If you’ve made a recent search in Google, you’ve likely noticed some changes in its interface. In the past, you’d simply be given a long list of websites that closely match the relevancy of your search. However, now Google has introduced AI Overviews that provide summarized results based on how you asked your question.

While this updated interface can be incredibly helpful as a user, as a business, you may have mixed feelings, and for good reason. The reality of AI-powered search is that it presents new challenges when attempting to drive more organic traffic to your website.

Because one of the primary goals of an AI-powered search tool is to bring answers directly to users without requiring them to navigate to multiple sites to find what they’re looking for, it can be harder to introduce your brand to them.

This means that to gain the same level of visibility with your site, it's becoming essential to focus on getting your site referenced in these AI-generated summaries. Luckily, there are some strategies you can follow to achieve this.

How Has AI Changed How Search Engines Operate?

In the past, search engines functioned in a relatively straightforward way. Users would simply enter in a variety of keywords or ask a direct question, and Google would look across all its indexed sites to find a list of sites that looked like they were a good match.

Although this was a pretty easy format when someone was looking for specific sites or supporting content, users would still need to do quite a bit more searching through multiple site links before they found what they were actually looking for. To help improve the search experience, Google introduced several helpful features to reduce the time required to find the answers needed.

Today, AI technology plays a significant role in making this possible. It utilizes advanced algorithms and machine learning capabilities to look beyond the keywords used in searches, instead focusing on user intent. Now, instead of just being presented with a large list of websites to scour through, users are presented with AI Overviews that give them clear, organized responses without requiring them to search any further.

Effective Strategies for Preparing Your Website for AI-Powered Search

AI has completely changed how individuals search for information online. Because of this, it’s essential for businesses to take the necessary steps to ensure that both search engines and AI tools reference their site information more often. This ensures that they don’t experience significant losses in traffic volume from “no-click” searches.

Below are some effective strategies you can put in place to achieve this:

Focus on Deeper, Meaningful Content Creation

One of the main reasons why Google started to introduce AI-powered elements into its search algorithm was to help people connect more efficiently with the content that matters most to them. With so much information available online, it’s important for Google to help cut through the noise and get the answers needed as quickly as possible.

A primary way Google’s algorithm achieves this goal is by sifting out information that’s carefully vetted and follows its E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness as closely as possible. For business, this means exploring topics more deeply than in the past and focusing on delivering greater value to readers.

Google and AI tools both want to minimize the number of sources they provide to users, so when they find a site that showcases a wealth of knowledge on a particular topic, this site is typically chosen more often to appear on an AI Overview. By making sure your content is as comprehensive as possible, you increase the likelihood of landing this position more consistently. 

Keep Information Conversational and Use Natural Language

An important way to help your web content stand out from others is how it’s delivered. AI-powered search prefers content that sounds more conversational, using natural language when describing various topics. This mimics the same type of responses often used with voice assistant tools like Google Home or Alexa.

Another reason why conversational language is so important is that this is the way most people look for information. When you use the same type of language you would typically use when talking with someone, it creates a more seamless connection for AI algorithms between your content and the information being requested.

When creating new content for your site, try to use the same kind of wording or phrases you would in conversation. An effective way you can help to do this is by turning more of your article headers into questions, such as those found in Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) pages. This gives you the opportunity to answer the question directly on your site, giving readers quick and accessible information.

Be Sure to Use Structured Data

As you start generating new web content, don’t forget to make use of structured data. Structured data, also referred to as “schema markup,” is essentially a piece of code you can embed into each of your web pages that helps to categorize the type of content it contains for search engines and AI tools.

When users enter new queries, search algorithms use these labels to help provide more relevant results and present the information in various lists, how-to guides, or step-by-step instructions. For example, if someone wanted to know exactly how to install a new doorbell, using structured data on your pages could help you to have your content referenced as an “installation guide,” which could get shown as a rich snippet on the first page of search results.

Being able to achieve these highly valuable spots on SERPs can give you very reliable real estate to boost your click-through rates, while also making it more likely that an AI Overview picks up your page and references it directly to users.

Concentrate on the User Experience

Gone are the days when keyword stuffing could land your website on the front page of SERPs. Rightfully so, Google and AI search tools have learned how to avoid these types of spammy sites, looking for websites that were designed specifically with users in mind.

While this doesn’t mean using keywords is irrelevant when improving your search engine marketing efforts, it shouldn’t be your primary focus. Instead, take a good look at your website from a user’s point of view. Google wants to make sure you have a well-structured site layout with fast-loading pages and a mobile-responsive theme. This ensures users stay on your site longer and actually leave having found the information they need.

Work on Strengthening Your Topical Authority

Search engines and AI tools rank websites based on their topical authority. This is what helps them to put more trust in the content they’re linking to.

Building this type of authority isn’t possible to achieve overnight, but there are ways you can improve this metric long-term. One way to do this is to create pillar content. This involves creating a single, comprehensive page with detailed information that links to several interlinking support pages and various subtopics. 

By covering multiple related topics under one primary idea, it helps signal to AI search tools that you’re an authority on the subject and are likely to provide answers to multiple questions that users may have.

Help Make Your Site More Visible in AI-Powered Search Results

While AI-powered search has created some additional challenges for businesses when trying to remain visible online, it doesn’t mean there aren’t steps that can be taken to improve the likelihood of being referenced more often on AI-generated results.

By following the strategies discussed, you’ll ensure that you can still attract adequate traffic to your site while also implementing more future-proof SEO tactics.

Author Bio: Jason Khoo started freelancing in SEO in college, sold his first agency, and now is the founder of Zupo, an Orange County-based SEO consulting agency helping construct powerful long-term SEO strategies for our clients. Jason also enjoys multiple cups of tea daily, hiding away on weekends, catching up on reading, and rewatching The Simpsons for the 20th time.