Unlocking The Power Of SEO For AI-Driven Search Results

We are currently experiencing the most significant change in how we use search engines to find information in over 20 years of search history. Gone are the days of keyword-only searches, no more wading through pages and pages of irrelevant links. Instead, we are standing at the very tip of the generative AI iceberg, just waiting to see what lies below!

Although we have become accustomed to Google and its conventional approach to gathering information from the internet and delivering it to our fingertips in some sort of structured way, the methods people use to find what they want are evolving. We are entering an era of AI generative answer-based search engines and tools that better utilise conversational search techniques and understand intent delivering far more specific results based on live data and more refined search processes.

What Are AI Generated Search Results?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rather rapidly revolutionising how we search for information online. Instead of relying on traditional algorithm-style search methods revolving around targeting keywords that don’t always deliver the right results, AI powered search tools are able to leverage the untapped potential of machine learning (artificial intelligence), semantic search and advanced filtering to deliver more individually relevant results almost immediately.

AI search tools hold the advantage over traditional search engines as they are able to handle less structured, natural language user requests that were previously too complex for existing search algorithms to understand.

The main difference between traditional search engines and AI Powered search tools is that AI search is able to utilise artificial intelligence to continuously refine their responses, learning from previous user interactions and new data, continually improving the performance and quality of their search results over time.

At present the two main benefits of AI powered search are speed, and understanding of intent. Understanding the user’s search intent around their query has always been a struggle for algorithm-based search techniques, with results pages often being filled with irrelevant links.

As for speed, the time it takes to wade through pages and pages of results and websites to find the answer to your question has always been a significant drawback for traditional search platforms. AI excels in bypassing all of this, bringing you rapid results in an easy-to-digest format!

Common AI Gen Search Tools

• Gemini. Chatbot tool developed by Google drawing from its LLM of the same name which also powers AI Overviews within Google Search.
• Chat GPT. Developed by Open AI, Chat GPT is a popular tool commonly used for answering questions and generating text and images.
• DeepSeek. An open-source generative AI search tool developed by the Chinese AI startup of the same name.
• CoPilot. Microsoft’s AI chatbot built into the Microsoft Edge browser, also comes in app form.
• Claude. Developed by Anthropic, Claude is a chatbot designed to handle more complex jobs like writing code for websites, analysing images and translating text into different languages.
• Perplexity. A conversational search engine that uses LLMs to answer queries using sources from across the internet.

Where Is Google At On This?

Of course, Google is jumping in boots and all with its contributions to the AI search landscape, they have been trailing and testing AI-generated responses to search queries in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) since 2023, resulting in its delivery of the aptly named ‘AI Overviews’ feature currently occupying the prime real estate at the very top of results pages.

Using its own LLM Gemini, Google creates answers to searchers queries drawing from quality content across the internet. Working to prioritise search intent over keywords, refining and tuning its responses to suit the individual, Google’s integration of its Gemini-driven AI Overviews into its SERPs aims to improve search quality by delivering faster, more concise answers for its searchers.

Interestingly, it is estimated generative AI Overview answers are currently only appearing in around 50% of its search results, and research has found that informational intent not transactional queries drive the vast majority of AI Overviews. This leads us to believe that websites with authoritative and trustworthy content, such as quality articles and blog posts, will continue to perform well if optimised for AI Search using existing SEO and emerging Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) techniques.

What Is SEO And Why Is It Important?

Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is the process of organically increasing your online visibility in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), or in other words, getting more free traffic to your website via Google (or Bing etc.).

It is interesting to note, according to recent click-through rate (CTR) research from SEO experts First Page Sage, the top 3 organic search results receive more than two-thirds (68.7%) of all clicks on the Google Search results page. With the number one spot holding a whopping 39.8% CTR advantage! In plain language, this means the higher a website ranks, the more people will see it and the more likely they are to click through to your site.

Getting you to rank better is exactly where SEO comes in. SEO techniques work to naturally improve your website’s rankings in SERPs, consistently increasing visibility and traffic over time. See here for more information on what SEO is and why it’s important for your business.

What Does AI Mean For The Future Of SEO?

If your business is reliant on lead generation from within the current Google Search platform utilising SEO to focus on ranking well, it’s OK! All of your efforts are not going to go to waste, and you are not going to disappear. Even in the age of AI Overviews, and the use of LLMs and chatbots traditional websites will still hold their own as people with purchase intent will always want more information. They aren’t always just looking for the short answer and will click through and delve deeper on most cases before making their purchase decision.

So where does this lead us? Ranking well continues to be the priority, but with a few tweaks to keep up with Google raising the bar as it were. SEO specialists and businesses now need to aim for optimising techniques that enable high visibility in AI Overviews and other AI search tools using the merging Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) methodologies.

The good news is that some of the same tried and tested SEO principles can be transferred to AEO, but there are a few things that have moved up the ladder in terms of relevance. Answer Engine Optimisation means a greater focus on:

• Quality Over Quantity. There is likely to be a stronger emphasis on relevant and trustworthy content instead of keyword reliance.
• Display Formatting. Content needs to be structured in a way that is easily summarised and displayed by AI.
• Natural Language. The use of conversational language terms and phrases are going to take precedence over basic keyword queries.
• AI Overviews. Holding the best real estate on the search results page, featuring in AI Overviews will take priority over featured snippets and other rich search elements.
• Search Behaviour. Wider engagement, greater interactivity and increased zero-click behaviour are just of few of the expected changes in search behaviour brought about by AI search tools. This is because AI Overviews draw from multiple sites to provide more conversational answers, allowing for a more responsive, interactive and refined experience.
• Balancing Human Expertise. The human touch will forever hold value, there will always be a place for unique and engaging quality content that resonates with people on a level that machines are incapable of. In fact, in a market flooded with AI-generated text and content, it can be difficult to ensure accuracy, so human-generated content offers a competitive edge, enabling your business to stand out from the pack and build greater trust with your customers.

Strategies For Thriving In 2025 With AI Search

From an SEO/AEO perspective AI search will require some commitment to strategy optimisation to ensure rankings and visibility don’t slip. Here are a few insider tips to take away.

• Page Speed Matters. Work on improving site speed and mobile friendliness to enhance user experience and crawlability.
• Build Authority. Google is going to be looking for trustworthy sites that offer reliable and accurate information, so building up your website authority will increase in importance.
• Improve Navigation. Create websites with well-structured URL paths that are easy for AI bots to navigate and index. Ensure URLs are descriptive, logical, and hierarchical and use consistent naming conventions.
• Build Some Quality Links. Taking the time to get some backlinks is set to become increasingly important in building authority and search visibility.
• Optimise Content For Natural Language. Incorporate natural language phrases and conversational keywords relevant to your country to better align with user intent.
• Focus On Creating High-Quality Content. Good content helps with maintaining rankings on so many levels and it will continue to do so with AI Search tools, aim for featuring in AI Overviews by directly answering commonly asked questions, making it easy to summarise (bullet points and numbered lists etc) and by maintaining good layouts, easy to read formatting and heading structure.
• Invest In Social Media. When it comes to SEO, don’t make the mistake of focusing only on search engines, results from social media networks like TikTok, YouTube and Reddit are becoming increasingly popular in SERPs and should be part of building your overall online presence.

When facing the ever-evolving digital marketing industry, it is important to remember AI search capabilities are very much in their infancy, so both business owners and digital marketers will need to continually learn and grow to stay ahead of the changing industry landscape. Interested in learning more about SEO and how it can help your business grow – take a look at our digital marketing tips.

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