Website visibility in search engines and AI tools
If your website has a lot of information, and especially if that information reflects actual expertise and knowledge, it's nice to see when the quality is recognised – not just by fellow humans, but also by seeing it rank higher in search engines, or by seeing your content come up when people ask an AI tool about topics related to your work.
There's been growing discussion about how AI tools handle content, and why some types of information and organisations consistently come out on the short end. It's something I've been researching and discussing a lot over the past years, and we've had substantial success turning this around for several clients. Here's what I know - and what I believe the solution looks like.
The playing field isn't level, but not for the reasons you might think
Some platforms (e.g. thought leaders on both extremes of the political spectrum, or companies with little regard for ethical marketing) have a structural advantage when it comes to getting AI to adopt their ideas: they can use simple language (doesn't need to be correct), clear promises (don't need to be realistic), and strong soundbites (don't need to be true), that are easy for search engines and AI to pick up and repeat. Trump vs. Kamala was a good example: Trump had simple soundbites people could rally around; the messaging on the other side was harder to pin down.
For organisations whose work requires nuance, whose positions need context, and whose audience deserves honesty over simplicity, that nuance doesn't always get picked up by AI or search engines.
We see this on a lot of websites: there's a lot of information, but it's not immediately clear what the organisation actually does, what its goals are, who it's for, or how it works. It might be somewhere in the content, but it's not clear at first sight – not to visitors, not to search engines, not to AI.
However, the answer isn't to dumb things down: it's to lead with clarity, and let the nuance follow. Better messaging through clear language and a simplified visitor experience is often one of the first things we work on when we build or rebuild a website.
What drives visibility in search engines (SEO) and AI (GEO)
GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) builds on traditional SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) to account for how AI tools read and synthesise content. While this is a complex and full-time occupation for specialists, when I share this with clients (or with others who are DIY-optimising their website), I like to focus on the following main elements:
1. Metadata
The first is having really clear metadata on every page. That means:
A descriptive page title
A well-thought-through URL slug
A well-written excerpt that clearly explains what the page is about
These are the first things search engines and AI tools read, and they should include relevant keywords relating to the content on the page.
2. Heading hierarchy
Within the page itself, headings need to be clear and specific. They too need to include relevant keywords; if search engines and AI look at the page and none of the headings refer directly to the information people are looking for, they might not take it into account in their search results (or AI answers) as much as another page – perhaps one from a competitor that has invested in clear writing and SEO/GEO optimisation.
The first thing to look at is making sure every element on every page has an appropriate heading that directly refers to what's below it. A messy heading hierarchy (e.g. too many headings at the same level, H3 coming before H2, etc.) can confuse machines as well as humans when they try to read the page; clear headings and hierarchy make the page easier to skim for human visitors, but also for search engines and AI.
The second part is to make sure each heading contains relevant keywords – this doesn't mean extensive keyword research, it can be what I call "common sense SEO." For example, on a page about the Sumatran tiger, where headings say things like "Threatened by habitat loss" or "Endangered by illegal trade," engines may not connect those issues back to the Sumatran tiger specifically, which makes the page less likely to surface in search results or AI answers. Replacing them with headings like "Sumatran tiger threatened by habitat loss" or "How illegal trade endangers the Sumatran tiger" makes it easier for machines to pick up on.
The same goes for humans: most website visitors skim a page first. They'll look at titles and images, and decide in a matter of seconds whether the page is worth reading. Using clear titles that directly reflect what's in each section saves them time – and makes it more likely for them to start reading and stay on your website.
That is why we often lightly optimise existing content for SEO/GEO as part of our build process, using the "common sense" approach described above – or we'd conduct keyword research if we believe research-based optimisation would make a significant difference for the brand's visibility.
3. Content structure
The internal structure of each page matters: AI tools respond well to content that explains itself. A clear intro that says what the page is about, organised sections, and (when it makes sense) a conclusion that ties it together. That's the kind of structure that makes it easy for both people and machines to understand what they're looking at.
4. Stability and freshness: a delicate balance
Both SEO and GEO need time to take effect; while you may notice some immediate results after making changes to your website, it usually takes 4-6 months to see the machines pick up on new content. Search engines and AI need a stable foundation to build on – a page that gets rewritten or reshuffled every few weeks is hard for any algorithm to evaluate.
That said, adding new information is important for some types of platforms; when you need to display current campaigns, latest products, most recent updates, static pages just won’t do. However, it’s worth being thoughtful about how you approach those changes.
A common mistake is to rewrite content regularly, or remove and add pages when the focus changes. Each of those changes resets the clock for both machines and humans trying to understand what the page is about, or even what your organisation is about if the homepage is being shuffled around. And archiving pages without offering a relevant alternative may cause your website to lose authority.
There are ways to keep your content up-to-date without constantly reworking the pages that anchor your site; we're always happy to advise on the best approach for your specific situation.
5. Internal and external links
Links create context: when pages and websites refer to each other, search engines and AI can see the patterns and understand how the content relates. Internal links between different pages and posts, as well as external links to credible sources, all contribute to how well a site is understood and trusted. A page that exists in isolation is harder for any algorithm to evaluate.
6. How people actually engage with the content
This one is often overlooked: search engines track what happens after someone clicks a result. If people land on a page and leave straight away, that signals the content didn't deliver what they were looking for. A page can be technically well-optimised and still rank poorly if the content is hard to skim, or if it doesn't seem to match what people were actually searching for.
We review existing content before adding it to a new website, to make sure it highlights what people would actually be looking for – so they'd stick around and read the full page or post, and signal to search engines that they find the content valuable.
Writing for humans and machines at the same time
Writing clearly for search engines and AI isn't separate from writing clearly for people. The same content that's well-structured and plainly written for someone new to a topic is also easier for an algorithm to read and represent accurately. That's been a guiding principle throughout the content we write or rewrite for any client.
Want to talk it through? These are my favourite kinds of conversations, and I'm happy to share what I know – no strings attached.
