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Beyond traditional SEO: Why you need to build your AI SEO strategy right now

Traditional SEO audits aren’t enough in the era of AI. Here's what your content needs to remain discoverable.
Picture of Ed Braddock

Ed Braddock 08 Sep 2025

Alt text: Key takeaways on AI SEO: Traditional SEO isn’t enough, AI SEO (GEO/AEO) ensures visibility, and success depends on five pillars—structured formats, concise answers, consistent terminology, comprehensive coverage, and dual SEO plus AI monitoring.

For years, SEO was the playbook for online visibility. It was all about identifying high-performing keywords and battling to get your site onto Google’s first page.

But users’ discovery no longer ends at a bunch of ranked links.

Users are reading AI-generated summaries at the top of Google, or using tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Claude to find information. Instead of scanning links, they expect a direct, plain-language answer to their exact questions.

Semrush already projects that traffic driven by these Large Language Models (LLMs) will surpass traditional search by 2028.

This marks the shift from the traditional SEO era to the era of AI SEO, also known as Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) or Answer Engine Optimization (AEO).

The world of AI search comes with overlapping terms. To avoid confusion, here’s how AI SEO, GEO, and AEO relate, and why we’ll treat AI SEO as the umbrella reference here:

Different terms and what each mean

AI SEO: The umbrella term for optimizing content so it’s discoverable in both traditional search engines (Google, Bing) and AI-driven engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google SGE).

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): Emphasizes how content is cited, summarized, and reused by generative AI systems.

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): Focuses on formatting content so it can be lifted directly into answer boxes, FAQs, or AI summaries.

Think of it as SEO meets PR: your content must be technically structured and answerable, but also visible and referenced in the wider public domain. Mentions, backlinks, and citations strengthen authority not only for Google but also for AI systems, which rely on the collective memory of public information.

In this blog, we’ll show you why an AI SEO strategy is essential, and how to make your content optimized for both Google and the new wave of AI search engines.

We’ll also be unpacking these themes in our upcoming seminar on AI-powered search. Sign up here if you’d like to learn more.

Skip ahead:

The problem with current SEO audits


There’s a gap most teams are missing: you can rank #1 on Google and still lose in AI search. Traditional SEO only measures visibility to Google’s crawler. It doesn’t check whether AI systems can interpret and reuse your content. And if AI can’t understand your content, it may skip it. Or worse, reference content from a competitor.

A standard SEO audit measures:

  • Technical health (page speed, crawl errors)
  • Keyword coverage and gaps
  • Content quality and backlinks

All of that still matters, but the blind spot of AI search discoverability can’t be ignored. 

This is where on-site tools like Squiz Conversational Search make a difference. Not only can you audit traditional SEO performance, but you can also see how your content is interpreted by an AI-based search system, closing the gap most SEO audits miss.

Imagine a university’s help page is optimized for “psychology scholarships” and ranks high on Google. But the content is long, unstructured, and buried in paragraphs, while their competitor’s FAQ is concise and well-structured.

When students ask ChatGPT “What scholarships are available for psychology students?”, it surfaces the competitor’s FAQ instead.

The result? You’ve “won” on SEO, but you’ve lost the AI discovery battle.

The dual challenge: balancing traditional SEO and AI SEO

Ignore traditional SEO and you’ll disappear from search results. Ignore AI SEO and your content risks being invisible where users now go for answers.

Organizations now need to think about:

  1. Maintaining traditional SEO visibility. You still need to surface in Google and other traditional search engines.
  2. Optimizing for AI comprehension and citation. You need to structure your content so it can be used by generative engines and ensure you’re being referenced well and in the right places beyond your site.

And here’s the business case: the average AI search visitor can be worth 4.4x more than a traditional organic search visitor, based on conversion rate. That means even a modest presence in AI results can deliver greater business value.

Five pillars modern organizations need to succeed at AI SEO

AI SEO requires more than traditional ranking factors. To succeed, organizations now need to create content that serves both human searchers and AI systems.

Use these five pillars as your guide to what you should prioritize to be referenced by AI search engines:

Alt text: Banner with the text “1. Content structured for AI interpretation” on a white background with rounded edges, framed by a green and blue gradient border.

1. Content structured for AI interpretation

AI models prefer structured, consistent formats. Content with:

  • Headings and subheadings
  • Bullet points
  • schema.org markup (tags that tell AI what type of page it is, like ‘FAQ’, ‘HowTo’, or ‘ProductPage’)

Certain formats, like FAQs, best-of lists, and concise reviews are especially AI-friendly. LLMs prefer content that can be quickly understood and cited, making structure as important as substance.

What to do:

Use clear hierarchy and consistent formats.

Key takeaway:

AI engines don’t “read” like humans. Structured content makes it easier for AI to reuse your answers.

Example:

An FAQ with schema markup about scholarships is easier for ChatGPT or Google Search Generative Experience (SGE) to summarize accurately than a long, text-heavy article with generic headings.

Alt text: Banner with the text “2. Clarity and answerability” on a white background with rounded edges, framed by a green and blue gradient border.

2. Clarity and answerability

Long paragraphs full of context but no clear takeaway are often ignored. AI models look for concise, fact-rich statements that can stand alone as an answer.

