AI Search & SEO: How to Optimise Your Site for Generative Search

Search is changing fast. Google’s AI Mode, ChatGPT and other large language models now answer questions directly, often without sending users to any website. This shift means marketers have to adapt their search strategies. In this article we explain how generative search differs from traditional SEO and what you can do to stay visible.

Understanding generative search

Generative search tools respond to queries with conversational answers. Research from Semrush shows that Google’s AI Mode share grew four‑fold in just a few months and now appears in more than one per cent of U.S. searches. These AI sessions are shorter, averaging only two or three queries, and more than 90 % of them end without the user clicking on a link. Traditional SEO tactics alone will not capture this traffic.

AEO versus SEO

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) is about making sure your brand is mentioned in AI‑generated answers. Unlike classic SEO, which focuses on ranking a page in the top ten results, AEO emphasises:

  • Crafting clear, question‑based content so AI systems can extract useful passages.
  • Building strong brand mentions across the web; AI assistants value a brand’s presence more than exact keyword matches.
  • Recognising that AI traffic may be 4.4 times more valuable than conventional organic traffic.

Use llms.txt to guide AI crawlers

A proposed standard called llms.txt lets site owners declare which pages are important for AI to crawl. Adoption is still low — only around nine hundred and fifty domains had created files by mid‑2025 — so adding one could give you an early advantage. Place your llms.txt in your root directory and list the URLs you want AI models to learn from.

How to rank in AI Overviews

Generative search extracts concise snippets rather than scanning entire pages. To improve your chances of being cited:

  1. Answer questions directly – Write a 50–60 word paragraph that clearly answers the query. Pages with succinct summaries stand a better chance of being quoted.
  2. Use clear headings and bullet lists – Generative models use your heading hierarchy to navigate content, and nearly 80 % of AI Overviews include lists.
  3. Add structured data – Implement schema markup to help AI and search engines understand your content.
  4. Optimise for mobile and E‑E‑A‑T – Ensure your site loads quickly on phones and demonstrates experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness.
  5. Build topic clusters and refresh your posts – AI favours up‑to‑date information and will cite pages outside the top ten when they provide a better answer.

Tools to help you adapt

Optimising for AI search does not mean starting from scratch. Consider using:

  • Yoast SEO – New AI features generate meta titles and descriptions that align with your keywords while preserving readability. Yoast also adds structured data automatically.
  • llms.txt management – Yoast’s updated interface lets you choose which pages to include in your llms.txt file, giving you more control over how AI systems crawl your site.
  • Long‑tail keywords – Longer phrases with specific intent are favoured by AI’s query fan‑out technique and face less competition. Using broad match with Smart Bidding can also deliver more conversions at a lower cost.

Final thoughts

Generative search is still evolving, but the principles are clear: answer questions succinctly, structure your content for machines as well as humans and build authority around your brand. By blending SEO best practices with AEO techniques, you can maintain visibility as search becomes more conversational.

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