Some people say “SEO is Dead” as its time for AI.
C’mon, think logically: How will Artificial Intelligence systems decide on which companies to mention in their answers if they are not able to find the information about the companies online? To be able to get found by the AI bots, these companies’ websites need to be visible, accessible and indexable and this is what SEO ensures!
Traditional SEO is as important as it always was, but AI search tools don’t just pull the top 10 Google results, they synthesize answers from a variety of sources. Here’s how SEO plays a role:
Following are some points on how SEO Helps with AI Search Visibility:
- Content as Training/Reference Data
- AI tools use the open web as their knowledge base. Well-optimized, crawlable content increases the chances of your site being used as a reference.
- Structured content, FAQs and schema markup help AI interpret your site better.
Both the points above require your website to have extensive On Page SEO in place.
- Authority & Credibility
- Just like Google, AI tools prefer to pull from trusted sources. Backlinks, citations, and brand mentions improve your “authority signal,” making AI more likely to reference you. This makes it necessary to consistently carry out Off Page SEO by building backlinks from credible (essentially high DA) websites.
- Just like Google, AI tools prefer to pull from trusted sources. Backlinks, citations, and brand mentions improve your “authority signal,” making AI more likely to reference you. This makes it necessary to consistently carry out Off Page SEO by building backlinks from credible (essentially high DA) websites.
- Featured Mentions & Citations
- Some AI tools (like Perplexity, Bing Copilot) show citations. Optimized content with clear answers increases the chance of being quoted directly with a backlink.
- Some AI tools (like Perplexity, Bing Copilot) show citations. Optimized content with clear answers increases the chance of being quoted directly with a backlink.
- Answer-Focused Content
- AI prioritizes concise, well-structured answers. If your pages are optimized to directly answer user questions (FAQs, how-tos, definitions), AI is more likely to show up your brand.
- AI prioritizes concise, well-structured answers. If your pages are optimized to directly answer user questions (FAQs, how-tos, definitions), AI is more likely to show up your brand.
- Entity Optimization (E-E-A-T)
- Google’s Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) principles are also crucial for AI tools. Optimizing your brand as a recognized entity (consistent business profiles, knowledge panels, Wikipedia, LinkedIn, etc.) improves visibility.
- Google’s Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) principles are also crucial for AI tools. Optimizing your brand as a recognized entity (consistent business profiles, knowledge panels, Wikipedia, LinkedIn, etc.) improves visibility.
🔹 What’s Different from Classic SEO
- Rankings → References: Instead of aiming for “Rank #1,” the goal is to be cited as a reliable source.
- Keywords → Context: AI focuses more on semantic relevance than exact keywords as it is all about interpreting the data correctly!
- Traffic → Mentions: Even if users don’t click, brand exposure inside AI answers can drive trust and eventually result in website visits by the same users!
🔹 Action Plan to Show Up in AI Searches
- Continue traditional SEO (Technical, On-page, Backlinks).
- Create answer-ready content (clear, structured, Q&A style).
- Use schema markup (FAQs, HowTos, Organization Charts).
- Build authority signals (Guest posts, Digital PR, Citations).
- Maintain active brand presence (Socials, directories, Wikipedia/Wikidata if possible).
In short: SEO directly impacts how often your company is referenced by AI search tools. Think of it as shifting from “ranking for clicks” to “being trusted enough to be quoted.”
Google SEO = Rank for clicks
AI SEO = Get trusted, cited and mentioned in answers on AI tools like Chat GPT and Perplexity