What to do:

Ask yourself if a sentence or short paragraph from your page could be used, verbatim, as a reliable response to a user’s question. If not, it’s time to rewrite.

Key takeaway:  

If your content is vague or wrapped in too much narrative, AI won’t cite it. Concise answers are more likely to be cited by AI.

Example:

Psychology students can apply for three main scholarships: A, B, and C
is far more reusable than
“Our university has a proud history of supporting students through a variety of funding opportunities.”

Alt text: Banner with the text “3. Consistency across content” on a white background with rounded edges, framed by a green and blue gradient border.

3. Consistency across content

Conflicting terminology confuses AI systems. If one page refers to a “student hub” and another to a “student portal”, the model may treat them as separate concepts. Consistent vocabulary and messaging ensure your content is interpreted reliably.

What to do:

Standardize terminology across pages, microsites, and knowledge bases.

Key takeaway:  

AI tools assess consistency across your whole site, not just isolated pages. Consistent terminology builds authority with AI systems.

Example:

A shared style guide and term inventory ensures the site reads as one coherent, authoritative source.

Alt text: Banner with the text “4. Comprehensive topical coverage” on a white background with rounded edges, framed by a green and blue gradient border.

4. Comprehensive topical coverage

AI systems look beyond single pages. They check if your content cluster covers a topic in depth. Covering a topic in depth with well-linked, related content helps AI assess relevance and authority.

But comprehensive coverage isn’t limited to your own site. External signals, like backlinks, mentions, and references also reinforce your authority, making it more likely that both Google and AI engines will surface your content as the trusted source.

What to do:

Build interlinked content clusters.

Key takeaway:

AI evaluates the breadth and depth of related pages, not just a single URL. Content depth signals expertise and trust.

Example:

A driver’s license renewal hub that links to fees, timeframes, required documents, and FAQs is more likely to surface than a single standalone page.

Alt text: Banner with the text “5. Monitoring tools for both SEO and AI visibility” on a white background with rounded edges, framed by a green and blue gradient border.

5. Monitoring tools for both SEO and AI visibility

Semrush data shows that almost 90% of the pages ChatGPT cites rank outside Google’s top 20 results. In other words, keyword rankings alone aren’t enough. Without tools that track AI visibility too, you risk only seeing half the picture and staying invisible in generative search.

Examples of integrated tooling that shows performance in both traditional search and AI search include:

  • SEO tracking dashboards for rankings, backlinks, and crawl health
  • AI answer visibility reporting for which queries surface your content, citation frequency, and attribution
  • Content auditing to flag unstructured pages, inconsistent labels, or missing schema tags

With Squiz Conversational Search, powered by Funnelback, you can monitor how content performs on both sides: keyword rankings for traditional SEO, and visibility in generative answers for AI SEO.

What to do:

Use tools that monitor both sides of the equation: traditional SEO metrics like keyword rankings, and AI visibility metrics like citation frequency or attribution accuracy.

Key takeaway:

SEO and AI search engines behave differently. You can rank well on Google but still be invisible to AI tools. Monitoring both sides prevents blind spots.

Example:

A university ranks third on Google for “apply for graduate programs”, yet an AI visibility reporting shows ChatGPT and Google SGE answering with competitor pages that present concise, structured FAQs. Without monitoring both sides, this gap would go unnoticed.

These pillars set the foundation. But to put them into action, you need tools that can identify gaps, improve structure, and deliver AI-ready experiences on your site and beyond. That’s where conversational AI search comes in.

Don’t forget the human element

While AI SEO requires content to be structured and answerable, it also needs to work for people. Rigid formats alone won’t hold attention. Readers still expect engaging content, with a mix of text, visuals, and examples that bring information to life.

Think of:

  • Keeping content structured and engaging. Use headings, lists, and tables to support readability, but don’t sacrifice flow and narrative.
  • Balancing visuals and text. Tables, graphics, and images improve scanning for people, but always restate the key information in body text so AI crawlers can process it too.
  • Keeping content enjoyable. Even when optimized for AI, your content should still feel natural and compelling to read.

By striking this balance, your content remains authoritative and AI-friendly while still delivering an experience that people want to spend time with.

Next steps: Turning principles into practice with Conversational AI Search

AI SEO and on-site conversational search are two sides of the same coin. The same practices that make your content discoverable in Google SGE or ChatGPT (clarity, structure, answerability) also make it perform better in your own AI-powered search tool.

By implementing Squiz Conversational Search, powered by Squiz Funnelback, you cover both sides of the search equation. Funnelback lets you audit and optimize traditional SEO performance, while Conversational Search shows how your content is interpreted by AI systems. Together, they ensure you’re ready for both SEO and AI SEO.

You can try our Conversational Search demo today and see how AI-powered answers change the user experience on your own website, in this hands-on demo.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

  • Identify and fix gaps with content auditing tools that show where your pages are clear, consistent, and answerable - and where they need work. This improves both traditional SEO and AI SEO results.
  • Deliver intuitive, plain-language answers directly on your website, so users get the seamless experience they expect from third-party AI tools without ever leaving your pages.
  • Surface the right content every time without the hallucinations you get from generic AI tools.

The result is stronger visibility in AI search engines externally, and faster, more trusted answers for your users internally.