Artificial intelligence, coined AI for short, it’s probably one of the most talked about words in society at the moment. For those that don’t know what it is, it’s largely highly sophisticated computer systems that can typically be trained to understand and learn any topic, challenging what mankind has been doing over hundreds of thousands of year. How it affects search results is what we are really interested in at Nick Zahra SEO
Google and other major search engines have clearly shown a sense of concern about the evolution of AI. They have had a major monopoly in the search engine systems globally and consumers have typically started their search for products and services on their programs first. Googles dominance has seen billions of dollars of ad revenue which they want to protect.
Systems such as Chat Gpt, Perplexity and Co-pilot to name a few have threatened the very existence of the go to google search. Google has reacted swiftly launching their own AI search application called Google Gemini. There is a fear of many that the new generations coming through are becoming more comfortable using AI search programs over google. Research has identified the 18-26 yo age group now uses AI for 82% of their searches.
Currently for every 5 searches, Google and other major search engines account for 80% of the traffic, with AI programs holding 20% which has doubled in the past year alone. You will notice in google you can now select AI mode, which typically shows an interface commonly seen on the likes of chat GPT.
See the below graph from research company Mckinsey and Company, that shows how dominant AI searches have become
So the million dollar question, how do you come up on AI search models?
AI platforms are essentially trained computer models that are trying to find the best answers to the questions the users are asking, exactly as it would in a search engine. The main difference is they seem to be capable of digging deeper across the digital network at a faster pace than a typical search engine and use more sources to come to their conclusion. So what are they looking for?
Expertise– you need to show the AI models that you are the expert in your field. Well written and researched content trumps all. Ensure your site has fresh content and you are active and relevant in your industry and you post and blog everywhere you can, do podcasts and more.
Authority– normal SEO has typically been based on trusted and high quality links coming into your site. AI is now looking at this plus various other platforms and even mention of your brand or company name can
be enough. They regularly read forum sites like Reddit and Quora, they look at mentions on social media platforms like Linked in, YouTube etc. It is also looking at reviews on google, product reviews and more, so if you remain socially relevant on all platforms, this is a good indicator and this builds trust with AI models.
Context and answering real questions- if you can research what types of questions and information your potential customers might seek, you can structure content to answer those queries directly. AI models love a clear answer that addresses the users query. This might be something like “ what are the best priced pizza take away near me”. AI will then read reviews, content on your site, menus and prices, sources talking about you and so on.
Website architecture
Like traditional SEO, AI also likes to see high page speed, well laid out content with correct headings, schema mark-up data, mobile friendliness, a responsive site and security measures in place like HTTPS.
Overall, if you are employing a proper SEO strategy, you don’t have to really do anything different to what you are already doing. The main thing is to spread your presence across the entire digital network and make sure you are up to date, active and an expert in your field in all channels on the internet.
If you need help with a GEO strategy, please reach out to us.
