.
- AI search pulls from a wide variety of sources, and a brand's website may not be one of them.
- AI search relies more on mentions of your brand across the Web than on backlinks (other sites linking to your site).
- AI search may mention your brand, product, service, etc. without linking to your website.
- AI search prioritizes recent content more than search engines do.
How Is AI Search Similar to Search Engines?
Although many are saying, "SEO is dead! AI is changing everything!" the reality is that there are many similarities between AI search and traditional search engines.
- Both aim to provide content that matches user intent (their goals) and meets user needs.
- Both value content with indications of experience (firsthand experience with the subject).
- Both value content with indications of expertise (knowledge of the subject possessed by the author or a reputable source cited).
- Both value content with indications of authoritativeness (good reputation based on other respected sites linking to or mentioning the brand or content).
- Both value content with indications of trustworthiness (transparency about the organization or people behind the brand or content, a positive reputation).
- Both benefit from content that is easy for computers to read and understand. This includes formatting that also helps humans (headings, lists, etc.) as well as structured data such as schema markup.
- Both crawl websites, making it important that websites' technical aspects (such as XML sitemap and site speed) and content be high-quality.
- AI search usually relies on search engines when searching the Web.
- Both are changing as user expectations change and technology improves.
- Both try to prevent content creators from "cheating" (violating guidelines) to increase rank or appearance frequency.
How to Appear in AI Search
Good SEO will go a long way in getting your brand and content into AI search responses. There are other steps you can take as well.
- Understand the intent (goals) of your target audience, and create content that meets their needs.
- In your content, include indications of experience (firsthand experience with the subject). Include author bios with credentials and experience.
- In your content, include indications of expertise (knowledge of the subject possessed by you or a reputable source you cite). Include author bios with credentials and experience.
- In your content, include indications of authoritativeness (good reputation based on other respected sites linking to or mentioning you).
- In your content, include indications of trustworthiness (transparency about the organization or people behind the brand or content, a positive reputation).
- Ensure content is easy for computers to read and understand. Use includes formatting that helps humans (headings, lists, tables, summaries, etc.) as well as structured data such as schema markup (e.g., FAQPage, HowTo, Review, Article).
- Ensure your site is easy for bots to crawl technical aspects (such as including an XML sitemap and having a fast site).
- Avoid "cheating" (violating guidelines) to appear in AI responses. They may work temporarily, but not over the long term, and may hurt you over the long term.
- Include keywords deliberately but naturally in your content.
- Build authority across a variety of platforms beyond your website (reviews, social media, forums, etc.). YouTube and Reddit are frequently cited.
- Create how-to guides, "best of" or rankings lists, comparison pages ("X vs. Y"), and research analyses, as this content frequently appears in AI responses.
- Include questions and answers in content. For headings, use questions users would ask AI.
- Increase your site's domain authority by getting backlinks (links from other sites). This is usually done by creating content that's worth linking to.
- Repurpose your best content into multiple formats (text, audio, video) so there are more chances of AI discovering it, and so AI can better understand your brand and content.
Both/And, Not Either/Or
You don't need to choose between GEO/AEO and SEO; both are part of digital marketing with the goal of increasing conversions.
Additional Resources
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