Category: Search Everywhere Optimization

We are in the age of search defragmentation, so you have to optimize your content for every kind of search, be it AI, Search Engine, or Social search.

Google December 2025 Core Update

Complete Analysis and Recovery Guide

Google finished the year with a major update. On December 29, 2025, the Google December 2025 Core Update officially ended, possibly one of the most significant algorithm updates in recent memory. Knowing when the update started and ended is key to reviewing its full impact on search rankings and website performance. If your webpage has undergone notable changes in search rankings or organic traffic in recent weeks, this guide can help you understand what happened and how to respond.

Understanding the December 2025 Core Update Timeline

Google validated the December 2025 Core Update, which continues to enhance search quality. Google also releases updates regularly throughout the year. The rollout for this update began on December 11, 2025, at about 12:25 PM Eastern Time and lasted nearly three weeks, ending on December 29, 2025, at about 2:05 PM ET. This made it one of the longest core update implementations in 2025.
The third core update of the year was the December update; the others were the March and June releases, which also caused significant volatility in the rankings. June releases, especially, strongly affected search results, prompting many site owners to concentrate on content quality and E-A-T. This December rollout was especially significant, as it could be the last major update to the algorithm in 2025, despite many SEO professionals expecting it to occur more often based on Google’s previous announcements about increasing the frequency of algorithm updates.

The Unusual Volatility Pattern That Confused Webmasters

Unlike earlier core updates, which usually followed predictable volatility patterns, the December 2025 update had an irregular impact that surprised many digital marketers. The launch saw massive ranking volatility and steep, erratic changes in search results, making it hard to gauge the real impact on site owners. The update had two distinct volatility peaks, making it difficult to tell when it had actually been applied.
The first marked change in the ranking occurred approximately on December 13, 2025, two days after the first statement. The search tracking tools recorded drastic changes, with many websites reporting that their traffic had dropped by 40-70 percent overnight. Health and finance Internet sites were seen as especially susceptible at this early stage.
After this peak, volatility calmed significantly between December 14 and 19, creating a false sense of completion. Most webmasters thought the update was finished, only to be hit by a second, even more severe volatility spike on December 20, 2025. This second wave was especially destructive to e-commerce and affiliate marketing businesses.
The fact that both big spikes coincided on weekends sparked debate in the SEO community about how Google conducts testing and whether it targets implementing algorithm changes on weekends, when user behavior is less consistent than on normal weekdays. SEO talk was rife on SEO forums, with site owners and observers alike sharing their experiences and observations of the update’s effects.

What Google’s “Satisfying Content” Actually Means

According to Google, the December 2025 Core Update was officially described as a scheduled update intended to improve the relevance and satisfaction of searchers across all kinds of sites. While this language may seem simple, a closer look reveals that the notion of content satisfactory to Google is more complex.
Focusing on satisfaction indicates a radical shift in the ranking priorities. Google algorithms have become more advanced at analyzing content that actually answers users’ queries, rather than solely existing to attract search traffic. The update will favor pages that fully satisfy the user’s purpose, rather than those that rank highest for the keywords. Today, Google places more emphasis on content that delivers true user value, rewarding pages that improve user satisfaction and engagement.
This user-satisfaction model implies that Google has come to measure the success of content in terms of user response patterns, completion rates, and revisit rates by searchers to results pages to seek more information. To improve rankings, we need to demonstrate expertise, create content for real users, and ensure the information is authentic, user-centric, and offers real value. Posts that retain users’ attention on the page, encourage them to explore other resources, and do not necessitate further search are given special attention in ranking.

The Experience Factor: Why First-Hand Knowledge Now Matters More

Among the major changes introduced by the December 2025 update, one can mention Google’s approach to evaluating the proven experience in the content. In this update, Google has improved its systems to be more inclined to scrutinize content for authenticity, focusing on firsthand experience and interaction with what they write about. Experience: the Experienced part of E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) was given much more weight on the algorithm.
Google systems are now designed to detect evidence that a content creator has actually experienced what they are describing. For example, simply saying “I tried this product” does not provide enough detail. The algorithms look for specific descriptions, concrete observations, and detailed information that would be known only to someone who has truly had the experience.
In the case of product reviews, this would imply providing precise testing times, instances of use, original images of actual use, unanticipated problems faced during use, and candid explanations of limitations and advantages. The content of travel needs intimate details, dates and times, photos of places visited personally, and information not available in guidebooks.
The difference between conceptual understanding and real-world application has been identified as a crucial factor in rankings. Material that shows practical interest will always work better than exhaustively researched, experience-deficient options. Additionally, Google’s current algorithm places greater emphasis on demonstrated experience, so it is important that the owners of this website improve their content approaches to fulfill these new ranking indicators.

