We need to talk about AI and SEO.
With the rise in large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and AI-powered search, many are questioning: is SEO still relevant?
The short answer: absolutely. In fact, we’d argue that abandoning SEO efforts would be the worst move you could make. AI has only made good SEO more important. These technologies haven’t replaced search; they’ve expanded it. And to meet that moment, we’ve entered a new phase: AIO, or Artificial Intelligence Optimization.
AIO is about making your content easy for both traditional search engines and AI-driven interfaces to understand, trust, and feature. And the good news? If you’ve been following SEO best practices over the past few years, you’re already halfway there.
Let’s walk through what’s actually changing and how to evolve your strategy so your site stays visible in both search results and AI-generated answers.
SEO Isn’t Dead, It’s Evolving Into AIO
If your site once held strong rankings and now seems to be losing traffic, or you’ve launched a new site and are wondering if it’s ever possible you could appear in ChatGPT or AI Overviews, don’t fret!
What’s happening isn’t the death of SEO. Instead, there is a shift in how content is delivered and consumed. Machine learning and advancements in generative AI are now integral to a better search and user experience. In contrast to the traditional list of blue links, users are more likely to engage with conversational overviews and direct answers from AI-powered tools in real-time.
The SEOs refer to this evolution in organic search as AIO, a method to optimize not only for rankings but also for inclusion in AI-generated content, summaries, and interfaces.
How Traditional SEO Already Laid the Groundwork
Interestingly, artificial intelligence has been at play amidst Google’s search features for some time now, just not in different packaging.
For example, Knowlege Panels, People Also Ask, and Featured Snippets have been using AI datasets behind the scenes to understand query intent, scan for trusted content, and deliver quick answers. The difference now? Those signals are now being used not just for SERPs, but also to power full conversational responses in tools like ChatGPT and AI overviews.
Experienced SEOs are familiar with the inner workings of building signals for AI-powered SEO through traditional methods, while staying alert for legitimate updates, standards, and best practices in AI-driven SEO (AIO).
What’s Changed With AI Overviews and LLMs
AI-powered interfaces have raised the bar for what search looks like. Instead of simply listing top results, AI tools now use NLP (natural language processing) to provide conversational answers that draw on multiple sources and anticipate follow-up questions.
These rich summaries don’t require a click, which is great for users, but it challenges the traditional traffic model. With more people getting their questions answered directly in the results, they don’t need to visit your site.
This behavioral search trend is known as zero-click searches, which have gone up. But that doesn’t mean SEO content has no value. In fact, visibility in these moments is more important than ever to drive brand authority, even if the user doesn’t convert right away.
Will AI Search Kill My Traffic?
Zero-click searches are on the rise, so if you rely heavily on informational organic traffic, these no-click-through scenarios will hurt your overall traffic. With this shift in user behavior, we need to adjust expectations and how we measure performance.
These days, clicks aren’t the only metric that matters. Building your brand's visibility and awareness through AI Overviews or being sourced by a chatbot will be key for when people are ready to convert. Users will still need to take action for high-intent queries (local services or products).
Therefore, continue SEO tasks and workflows to optimize for rich results, such as featured snippets, and fill in structured data and schema where necessary. Ensure product pages are clean, up to date, and submitted through Google Merchant Center if you’re in e-commerce.
Maintain your organic rankings, continue building trust signals, and start crafting content in a way that’s easier for AI to parse, source, and showcase. And when people do land on your site, those visits are more valuable than before, so ensure you’re leveraging best practices in CRO.
AIO: Artificial Intelligence Optimization
So what exactly is AIO? AIO is the practice of optimizing your website and content for visibility not just in search engine rankings, but in AI-generated responses from tools like ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, and other large language models.
It’s still SEO, tried-and-true strategies remain, but now we’re emphasizing more structured content and formatting for clearer parsing and indexing. Contextual depth to support user intent and anticipated follow-up questions is important and more aligned with how these tools understand language.
The better your content serves human readers and is easily understood by crawlers and machine learning bots, the more likely it is to show up, no matter the platform.
How to Optimize for AI Search & Chat
The fundamentals of good SEO haven’t gone away, but the way your content is surfaced has changed. To show up in AI Overviews and tools like ChatGPT, your site needs to be structured, trustworthy, and easy for both humans and machines to understand. That means rethinking how you format, write, and tag your content. We're not replacing SEO, but evolving it for the AI era. Below are the key areas to focus on if you want your brand to show up in today’s search experience.
Create Clear, Structured, Human-Centric Content
LLMs favor content that clearly addresses user intent. Sound familiar? We’ve learned a great deal about helpful content and search intent through Google Core Updates over the years.
If your page about “types of indoor flooring for homes” only lists five bullets without much explanation or demonstration of authority, most of today’s search tools are going to choose a different source that offers detailed context and expertise.
What does this tip look like on-page?
- Use H2s and H3s to break up ideas
- Include concise answers to common questions
- Add context, not just surface-level lists
Again, nothing new for those familiar with search engine optimization. Content marketing strategies work best when they provide clear, helpful information to the target audience.
Write for Natural Language, Not Just Keywords
Keyword stuffing has been out, but now it’s really out. Rather than forcing exact-match keywords, write your content as you would verbally explain it to a person. Go in-depth, expand on related ideas, and consider follow-up questions.
These days, semantic understanding matters, voice search influences queries, and a page’s readability matters more than keyword density. The richer your content, the more likely AI platforms will surface it when users ask similar questions.
Use Structured Data and Schema Markup
It’s certainly important in this era to increase your site’s “readability” by machines. Structured data and schema markup are distinct ways for search engine crawlers and machine bots to understand your content and where to surface it. It’s not all just for the backend, either. Structured data produces those rich results you see in the SERPs, such as star ratings for products and recipe content.
