AI Search Optimization — What Works in the Age of Generative Search?

Searching the web is no longer a matter of sorting through links pointing you in the general direction of your answer. As we reported in June, 60% of internet searches now end without the user clicking a link — a phenomenon due, in no small part, to the proliferation of generative AI (GenAI) search engines providing the swift, succinct answers most searchers seek.

This changing user behavior has significant implications for publishers reliant on web traffic to drive ad revenue, calling into question longstanding strategies for content creation and distribution.

How are industry leaders navigating the new age of generative search? Let’s take a look.

GenAI continues to shake up search — and searchers

The more people turn to GenAI search engines (like Google’s AI Overviews and ChatGPT) for answers, the more expectations for receiving information will change. Semrush reports on several shifts in user behavior, from the quaint trend of users asking AI search engines full questions — “Instead of ‘email marketing tips,’ they ask ‘What's the best way to increase email open rates for B2B companies?’” — to the growing expectation that search results should be instantaneous and effortless.

As Semrush puts it, “AI systems now act as intermediaries between users and content, filtering and synthesizing information rather than just linking to it.”

Shifting search engine optimization (SEO) strategies

Traditional SEO strategies are built on the understanding that users enter a query and click on relevant sources ranked by keyword alignment and popularity. But GenAI’s summary-style responses have led many users to expect comprehensive information without time-consuming interpretation, rendering a ranked list of sources all but obsolete.

Fortunately, GenAI engines normally include links to the primary sources used in a response — and this is where savvy publishers are shifting their attention.

Generative engine optimization (GEO) — or AI search engine optimization (AIO) — strategies focus on getting cited as a content source in AI-generated answers. “Brand awareness matters more than traffic,” Semrush explains. “Being cited builds authority even when users don’t visit your site.”

If brand awareness is not a convincing enough reason to adopt a GEO strategy, recent research from Semrush also found “AI search visitors convert 4.4 times better than traditional organic visitors.” The reason? “By the time someone finds you through an AI citation or mention, they're educated about your solution and closer to making a decision.”

How publishers are optimizing content for AI search

Let’s take a closer look at some of the emerging strategies, tactics, and best practices publishers are using to optimize content for AI citations.

• Don’t block AI bots. As Search Engine Land puts it, “if you block AI bots, you have no chance of appearing in the answers they generate.” Before any GEO can take place, make sure to check your robots.txt file and remove any blocks against AI bots crawling your website for content.
• Prioritize clarity, form, and structure. The easier your website is to navigate, the easier it is for GenAI engines to index your content. Search Engine Land advises using “...logical directory structures, descriptive URLs, proper header tags (especially H1s), and a sitemap to guide spiders through your site.” AI growth engine airops also suggests incorporating bullet points when possible; their research found “72.9% of pages cited by ChatGPT included at least one section with bullet points, while Google’s top results were slightly higher at 74.5%.”
• Ensure multi-modal content support. Aleyda Solis notes that GenAI search engines often utilize multi-modal content like images, videos, and charts to help answer users’ questions. To take advantage of this, ensure multi-modal content is easily crawlable and robustly described with captions and alt text.
• Establish real authority. Traditional SEO tricks like backlinking and keyword stuffing don’t matter to AI search engines looking for relevant, fact-laden sources to mine. Content with an authoritative point of view, factual data, and an accessible tone is more likely to appear in AI citations than fluffy listicles or esoteric opinion pieces.
• Answer common questions directly. GenAI search users are asking questions and expecting quick answers. Semrush advises responding in kind by creating “content that answers questions completely in standalone sections, providing direct answers upfront instead of building suspense.”
• Get a boost from rich schema. According to airops, pages with rich schema — structured data that allows search engines to know what users will find on a website — are “13% more likely to earn AI citations.” “By investing in structured data and ensuring the presence of robust schema,” airops concludes, “brands dramatically increase the likelihood that their content will be selected, interpreted, and surfaced by answer engines.”

A new normal for search?

The growing popularity and prevalence of GenAI search engines indicate that zero-click search results are here to stay. But while some publishers are still lamenting declining traffic to their websites, others have recognized that in this new era of search, being part of a meaningful answer is more important than chasing clicks and fleeting traffic.

Those adopting GEO strategies — and optimizing content for AI citations — are seizing the opportunity to establish credibility with AI search engines before it becomes a best practice. It remains to be seen whether the brand benefits of AI citation can outweigh the loss of web traffic.