How should your website search engine optimization (SEO) practices change with the rise of AI-enabled search technologies?
New search tools like SearchGPT and Google’s AIO are changing the search experience. The good news is, most long-standing SEO best practices are still relevant, and will benefit both organic searches and AI-powered searches. We’ve compiled a few best practices to guide your SEO efforts in today’s environment.
10 SEO Best Practices for Ai-Driven Search
1. Focus on Conversational Keywords
Long-tail keywords – AI-powered search platforms are designed to process more natural, conversational queries. Focus on long-tail keywords that mimic how people speak, rather than short, transactional phrases. Example: Instead of targeting “coffee shops,” focus on phrases like “What are the best coffee shops near me?”
Question-Based Keywords – Many natural language searches are in question form, like “How do I fix my bike’s tire?” or “What’s the best recipe for gluten-free bread?” Optimize your content to answer these questions directly.
2. Create Content for Answering Specific Questions
FAQ sections – Incorporate frequently asked questions that answer common questions related to your industry or product. SearchGPT and Google AIO are designed to provide concise, accurate answers, so having content that directly answers these questions makes your site more likely to be recommended.
Structured data – Use structured data (schema markup) to help search engines understand the content better. Markup things like FAQs, reviews, and local business information to increase your chances of being featured in AI-generated results.
Clear, direct headings – Ensure your content is organized with clear headings that closely resemble natural language search queries.
3. Enhance Semantic SEO
Topic clusters – Focus on clusters of related content, using pillar pages to cover a broad topic and linking to detailed subtopics. This approach helps AI understand the depth of your expertise in a particular area.
Entity-based SEO – AI search models prioritize understanding entities (people, places, things, ideas). Use proper names, geographic locations, brand names, and other entities that are closely related to your business or content, as AI algorithms look to match these to searchers’ intent.
Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords – Include semantically related keywords throughout your content. Instead of repeating the same phrase, vary the language while maintaining relevance. For example, use “digital marketing strategies” along with related terms like “online advertising tactics” or “SEO techniques.”
4. Improve Your On-Site User Experience
Page speed and mobile optimization – Both Google AIO and platforms like SearchGPT tend to favor sites that offer fast-loading, mobile-friendly experiences. Make sure your site is optimized for mobile users, with fast loading times and easy-to-navigate menus.
Core Web Vitals – Improving your Core Web Vitals, such as Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), can improve your rankings for natural language searches.
5. Use Natural Language Processing (NLP) Techniques
Avoid over-optimization – AI-driven search platforms rely heavily on NLP to understand user intent and match it with the best content. Ensure your content sounds natural and flows well rather than being over-optimized for specific keywords.
Entity recognition and topic modeling – Use tools like Google’s Natural Language API or other SEO software to analyze your content for how well it matches the entities and topics AI models expect from high-quality, relevant content.
6. Leverage AI-Generated Content Tools
Consider using AI tools to help craft optimized content. Tools like Jasper, ChatGPT (with plugins like the Web Chat or Code Interpreter), or Google’s own Gemini can help create content that is well-suited for AI-based searches, as these platforms understand how to structure content that resonates with the algorithms.
7. Monitor AI-Specific Analytics
Use tools that track AI-generated traffic and queries. Google Search Console provides insights into what users are searching for and how your content performs in AI-powered search engine results pages (SERPs). Look for trends in the types of natural language questions users are asking, and adjust your content strategy accordingly.
8. Create Engaging, Actionable Content
AI-powered search engines prefer content that provides clear, actionable answers. Whether it’s a tutorial, a how-to guide, or a listicle, your content should be designed to solve problems or answer questions clearly and succinctly.
Rich snippets and featured snippets – Optimize your content for snippets by including direct, concise answers within your content. Use lists, tables, and simple language to make it easy for AI to extract and display your content.
9. Focus on E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)
AI-driven platforms are heavily influenced by Google’s E-A-T standards. Ensure your website has:
- Clear author attribution – Use author bios, linking to credible sources and showcasing your expertise.
- Trust signals – Display trust signals like client testimonials, case studies, certifications, and privacy policies that build credibility with both users and search algorithms.
- Quality backlinks – Earn high-quality backlinks from reputable websites to boost your site’s authority.
10. Optimize for Multimodal Search
Platforms like Google’s AIO integrate images, videos, and text. Incorporate multiple media types on your website to cater to a wider range of search results. Ensure your images have proper alt-text, and that video content is optimized with transcriptions and relevant keywords.
Capture AI-Drive Search Traffic
By focusing on these strategies, your site will be better positioned to capture traffic from AI-driven search engines that prioritize natural language processing and user intent.