How Different Industries Experienced the December Update

The December 2025 Core Update did not affect all types of websites equally. Among the most significant fundamental changes, it brought sweeping changes to Google’s algorithms, transforming the search landscape and causing significant volatility in rankings. It is worth noting that new fines for content quality were also introduced, affecting the rankings of websites across a range of industries. An evaluation of ranking changes within multiple spheres reveals specific tendencies regarding which sectors encountered the greatest challenges.

Health and Finance Websites Meet Intensified Scrutiny

The sites that had content in the Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) category were among the most stringent in their quality assessments. Medical information websites, financial consultation websites, and legal advice websites were evaluated especially strictly on the qualifications of the authors and the accuracy of the information provided.
On sites that were not clearly professionally authored or did not explicitly display their credentials to users, the ranking plummeted when querying core information. On the other hand, platforms that employed board-certified professionals to produce content and had well-developed editorial oversight systems and frequent and periodic expert review cycles tended to be more visible, as competitors of inferior quality fade into oblivion.

Affiliate Marketing Sites Encounter Major Challenges

Affiliate marketing platforms were hit hardest. The main issue was authenticity—most affiliate sites used manufacturer specs and collected reviews instead of doing real product testing.
The sites that continued with rankings had a few similar traits that include: they put an extensive time of personal testing, they had their own photography and video records, they had open disclosure of the mode of testing, they had detailed comparisons analysis on the basis of actual use, and they were realistic in discussing the downsides of the product found by actual utilization.
Affiliate content creators must demonstrate real proficiency and practical experience to remain visible in search beyond December 2025.

E-Commerce Platforms See Mixed Results

Focus on creating unique product content to gain a competitive advantage. Both large retailers and small shops ought to focus on content differentiation to improve performance, as uneven results stem from differences in content quality.
The appearance of product pages with thin manufacturer descriptions, which had been used by several sellers, faded away. Page categories with low unique values decreased in the rankings. Nonetheless, those e-commerce stores that invested in detailed, original product descriptions authored by highly educated members of staff retained, or even enhanced, their positions.
Activities such as unique customer-created content, such as comprehensive reviews, real-life photos, and large-scale question and answer pages, helped ensure that the rankings are sustained during the update.

Technical Performance Factors Gained Additional Weight

Although the quality of the content was the main priority of the December 2025 update, the technical performance of websites was considered more as a ranking factor. Websites that scored low on Core Web Vitals lost their traffic to their technically optimized competitors that provide the same quality of content.

Core Web Vitals as a Ranking Threshold

Measures of loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability are now required as a minimum, not optional optimizations. Websites that scored above the recommended Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Interaction to Next Paint (INP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) were measured and ranked.
Sites that were slow to load on mobile connections, had poor touch target sizes, or whose content shifted on page load had disproportionately harmful effects. A number of webmasters said that when they fixed technical performance issues, they regained some of the traffic without changing the content.

Mobile Experience Is Mandatory

As mobile searches account for most of the total search volume on most sites, the quality of the mobile experience is critical. Websites with poor mobile experiences were penalized good desktop experiences.
Quick loading of cellular networks, legible texting without zooming to read clearly, touch targets that are adequately sized, user-friendly mobile navigation, and the absence of horizontal scrolling became indispensable technical specifications to remain competitive.

AI-Generated Content

One of the most discussed and misinformed parts of the December 2025 update, perhaps, was the handling of AI-assisted content creation. It is important to state the facts: Google does not punish content just because it was created with artificial intelligence tools.
Nevertheless, the update has given Google a much better way to detect low-quality content, which, coincidentally, is largely AI-generated without human input or editorial supervision. Artificial intelligence-generated content that was mass-produced without much editing, lacks unique insights, and contains generic information has lost its positioning significantly.
Content generated by AI, with expert supervision, comprehensive human editing, fact-checking, and the infusion of original knowledge, was effective during the update. It was not the AI’s involvement that mattered, but the overall quality of the content and the true value it offered to the user.