Interestingly, this style of "markup" and guidelines are from an era before AI chatbots started crawling our sites. So we can expect new markup types that apply specifically to them. In fact, we're already seeing the early stages of this with a new way for ChatGPT to "discover" your products.
Google offers numerous resources for structured data, including guidance on implementation, tools for testing rich results, and more. Below are some key types of markup to consider:
- FAQPage
- LocalBusiness
- Product
- Article (with author info)
Strengthen Your E-E-A-T Signals
See, not much has changed ‘round here. But seriously, these signals are more important than ever.
Google developed E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness) as part of its Helpful Content Updates. The search algorithm could now weigh certain signals, especially for YMYL industries, to better determine the value of webpages for ranking potential.
We know that E-E-A-T is used for Google’s standards, but it’s unclear whether any of these pillars play an explicit role in the responses by platforms like OpenAI. However, we can infer based on the overlap when comparing top-ranking results with ChatGPT responses. And I suspect that AI tools will only sharpen their standards over time, pulling from Google’s search engine playbook.
So my recommendation is to build these signals as part of strengthening your brand and its trust signals, which is never a waste of time. Start with the basics, like creating good content with publish dates, highlighting authorship, including bios, and credentials. Then work on earning high-quality backlinks.
You’ll find plenty of resources that outline best practices for demonstrating E-E-A-T in your content and on your website.
Optimize for Featured Snippets and Follow-Up Questions
Though AI tools have made content generation easier, the bar to quality content has risen. To appear in those top-ranking features, you need to strategically optimize for target keywords and queries that have featured snippets or AI Overviews (not all queries have them).
The next time you do keyword research for a content strategy or landing page, leverage AI SEO tools; both ahrefs and SEMrush incorporate AI SEO insights. Exploring the SERPs is another crucial method for conducting real-time SEO research. Gather your insights and incorporate them into your content using these techniques:
- Pose questions as H2 or H3 headings
- Answer in a concise paragraph right after the heading
- Use numbered steps or bullets for instructional processes
- Research real users’ questions in relation to the search query
By strategically structuring your content to address long-tail keywords and questions, you’re more likely to be featured in SERP features or integrated into AI chat responses.
Stay Up to Date on Algorithm Updates and AI Trends
Algorithms change rapidly, and to keep your campaigns ahead, we recommend having a marketing team or SEO expert in place to monitor and inform the path forward, or set yourself up for success with these few tips:
- Regularly audit your top pages (at least quarterly). Most notably, check what’s working and figure out how to repeat it! From there, conduct a data-driven deep dive to ensure pages continue to meet user intent, particularly if they cover new developments or if competitors have published fresher insights.
- Monitor AI features in search. If you notice new competitors appearing in SERP features or AI-overview content, click through to examine their style and structure. Then refresh your own content as needed.
- Follow credible industry news (e.g., Google’s Search Central Blog or reputable SEO newsletters). When Google announces a shift toward more AI-driven features, like AI Overviews or expanded AI summaries, you’ll be ready to streamline them into your strategy. Furthermore, stay informed with large AI interfaces like ChatGPT for updates on their integrations with product feeds and other relevant information.
AIO Checklist: What You Should Do Next
- Audit Your Existing Content for Conversational Clarity
- Add or Refresh Structured Data (Schema Markup)
- Demonstrate Expertise, Authority, and Trust
- Keep Your Content Fresh and Relevant
- Balance Traditional SEO with AI-Focused Tactics
The Future of Search Is Hybrid
This isn’t the end of SEO. It’s the next version. By understanding how AI and SEO work together and updating your strategies accordingly, you can continue to boost visibility in search results and within AI-driven platforms.
Remember, though, it’s not about abandoning traditional SEO strategies, but about enriching your content so both humans and AI recognize its value. The core skills of SEO (clarity, structure, and trust) still matter. Now, you’re just putting them to work in more places.
If you’re ready to adjust your digital marketing for the AI era, Adept Agency can help. Our team is experienced in conducting comprehensive content audits, on-page optimizations, and providing guidance on structured data.
We’re here to ensure your customers find you, no matter how the search landscape evolves. Visit our SEO services page to learn more or contact us for a complimentary consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions (AI Edition)
Q: Will AI chat replace my website traffic?
A: Not entirely. More people are using ChatGPT for quick questions, but research, shopping, and conversion-driven actions still need a website. By optimizing for both AI and traditional search, you can reach users where they are.
Q: How do I measure success when AI answers more questions directly?
A: Look beyond pure organic traffic. Track metrics like branded searches, click-through rates on featured snippets, and conversions. Even if traffic remains flat, if your conversion rate increases because AI-driven users recognize your brand, that’s a win.
Q: Can I influence what AI tools like ChatGPT say about my brand?
A: Not directly, but you can shape it by creating high-quality, trustworthy content. LLMs pull from web-based information, so the better your digital footprint, the more likely you are to be included in AI-generated responses.
Q: How do I know if my content is being used in AI Overviews?
A: You can’t always track this precisely yet. However, monitor your search presence, brand mentions, and featured snippet appearances. These are indicators that AI tools are recognizing your authority. Furthermore, you can see referral traffic from ChatGPT’s UTM codes in your Google Analytics.
Q: Should I change my SEO strategy entirely for AI?
A: No, you don’t need to scrap what’s working. Think of AIO as an extension of SEO, not a replacement. Continue investing in great content, technical SEO, and authority-building while layering in strategies that cater to AI-driven formats.
