The importance of showing up – in AI search

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It’s no surprise that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing the digital marketing world. 90% of businesses surveyed are reportedly concerned about losing Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) visibility, the share of traffic a website receives from search engine rankings.

This is largely due to the fact that AI search is becoming increasingly common, with 72% of B2B vendors researching tools through AI prior to vendor contact, and 25% of shoppers consulting an AI assistant before making any purchases. While the field of Artificial Intelligence Search Optimisation (also known as “Generative” Engine Optimisation (GEO)) is constantly adapting as Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc. continue training and updating models, there are a few key metrics that affect how information is obtained.

AI shows users results in different ways from traditional search engines. As opposed to the previous three-step process of crawling, indexing, and ranking, LLM models are, before deployment to the web, “trained” on extremely large bases of data. However, traditional methodologies of search engine optimisation (SEO) continue to be important for AI SEO.

Google’s own guide for optimising for generative AI features tells marketers to focus on simply continuing to apply best SEO practices and creating healthy, reliable content on trusted sites for best generative search results. There are many ways to do this, some of the most prominent being through listings and press release coverage that naturally appear on Google. Optimising for traditional SEO is shown by the search engine itself as an extremely viable way to get cited frequently and rank highly on AI search.

Unpacking the Secret: How to AI SEO Optimise

If you have to SEO optimise or AI SEO optimise, it’s best for you to first determine how you want to show up on the web. In most cases, a consumer consults a search engine or AI platform to do research and decide between multiple options. Your brand must stick out through endorsement on trusted, consistently updated, and SEO-optimized websites and platforms.

There are various ways you can publish content on the web for a higher chance of appearing in AI search. Press Releases and Listings are extremely effective examples.

Listings

Consistently high rankings in listing advertorials are an extremely effective way to impact the frequency of your AI citations and mentions. When users research products and ask for the “best in area”, LLM agents crawl through their memory of reputable published data on the subject.

If customers don’t choose you, they choose your competitors. So, highly ranked business listings are crucial for you to stand out in the increasingly saturated market.

Press releases

Large language models prioritise credibility and factual information. But just as a human used to check multiple sites for various points of view, LLM models synthesise information and only share a response to the consumer after reading multiple, agreeing pieces on your product or service.

The importance of showing up - in AI search | News by Thaiger — Image Courtesy of Fit Small Business

A leading recommendation by experts is to run digital public relations campaigns. This helps your company earn brand mentions and backlinks from relevant industry publications. Press releases are another effective way of getting accurate, published content on the web. By being highlighted in well-written content from a credible third-party publication, LLM models have a higher likelihood of believing the stated information to be credible and widely supported, prompting the model to display it to the user.

Additional steps

Beyond ensuring your business has been ranked highly and spoken about frequently in various media publications, it’s important to ensure other information is up to date. Other steps you may take to AI SEO optimise include:

1. Consistent NAP

Ensure your company’s Name, Address, and Phone (NAP) are standardised across platforms. You may be ranked lower on search engines if these inconsistencies are found.

2. Content Recency

The co-founder at AEO Vision posted on LinkedIn that “ChatGPT prioritises RECENT over PERFECT”. So, be sure to ensure your published content is recent and consistently refreshed.

3. Solid technical foundation

Internal linking, crawlability, and structured data are still extremely important. Your data must be technically healthy to ensure both search engines and AI systems can access and parse your posted content.

4. Expertise and topical depth

In modern search, content that shows real understanding is rewarded. Comprehensive coverage and information accuracy are essential for signalling real subject-matter expertise.

Ultimately, it’s important to be well-versed in how artificial intelligence is changing the optimisation game across search engines. As the models continue to develop, be on the lookout for updated research on these changes. By moving strategically, you can ensure your business continues to show its best self.