Actionable Recovery Strategies for Affected Websites

If your website has been affected by a negative ranking in the December 2025 Core Update, follow a strategic plan and a steady process to recover. Considering the above, review the core updates documentation and Google’s new guidance before taking a step, as these sources offer the fundamental strategies and explain how to address both significant and minor updates. Accounts of successes in sites attaining recovery show that there are general trends in the successful methods.
To begin with, perform a thorough analysis of the quality of content, relevance, and end-user experience of your site. Edit slim or stale content, enhance E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness), and make your site live up to the goals of Google in valuable, people-first writing.
Moreover, it may be beneficial to optimize featured snippets to be noticed again after a core update because these are often the first to be ranked in the search results, and a featured snippet can also become one of the primary sources of traffic, even in zero-click search. Track your site’s performance, monitor activity, and keep optimising your content based on user intent and search patterns.

Perform In-Depth Impact Assessment

The first step is to record precisely which pages, which keywords, and which content categories saw the greatest drop in traffic. Comparative data about exports (Google Search Console) regarding times before December 11 and after December 29 to detect particular trends in ranking changes.
Competitors are in positions that your site has occupied before; analyze them. Determine what these pages have that yours does not now have, either in the form of displayed expertise or knowledge, depth of content, originality, better user experience, or technical optimization.

Strengthen Expertise and Experience Signals

For every priority page, methodically amplify indicators that reflect real knowledge and personal experience. Insert clear author biographies with applicable credentials, detailed author pages stating qualifications, make sure you have strong “About” pages explaining your devotion to quality, and place editorial standards prominently.
Turn generic material into experience-based resources, including certain details of the first-hand experience, individual visual records, surprising discoveries made in the course of personal interaction, comparative and contrasting opinions grounded on the actual experimentation, and sincere recommendations with clear rationales.

Improve Content Comprehensiveness and Depth

Examine existing search results for your target keywords to identify content gaps on your pages. Include subsections about related questions that are often asked by the user, explain rare instances and exceptions to general recommendations, include step-by-step instructions with descriptions, include troubleshooting instructions in case of potential problems, and offer other solutions or different points of view.
It is not always about the length of the content, but rather about creating the most useful resource, complete and meeting the user’s needs to the fullest extent, for your target queries.

Optimize Technical Performance Elements

As content quality improves, it is also necessary to address technical issues that systematically affect the user experience. Effortlessly reduce the size of images by converting them to image formats like JPG and by lazy-loading them, reduce the amount of JavaScript that has to execute and any unused code, carefully eliminate the number of render-blocking resources, allow the use of effective caching methods, and always leave adequate space to support dynamic content so that layout changes do not occur.
Test extensively on real mobile devices rather than relying solely on emulators. Make text readable without zooming, ensure touch target sizes are appropriate, eliminate horizontal scrolling, and make mobile navigation as easy as possible to minimize friction.

Expected Recovery Timeline and Realistic Expectations

The recovery times for core updates also depend heavily on industry category, level of impact, and the resources invested in improving them. Nevertheless, common trends emerge when analyzing websites that have recovered after a core update.
The first weeks after completing updates usually reveal little apparent recovery, as implementations are underway. In weeks five to eight, pages with the most improvements tend to show an early improvement, showing a 5-15% recovery. Months three and four will be moderate recoveries with authority signals showing strength, usually to 20-40 percent of the former traffic.
Recovery is usually high in months five and six, and most sites achieve 50-80% of pre-update traffic levels. Further enhancement, over 6 to 12 months, may lead to complete recovery or even better performance than before.
The recovery periods for YMYL websites are generally long (six to twelve months) because Google takes a reasonably considered approach to health and economic content, due to the likelihood of misinformation causing real harm.

Looking Forward: Preparing for Future Core Updates

The 2025 Core Update in December provides clear directional indicators of Google’s changing algorithmic priorities. Knowing these trends enables website owners to future-proof their content approaches against future changes. Not every update is visible in the mainstream, as there are also smaller core updates that Google does not officially announce but can still affect rankings.
The practical experience will gradually surpass the theoretical one as Google’s systems are enhanced to support real, first-hand interactions. Technical excellence will shift from a position of competitive advantage to an expectation of meeting the minimum performance level, where poor performance will impose increasingly severe ranking constraints on it, regardless of the quality of the content.
The stringent E-E-A-T guidelines imposed on YMYL content will likely be extended to other types of content. Metrics of user satisfaction based on behavioral clues will play a more major role in ranking decisions, and content optimized for algorithms rather than users will continue to fall behind.
Depending on the trend of the three core updates acknowledged in 2025 in March, June, and December, project the next large-scale algorithm change to Q1 or Q2 of 2026, likely in March or April. To remain visible, it is necessary to maintain consistent search engine optimization, as the constantly changing algorithms, both major and minor core ones, can affect content ratings and rankings.

