As AI increasingly encroaches on traditional search, you need to make sure your content continues to perform well in the results. Whether you call the optimization process AIO, AEO, ASO, GEO, LLMO, XEO or something else, it’s a new ballgame.
The victors will be those who understand how to navigate the simultaneous challenges of optimizing for AI visibility while still leading with human usability. The following tips can help your content win.
When a user enters a query into an AI search tool like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or Claude, the longstanding keys to SEO success still help determine whether your content appears in the response – but those alone won’t get you far enough. To perform well, your content now needs to go deeper than before.
The reason: query fan-out. Expanding each user prompt into multiple related subqueries, AI models try to anticipate likely follow-up questions and acquire enough information to deliver a well-rounded answer.
For example, a simple query such as “Which types of exercise do people find most enjoyable?” might yield several hundred words that include a healthy list of exercises and also why people like them (this outdoor activity feels like play, while this group activity has a social component, etc.). AI’s answer might also touch on other considerations like stress relief, competition, expense and musical accompaniment.
If you want AI search results to include you, continue weaving SEO keywords and phrases into your content while also adding depth by thinking through the surrounding questions that may likely follow from an initial query.
As you think about deepening and fanning out your content, three areas of Google’s search results pages can provide clues about what to cover: the “People also ask” and “People also search for” sections, which each list a handful of related queries, as well as the “AI overview” at the top.
Depending on the topic, these may include specifics about how, why and when, or big-picture aspects like context, causes and consequences, or details like statistics, schedules, steps and examples.
The content you’ve developed over the years no doubt covers a myriad of topics and subtopics. Meanwhile, your diverse users’ countless potential queries may differ based on their timing, interests, circumstances, word choice and more. So how can you possibly make all your content comprehensive for every conceivable query? You can’t.
Of course, neither can your competitors. So be strategic and make the most of what’s doable – preferably better and faster than they do. In the AI search results game, early wins can pay lasting dividends.
Start with your most important content – however you may define it – and consider how best to fan it out. Then see how far you can progress from there.
For example, focus on your ideal target persona and try to imagine the most important questions they’d likely ask. Then move on to secondary personas. The more your content can deeply address different types of user needs and contexts for your most vital topics, the more likely your information will appear in AI answers.
As discussed in the following sections, you might find plenty of opportunities to simply modify existing content rather than creating entirely new pages and publications. At the same time, you may reap benefits from publishing more.
Keep both AI and humans in mind when matching content form to function.
In some cases, the subject matter might best be treated in cohesive longform cornerstones (reports, guides, whitepapers, e-books, etc.), while in others, clusters of shorter content (web pages, blog posts, videos, etc.) might be a better way to organize related information.
Beyond adding depth, you can heighten your content’s appeal to AI search engines by structuring it with new intention. LLMs use page structure heuristics to navigate and evaluate content. Organize and format your information in the right ways, and you’ll make it easier to scan for AI models and humans alike. Some suggestions:
AI search algorithms tend to assign more importance to a page’s main body content than to ancillary elements like sidebars and boxes. Make the most of those elements to add appeal for your human readers.
AI search systems extend SEO’s longstanding focus on indicators of experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T), and these can be quite useful for humans too. To impress LLMs, look for chances to provide more reasons to believe, such as the following.
For your topics, add more evidence. Whenever you can include substantive, original information – research, data, insights or narrative generated by your own experts or gathered from your clients or stakeholders – that’s a unique edge. Citing other authoritative sources is the next best thing.
For your content authors, include more credentials in their bios. Mention professional certifications, academic degrees, industry awards and other indicators of expertise. Likewise, if an author has published books or journal articles, spoken at conferences or been featured in prominent media, AI search algorithms pay attention to details like these.
For your organization, cultivate more social proof. AI search tools assign value to things like case studies, client testimonials, endorsements, awards and association memberships. If you have impressive clients or partners, show their logos.
Cite your sources. Solid citations show that your information is accurate and trustworthy. Credible sources may include government agencies, professional journals and esteemed institutions or organizations.
AI search models consider content’s recency in their assessments. That means some of your best stuff may now be getting crowded out of search visibility by more recent publishers.
