Search engines have been using artificial intelligence to rank web pages for years now, but machine learning and generative AI are transforming how web pages are analyzed and displayed in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Maintaining your brand’s prominence amidst these changes may require pivoting. For example, with AI’s ability to process language and infer meaning, we’re seeing a shift from keyword matching to entity SEO. And, as search engines rely on AI for content analysis, it’s critical for your backend to communicate clearly with their systems. Read on to learn how artificial intelligence is impacting search, what it means for your visibility, and how to refine your approach to future-proof your SEO or AEO.
How AI Search Is a Natural Evolution
Google’s goal is to quickly and accurately provide users with the information they’re looking for. AI fits seamlessly into this mandate, helping search engines to:
- Understand a range of user queries. AI uses semantic analysis to understand the different ways audiences search. For example, search engines use natural language processing to understand that “do I have the flu” is similar in intent to “flu symptoms.”
- Evaluate content for meaning. By analyzing all the text on a page and not just scanning for keywords, AI interprets meaning through context. It can look at an article with the phrase “carbon footprint” and decide whether it’s about scientific climate models or tips on reducing your environmental impact.
- Interpret user behavior. Based on what users click on the SERPs and how long they engage with the content, search engines can gauge if web pages satisfy audience intent. Page rankings are adjusted based on relevance.
Shifting From Keywords to Context
With large language models spotting patterns and relationships to infer meaning, exact keyword matching is no longer as important as it once was. You still need keywords to guide your strategy, but search engines now gather information on different entities to learn how they’re related.
If the word “phoenix” appears with “state capital” and “desert,” for example, search engines know the page is related to the city and not the bird, based on entity relationships.
You’ll also find that search engines can easily handle conversational search, processing queries based on natural phrasing, question keywords, and the way people communicate in real life.
Search Is More Predictive and Personalized
Another way AI is influencing the SERPs is by anticipating user needs. We’ve already seen results based on location and search history, but now search engines leverage data from billions of search queries and overall user behavior.
When I asked Google “what is data science,” for example, it generated a comprehensive AI answer, not just a simple definition, but examples of applications and a list of key skills for data scientists. It provided content based on what I might want to know. This preemptive AI content impacts discoverability, pushing snippets down the SERPs and potentially reducing clicks and traffic. However, it also creates exciting opportunities if your site is well optimized and displays in a featured snippet or AI overview.
Building Blocks for an AI-Resilient SEO Approach
Now that you know the lay of the land, let’s pivot your strategies to align with AI systems. Some strategists refer to “Answer Engine Optimization” or “AEO” when describing the strategies needed to rank in AI overviews, AI-Mode, or RAG-enabled LLMs like ChatGPT. These approaches are similar to a quality SEO strategy.
The key to future-proofing your SEO is to shift to a search-first approach. As I’ll discuss further below, this involves:
- Demonstrating expertise in your niche to signal your authority in the field.
- Conveying the meaning of content as clearly as possible to search engines.
- Improving audience engagement to convey your content’s relevance.
1. Build Deep Topical Authority
Topical authority refers to your expertise in a subject, based on how thoroughly your site covers the topic. A brand that publishes a few random pages about healthy eating doesn’t accumulate as much topical authority as one with sections devoted to meal-planning, plant-based diets, and nutrition for different life stages.
Why Topical Authority Is Important
Google wants to recommend reliable, accurate content, and uses topical authority as one factor in determining trustworthiness. If you regularly publish helpful, comprehensive content about your industry, Google will likely view you as knowledgeable about your niche.
Sites with topical authority are more likely to rank higher. And the more content you publish, the more opportunities you have for backlinks and to appear for different search queries.
How To Demonstrate Topical Authority
Topical authority requires a strategic approach. Publish content in an organized way so the AI systems understand where your expertise lies.
- Use a content cluster approach. Start with a few core topics that are important to your business. A healthy eating website might create clusters about basic nutrition, nutrition for athletes, and nutrition for children.
- Expand each cluster. Create a pillar page with links to supporting pieces. A topic cluster about healthy eating for children can include articles about picky eaters, food allergies, and healthy lunchbox ideas.
- Publish useful content. Take the time to create well-researched content with valuable insights. Cite reputable sources and use current studies and data to back up each piece.
- Add internal links. Link to and from the pillar page and supporting pages, and between the pages in the cluster. This creates a tight, interlinked bundle of content, showing search engines that the content belongs together and you have strong expertise in the topic.
2. Prioritize Structured Data and Semantic Markup
While user-facing content conveys the breadth of your knowledge, it’s also important to help search engines crawl and understand your web pages behind the scenes.
Structured Data
Structured data is a type of code that you add to your HTML to communicate directly to search engines. Schema.org is one of the most common types of vocabulary. Use it to label pieces of content to explain what they mean. You can indicate the type of business you run, where it’s located, and your business hours, for example.
Why Structured Data Is Important
There’s no ambiguity with structured data. It provides clear context to AI systems, supporting the shift from keywords to meaning. If you mark up the year your business was founded and the name of your CEO, search engines crawl that information and add it to their knowledge graph about your company.