Essential Takeaways for Website Owners

Main Takeaways from the Google December 2025 Core Update:
      • Site owners should be aware of significant ranking changes and volatility caused by Google’s December core update.
      • Understanding Google’s algorithm and the impact of a Google core update is necessary to maintain and improve search visibility.
      • Google added new information to its documentation and provided live updates via the search status dashboard.
      • Monitoring Google’s Search Status Dashboard helps site owners track the progress and impact of algorithm changes.
Google’s December 2025 Core Update is a major step forward in search engine optimization. Among the site owners, these are some of the main things that need emphasis: Google’s algorithm and the impact of a core update, such as the December core update. To achieve success in contemporary search rankings, it must have been what it should have been the entire time: actual expertise, proven experience, and content created with the primary goal of addressing users rather than cheating algorithms.
The core update that Google implemented in December has had major impacts on the search positions and appearances. In response, Google introduced new content to its documentation and instructions, allowing site owners to better review the change and modify their plans.
See ranking losses not as random punishment but as signs that content is not yet up to the quality levels Google is currently implementing. The way ahead is the systematic enhancement of the basic content quality aspects, demonstrating real expertise and experience, offering the full value, meeting the needs of the user to the full extent, ensuring technical perfection both in performance and on user experience, and gaining real authority through constant quality and reputation in the industry.
The sites that will be at the top of search results in the future are not those trying to figure out the tricks of the trade, but those that offer such high value that they will perform well even without search engine traffic. That is becoming the norm for how Google treats it, and that is where all content creators must aim.
Google has been encouraging site owners to use the search status dashboard to stay up to date on algorithm changes in real time.

Relevant Sources

      • https://orangemonke.com/blogs/google-december-2025-core-update/
      • https://seosherpa.com/googles-december-2025-core-update/
      • https://www.dmcockpit.com/blogs/google-core-update-december-2025
      • https://www.reddit.com/r/digital_marketing/comments/1pkpox8/google_announce_core_update_dec_2025/

Digital visibility for 2026


The Search Behavior is Leaning Towards Answer Engines

Less than 6 months ago, we provided you with a 10-step to-do list to improve your digital visibility with the AI search tools (Generative Engine Optimization / Answer Engine Optimization). Since then, there have been some more changes in the search landscape. While your marketing team may optimize meta descriptions, builds backlinks and provide basic FAQs, over 400 million users weekly bypass traditional search results entirely, directing their queries to ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claud, and Google AI Overviews instead. This shift represents a critical gap in most modern SEO strategies.

Many people have been screaming about the demise of traditional search, but for non-branded search, the strategy for appearing in the results for conventional and AI search is similar enough not to matter. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)/Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) does change the paradigm for branded search. GEO is now an essential extension of your visibility strategy across all emerging search paradigms relevant in 2026 and beyond. Unless your plan accounts for AI-driven answer engines, you’re missing substantial audience reach.

Understanding Answer Engine Optimization

Answer Engine Optimization is the process of organizing and formatting content so that AI-based platforms can extract, cite, and display your information as authoritative answers to user queries. While traditional SEO focuses on appearing in search engine results pages (SERPs), AEO targets visibility across a broader ecosystem: AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini; AI-powered search features such as Google AI Overviews and Bing Copilot; voice assistants including Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant; and answer-based platforms like Perplexity AI.

This distinction matters significantly. Over half of all searches are now zero-click searches—users get answers from AI summaries without visiting websites. When your content appears in these AI responses, you gain brand visibility even when users don’t click through to your site.

How AEO and SEO Work Together

AEO and SEO aren’t competing strategies; they’re complementary approaches targeting the same goal—discoverability—through different user behaviors and search mechanisms.

