How do you get your business to show up in AI-assisted search?
With so many searches now ending without a click, it’s never been more important to shape your content around search engine mechanics.
If you’re working in the world of marketing or hoping to position your business at the top of search engines, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of AEO, GEO, or even GSO. We’ll go into what they all are in a moment, but it’s a clear sign that the rules of search are changing.
In short, AEO (answer engine optimization), GEO (generative engine optimization), and GSO (generative search optimization) are all interchangeable ways to describe a generative AI-powered feature that search engines like Google are using to serve up immediate results. Before, you would click into a website to get the answers you want. Now, almost 60% of searches end without a click because the search engine serves up the answers right there on the page.
The question is, how do you ensure your content is showing up in those AI-assisted responses?
Focus on what people are searching
To show up in those results, you need to really think about how your customers are searching. What questions do they have? How do they word those questions? What do they need to solve, what pain points do they have, and what are they searching to arrive at the most helpful answers?
It’s those questions, and that language, you should be lifting into your content and unpacking with your insight and expertise. So, if someone is looking to show up in AI-assisted search, they may search for a headline like the one we've crafted for this blog post. Wording the topic as a question or query makes it more likely to be found.
See what the search engine offers up
As part of that, get into the habit of using these search engines yourself. Search questions or key pain points and see how the AI overview is structured, what it says, and which sources it uses to pull information. Then, visit those sources and do a deep dive into how that content is structured and written.
By doing that, you’ll be able to work backwards and integrate your findings into your content strategy.
Clarity is key
If there’s one thing that drives AI visibility, it’s clarity. It wants content that’s easy to read, well-structured, with clear headlines, titles, and descriptions, so it can grab the most relevant information and serve it up to searchers quickly.
That also means short and sharp sentences, headings that align with what people are searching (as mentioned above), and calling out key information and statistics.
It’s also worth noting that, with so much still changing in search and more yet to come, clarity is the one thing that’s always necessary. Whatever happens, clear, consistent, and easy-to-read content will win out every single time.
Get mentioned elsewhere
Something else that sits well with AI search is working to position your business as a trusted source of insight and authenticity, and it’s great for brand-building too. Search engines want the reassurance that your business is trusted and is a credible industry source.
With LLMs, it does this via mentions of your brands, but it's even better if you can turn those mentions into high-quality backlinks. One of the most effective ways to create those is through guest blogging, contributing to authoritative websites where an author bio is typically included that links back to your business, or listing your business on directories.
Both backlinking and mentions can also be a byproduct of creating high-quality content such as industry reports, whitepapers, or studies, which others are referencing, sharing, and discussing in external sources or as part of industry forums and discussion boards.
Make the most of specific pages like FAQs
There are also several specific content formats you can and should create that will help your brand show up in AI search.
One of these is FAQ pages like this one we created for ACS Valves. FAQ pages have a great ability to bring all the above together in a simple question-answer format that aligns with what people want and is easy for search engines to scan and lift information from.
Other specific pages to create can include dedicated product pages, team bios, blog posts, or website pages that unpack what your business is about.
Remember, these don’t have to be specific, dedicated pages. Including a short FAQ at the bottom of a blog post, or as part of a product page, can have just as much impact.
Keep creating original, high-quality content
It may feel like there’s a lot of pandering to the machine but, as always, it’s important to remember that we're humans talking to humans, and emotional and authentic content is more likely to make an impression. Especially with B2B content, the best thing businesses can do is include their expertise, first-hand experience, and original ideas and quotes from topic authorities in the content they create.
If you’re already doing that, you’re on the right track. As the Google Search Central Blog says, “People often ask how to make content that’s ‘what Google wants.’ Our answer is that Google wants to show content that fulfills peoples’ needs. Focus on making unique, non-commodity content that visitors from search and your own readers will find helpful and satisfying.”
Want your business to show up in AI search?
Catering to AI while creating content for humans is a tough balancing act. Whether you need the right content, search strategy, or just want to know what metrics matter most, we can help. Reach out to our team of experts today.