Traditional search engines like Google sometimes deliver thousands of results in response to a query, in an order based on a vast multitude of factors that include the number of backlinks, authority, page speed, relevance, responsiveness and more. Generative AI tools use a completely different style of delivering results - providing a single conversational response based on its training data, which can include information from the internet, print media and many other sources. Efforts to improve visibility in AI tools is often termed "Answer Engine Optimization" (AEO),but as we will see, many of the same techniques are used.
Similarity Between Search Engines and AI Agents
Despite them having very different ways of helping users find information, there is a strong correlation between websites that rank well in Google and those that show up in the answers to related questions provided by generative AI tools. This is because both want to deliver trustworthy, reliable answers and will therefore reward websites that have genuinely helpful, authoratative and well structured content - meaning that the fundamentals of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) still apply, and if your website already ranks highly in search engines you don't need a completely new strategy to improve your visibility in AI tools. But whilst websites that rank well in search engines will often be used or referenced by AI tools, AI tools seem to attach more importance to websites that very clearly demonstrate expertise and are more heavily cited in credible online sources.
How to Determine What People Are Actually Looking For
It has always been important to research exactly what your audience are searching for, and it's even more important with AI tools. While there are keyword research tools that reveal, for example, the exact search terms and their frequencies used in Google, AI tools like ChatGPT don't share this data. But since there's a strong overlap between search engine queries and questions asked of AI tools, search engine data is a very good place to start. You can also use your own experience of what your customers have asked you in the past to simulate what future customers might ask AI tools.
Building Website "Authority" To Improve Results
We have always stressed the importance of frequently publishing high quality, relevant and original content on your website in establishing your organization as an authority in your field, and this is even more important today. Content that is specifically created to fill word counts, boilerplate content, content that lacks quality and content that is not relevant to your core offering is almost worthless in terms of adding value to your website or having importance attached to it by search engines and AI tools. Here are some tips for publishing content that will almost always help your website rank higher in Google and appear more regularly in AI-generated responses too:
- Adding content in the form of Frequently Asked Questions provides content that is broken down into clear chunks that are easily digested by AI tools and are more likely to appear in Google's "AI Overview"
- Since AI tools are trained on natural language, make sure you write in a conversational tone
- Real-world examples of you helping solve a problem help to improve visibility in AI tools
- Keep your content up-to-date by regularly reviewing and refreshing your content, since neither search engines or AI tools want to serve outdated information
In general, content that is written by a human that takes a deep-dive into a topic that is close to your core offering, with real-world examples and a conversational tone almost always rank higher in Google and tend to appear in AI-generated responses too.
Building Website "Reputation" To Improve Results
Perhaps the most interesting difference between search engines and AI tools is how they determine how reputable an organization is. Google has always used the number of websites that link to your website ("backlinks") as an important factor in deciding how reputable your website is and while this is still important, AI tools also consider how often your organization is simply mentioned across the internet. This means that while you should continue to try to get links to your website from other high-quality websites in the same field as yours, you should also try to get mentions in the press and have consistent business information present across LinkedIn, Google and as many business directories as possible. If your business is lacking these mentions across the internet, even if you are seen as experts in your local area your business will be almost invisible in online search engine results and AI tool responses for relevant queries.
How Sucess Can Be Measured in the AI Age
It was always relatively easy to determine when SEO was successful by measuring rankings, traffic and how these converted into enquires and customers. But now that AI tools and search engines (via AI Overviews) often answer user questions without a referral to your website, you may continue to rank highly in search results but see a signifcant drop in click-throughs to your website. In order to continue to successfully measure the effectiveness of your efforts, the question that needs to be asked therefore is whether this matters - for example, perhaps the brand awareness built up from simply being mentioned will help convert customers in the future. Measurement of your visibility in AI tools is currently incredibly difficult and inaccurate at best, meaning that it's important to concentrate on the most important metrics (i.e. leads, customers and revenue) when considering success.
