How Do You Future-proof Your Website Against AI-powered Search?

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More and more, the search engine optimization landscape is changing. AI-powered search has caused headaches for many SEO experts and consultants.

Over the course of the past two and a half years – since ChatGPT was first made available to the public – the world has changed dramatically.

Many people predicted it would be a disruptive technology, but as marketers we had no idea how quickly and how vast the disruption would be. One moment we were still playing with generative language models, and the next moment we had software that could do all kinds of weird and wonderful things.

Yes, it puts many people out of jobs, especially in the marketing industry.

Arguably though, the biggest disruption happened in search engines…

We used to go to Google, type in a query, and get ten results – plus some ads and sometimes local listings – per page.

Now, however, people go to Google, type in a question, and get an answer. No need to even visit a website. Not to mention that can also go to any AI model connected to the internet, and perform the same search there.

The effects on website traffic have been devastating.

While it is unlikely that we will ever get back to pre-AI search traffic levels, it is possible to get some of it back.

How to future-proof your website against AI search…

First, you need to understand the fundamental difference between SEO and AEO:

SEO – or search engine optimization – is about keyword phrases that people use when they search the web. Let’s say you want to find a mechanic in Lincoln, Nebraska…

You would type “mechanic Lincoln” into the search bar. Aside from the website and other search results coming up, you would also see a list of local Google business listings.

Any Google business listing or web page containing that phrase will come up in search. Granted, how they are ranked is a whole different story.

Yes, there are many things you can do to improve your ranking on that list of sites, but you get the idea.

AEO – or answer engine optimization – is about targeting specific QUESTIONS that people ask. Questions they ask as if they were speaking. In fact, we do have voice search, and instead of stating a keyword phrase, more and more people are asking specific questions – because they know it works.

The key difference is this:

In SEO, you get pushed out along with a gazillion other search results, irrespective of whare you land on the list. The user still has to visit a website or a business listing to find the info they need.

With AEO, two things happen:

1. The basic gist of the answer is provided in an instant.

2. A few sources are cited, usually around three. If the user wants to, they can explore any of them.

But it goes a lot deeper than this…

The differences in queries vs results in SEO and AEO for small businesses:

In the past, let’s say you wanted to find a great restaurant to go to in your new town. You would search Google for “top ten restaurants in your-town”.

Google would provide a list of local business listings, and then a list of websites which offer lists of popular restaurants.

Using those websites, you would need to do your research and make a choice. it was a time consuming process.

Now…

You type – or speak – your question into Google or Bing search:

“What is the best vegan restaurant in your-town?”

The AI will go and explore all of the available options, and also go look at all of the available reviews it can find for each vegan restaurant in your area.

Based on the actual experience of people who dined at those restaurants, it will present you with the best possible choice.

ONE.

Not ten plus business listings, but one.

It saved the user plenty of time, but it also excluded all other vegan restaurants in the area from even being seen, never mind explored.

And yes, in many cases it means there won’t even be a click on any website link. In this case, though, the suggested restaurant will get the booking.

If your website is purely informational, you may have gotten nothing.

How do you optimize for AI-powered search?

Well, it is going to take some work. Sorry…

What AI-powered answer engines are actually looking for:

Questions in natural language. Direct answers with context.

Structured content – aside from schema markup, you may have noted that some webmasters and bloggers started adding FAQ sections at the end of their posts and info pages.

Authority and trust signals (E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness).

This is a whole topic in itself which we will get into in the future.

High quality content, written for humans and not for search engines.

Sources which could be summarized, cited, or even pulled into featured snippets

The bottom line is that it is likely to require creating a lot of content, or alternatively to edit existing content if you already have plenty.

Practical SEO tactics that work for both SEO and AEO:

Write with the question and its answers in mind (FAQ format, use headings as questions).

Make use of schema markup to specify what each page is – FAQ, how-to, article, product or local business.

Include concise definitions and summaries, along with bullet points early on in the content.

Create topical clusters, and interlink related content using SEO anchor text links.

Cite sources where applicable.

Optimize titles and headings for voice search: Use simple, spoken-style sentences.

Which content types work well for AEO?

Solid, no-fluff, in-depth blog posts with a clear content structure.

FAQ pages.

Tutorials and how-to guides, explainers and even glossaries.

Depending on your niche and consumer behavior, listicles can work. For instance “10 things to avoid when….”.

Of course, it goes without saying that stuffing keywords without providing real answers won’t help you much. AI isn’t stupid.

Also, don’t ignore structured data or EEAT signals, and don’t create content for algorithms. Most of the AI models we have access to are language models, and they pick it up in a fraction of a millisecond.

Finally, revisit your older content, and see what needs to be updated in terms of information and structure. There may also be opportunities to insert specific questions and sub-headings.

In conclusion:

In the past, SEO was about being on the first page of Google.

Now, it is about providing THE answer. The chosen answer.

Yes, traditional SEO still sends some traffic – but it is dwindling rapidly.

If you already have some blog content or a knowledge base, dig through it for opportunities to insert specific questions.

And if you have a WordPress website, you can add schema markup by simply installing a plugin.

AEO for small business is not a terminal blow – in fact, it can be an opportunity, especially for early adopters.