Schema markup also prepares your content for rich snippets. By indicating product names, prices, ratings, and images, you provide Google with information that may appear directly in the SERPs. Rich snippets draw attention to your brand and improve click-through rate.
How To Implement Structured Data
There are many tools to help you add structured data to your web pages, including these:
Be sure to test your structured data, using platforms such as the following:
Semantic Markup
I’ll briefly mention that your HTML code should also include semantic markup. Tags such as <header>, <main>, <section>, <article>, and <aside>, indicate different parts of your content. These aren’t necessary for the HTML to render, but they help search crawlers understand page structure and how it’s organized.
3. Focus on User Experience as a Ranking Factor
The final building block of a future-ready SEO strategy is user experience. Sites that are effortless to navigate are more likely to rank better in the SERPs. Factors affecting audience experience include:
- Fast site speeds.
- Mobile-friendly design.
- Clear, intuitive navigation.
- Secure and encrypted connections.
Why User Experience Is Important
Sites that are slow to load or filled with errors create friction and can cause users to abandon a site. On the flip side, if audiences can easily get the information they want, they’re more likely to engage with your brand and return in the future. Prioritize audience engagement to show search engines your site is relevant and to help push your brand higher in the SERPs.
How To Improve User Experience
Track key metrics to see if visitors are taking the time to explore your site. Some of these data points include:
- Site speed.
- Click-through rate.
- Bounce rate.
- Engaged sessions.
- Time on site.
- Pages per session.
These metrics can show where you may need to finesse your site. To improve user engagement:
- Ensure your site is fast, secure, and mobile friendly.
- Write compelling meta titles and descriptions that align with page content.
- Create clear, concise content that answers search intent.
- Integrate multimedia, such as images and videos, to provide a dynamic experience.
- Use links to point users to related content and encourage further browsing.
- Review site structure and design to ensure it’s user-friendly.
AI-Powered Tools To Level Up Your SEO Game
I’ve mostly focused on how search engines harness artificial intelligence, but AI is also a great addition to a marketer’s toolbox.
Enhancing Strategy With AI Content and Data Analysis
AI-powered platforms can help you fine-tune your content strategy and analyze data to make informed decisions. Here are a few ways to use the technology to work faster and more precisely:
- Use ChatGPT to kickstart your keyword research. Ask for semantic variations of search terms and ideas for topic clusters. Run your findings through an SEO tool to select promising keywords for your business, and use your list of target search terms as the basis of your content strategy.
- Perform a Competitive Analysis. Use Semrush’s Keyword Gap or Ahrefs’ Content Gap to compare your site’s topical coverage with that of your competitors so you can fill in content gaps and strengthen your authority.
- Compare individual content pieces to add depth. If a piece isn’t performing well on your site, ask an AI platform to compare the content to higher-ranking pieces in the SERPs and find what you’re missing. These insights can help you get your piece up to par, but you also need human oversight and creativity to take it to the next level.
- Organize and manage data. AI can compile and sort information faster than manual methods, making it easier to review analytics data and find patterns.
Caution: The Limits of AI in Content Creation
While it might be tempting to use AI to write your page content, there are a few things to be aware of. Generative AI bases its output on the content it’s been trained on, which means it often produces generic text. Strictly AI content doesn’t capture your brand voice or reflect your expertise. It also lacks the qualities search algorithms are trained to look for: original insights that add value.
Artificial intelligence is ideal for brainstorming content ideas, researching keywords and semantic variations, creating outlines, and optimizing title tags and meta descriptions. But to create high-quality, meaningful content, you need to do more than skim the surface.
You build authority by addressing a topic in depth, adding unique insights and opinions, and providing helpful case studies, examples, or unique data. Make sure your content genuinely captures your brand voice and that readers have concrete takeaways, so they see your business as a valuable resource.
Building Organizational Readiness for SEO Transformation
As AI continues to shape how web pages are indexed and ranked, the best way to safeguard your visibility is to build a strong, authoritative digital presence. Then, as the SERPS evolve, you can make small, timely adjustments instead of racing to catch up.
Embedding SEO Into Long-Term Digital Strategy
We’ve discussed tactics to future-proof your SEO, but without a formal framework in place, your goals can get lost in day-to-day workflows. Create an environment where your brand’s online visibility is a priority across your organization.
- Focus on a search-first strategy that ensures your site is discoverable online. You’ll create a robust, user-friendly website filled with great content, which supports audiences from all your marketing channels.
- Incorporate SEO into your quarterly planning, setting clear, realistic goals tied to your business objectives.
- Encourage collaboration between teams to reach shared SEO goals. Coordinated marketing efforts are much stronger than siloed approaches, which may duplicate efforts or create internal competition.
- Select cross-functional KPIs that track growth beyond search rankings. Bottom-line metrics include lead generation, conversions, user acquisition costs, and ROI.
- Regularly measure, refine, and revisit your tactics to respond to trends and improve performance.
Take the Next Step With a Strategic SEO Partner
Being flexible and future-ready is a fundamental part of our SEO and AEO approach at Victorious. We use a data-driven approach that monitors how artificial intelligence, audience behavior, and competition affect visibility and traffic. The result? A thoughtful, agile strategy that supports your brand’s long-term growth. Learn more — schedule your free AEO strategy session today.