The good news: In many cases, your content may need just a quick update rather than an overhaul. Here are some ways to freshen up your most important items and keep them in the game:
Interconnect your content universe. Linked pages that interrelate strengthen AI’s sense of context. Look for ways to mesh content around core topics or themes.
Can reorganizing or reformatting old content help? Absolutely. Review your content using the tips mentioned earlier – breaking up long paragraphs, strengthening headlines and subheads, considering whether any portions might accommodate a list or graphic, etc.
Wherever appropriate, try to mention the most important changes at the top. And for your most significant updates, think about promoting the news via your other communications channels.
Beyond the content itself, remember to update the technical details too. For instance:
AI’s emphasis on recency means all content has now been thrust into a cycle of impending obsolescence. It’s as if each item you publish is a grain of sand in a draining hourglass.
If you’ve been publishing content for some time, you’ve likely built up a sizeable heap of sand – a valuable investment that’s well worth maintaining. But no organization has the wherewithal to frequently update every piece of content.
Instead of trying to fight a constant battle on all fronts, prioritize your most important assets. For these, build a systematic practice of regular updates into your editorial calendar to make sure your content’s always evolving rather than expiring.
“Regular” means a manageable cadence of X items every Y months – the variables depending on your team’s capacity and resources. Schedule it in, track it and make it a routine part of your operations to refresh and redate these items.
You might prioritize certain content based on recent changes in search results, click-through rates, web traffic, competition, emerging trends in your field or other factors.
Master the metadata. In addition to timestamps, use page titles, author tags, alt text for images, and transcripts for audio and video to make your content legible to LLMs.
Since AI engines are always crawling the entire web and cross-referencing diverse sources, the more quality content you can develop, publish and promote, the better. And quality starts with substance.
Nothing fuels great content like the production of unique information and perspectives. Pull your best minds together to brainstorm more ways to manufacture and mine substantive raw material. For instance:
Similarly, work with your team to expand your content publication landscape. Diversifying the venues where LLMs and humans can find you – and where your expertise is cited – multiplies the ways they come to recognize, evaluate and trust your content.
Make the most of platforms you own – such as your website, blog and e-newsletter – while also leveraging third-party platforms. Use multiple media, channels, links and tactics to maximize your content’s footprint, connections and resonance.
Where appropriate, loosen up your usual style to employ natural conversational language. Try to sound like a user articulating a search query in text or speech. Break long sentences into a mix of short and medium ones.
Just about anything you do that spreads your digital visibility provides data for LLMs and can help add to their sense of your authority, including:
While you’re doing these things, remember not to treat AI search like it’s the only game in town. Play to win while also maintaining your investment in other arenas where you may have an edge – or can gain one. Those may include offline tactics and channels such as print, direct mail, outdoor, transit and live events that may not directly play into AI search results but still have important human impacts.
After all, winning the competition for AI search visibility is not your end goal but rather a means to an end. What is your larger end goal, and how else can you accomplish it?
Let’s finish by looking ahead.
If AI search engines blend your content with other information to synthesize an answer in their own words, doesn’t the user see something different from the language you’ve crafted? Yes, and it might lose much of the brand identity, personality and nuance you worked hard to instill.
And if everyone starts formulaically applying the tips in this guide, won’t everyone’s content trend toward more homogeneity in the first place? Yes.
So where does that leave us? In certain ways, exactly where we started. Humans are still your ultimate audience, and they, like LLMs, will still somehow need to determine which content is best.
The new game in town will have simply added some algorithmic mediation to the old. But don’t make the mistake of forcing all your content to conform to the strictures of AI search. You will still – will always – want to find ways to make it stand out.
Your primary differentiators include your niches of expertise and valid claims of exclusivity. But your content differentiators need not stop there. They may also include surprising thinking, memorable voice, creative conceptualization, incisive interpretation, emotional connection, astute questions, unexpected angles, apt analogies and much more. Difference makers like these can help you rise to the top.
In the age of AI search, settling for “good enough” content is not a winning strategy. You deserve better – as do your brand, your mission, your stakeholders, your audience.
This moment of change presents an ideal win-win opportunity. Take advantage of it. Now is the time to find new ways to distinguish your content – to do what you need to succeed in the AI search game while doubling down on differentiating for humans.
The sooner you start, the better. Our team can help.
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