Traditional SEO maximizes keyword rankings in SERPs, drives site traffic, builds backlink profiles and domain authority, and optimizes page experience metrics through technical performance. AEO, conversely, prioritizes citations and mentions in AI-generated responses, direct answer delivery for conversational queries, structured data that AI models can easily interpret, and authority indicators that AI systems recognize and trust.

Both methods are necessary for comprehensive digital marketing. Search behavior is fragmenting rapidly. Gartner projects that 25% of all organic traffic will be captured by AI chatbots and virtual assistants by 2026. Companies implementing integrated AEO and SEO strategies simultaneously capture visibility across traditional search results and AI-powered platforms, maintaining traffic growth as the search landscape evolves.

Why Integration Matters

Consider how your target audience actually searches today. Some still use Google’s keyword-based search. Others query ChatGPT conversationally. Many use voice search while multitasking. Increasingly, demographics rely on AI assistants within social media for recommendations.

Traditional SEO alone captures only a portion of this fragmented audience. AEO extends your reach to segments that have adopted AI tools as their primary research method—demographics that SERP optimization completely misses. The expansion of the addressable audience directly translates into business growth.

The Business Reality: Threats and Opportunities

The shift to AI-powered search presents both danger and opportunity. Stack Overflow experienced an 18% traffic reduction after ChatGPT’s introduction because users now get code answers without visiting the site. However, companies that adopted AEO strategies successfully resisted these traffic patterns, maintaining visibility and revenue.

Zero-click searches aren’t lost opportunities—they’re visibility opportunities requiring different optimization approaches. When your brand is cited as a source in AI-generated responses, you gain several advantages: brand exposure to users who might never have clicked traditional search results, authority positioning through credible citations in AI platforms, indirect traffic as users discover your content through AI and later visit your website, and voice search exposure through smart speakers and assistants mentioning your brand.

Reaching the Evolving Demographics

Different groups prefer different search methods. Forty-five percent of millennials use social media for searches. Voice commerce is projected to reach $80 billion annually. AEO strategies support voice-first users who prefer smart speaker answers, AI-native searchers comfortable with ChatGPT and Perplexity, mobile multitaskers who need quick answers while driving or working, and social media researchers using Meta AI or platform-specific assistants.

Answer engines allow you to reach broader audiences than competitors focused solely on traditional SEO.

Essential AEO Implementation Strategies

Implementation of AEO is not the same as abandoning your SEO startegy. The best approach mixes AEO optimization with sound fundamental SEO practices. Here are a sumary of the core strategies:

Structure Content for Direct Answer Delivery

AI models prioritize straightforward questions and concise answers, placing them at the top of content sections. Implement this by placing direct, complete 40-60 word answers as the first block of relevant sections, formatting H2 and H3 tags as actual user questions, creating dedicated question-and-answer sections for frequently asked queries, and writing conversationally to match how users naturally phrase their queries.

This formatting simultaneously enhances user experience (a core SEO ranking metric) and simplifies content extraction by AI models.

Implement Comprehensive Schema Markup

Structured data acts as an interpreter, helping AI tools comprehend your content’s meaning and connections. Priority schema types for AEO include FAQPage (for question-answer content), HowTo (for step-by-step tutorials), Article (for editorial content), LocalBusiness (for location-based information), and Organization (for company information).

Schema markup benefits both AEO and traditional SEO. Google displays rich results in regular searches, making your content more accessible to AI platforms that crawl for training data and provide real-time responses.

Build Topical Authority Across Platforms

AI systems prefer trusted voices indicated by consistent citations, reviews, and authoritative external links. Build this authority by creating and optimizing business profiles on Google Business Profile, Yelp, and industry directories; ensuring consistent Name, Address, and Phone Number information (NAP) across all listings; soliciting genuine customer reviews on reputable sites; and publishing original research or data that others reference and link to.

These off-site signals strengthen both traditional SEO link profiles and train AI models to recognize your brand as a reliable citation source.

Target Conversational Query Patterns

Answer engines process conversational queries differently from keyword-based searches. “What are some good restaurants in Los Angeles?” differs fundamentally from “best restaurants in Los Angeles.”

To maximize conversational visibility, research questions using tools like Answer the Public and Google’s People Also Ask feature, map questions to buyer journey phases (awareness, consideration, decision), write content answering specific how-to, what-is, and should-I questions, and use natural language rather than awkwardly inserting keywords.

This approach aligns with Google’s shift toward natural language processing and user intent, enhancing both AEO and conventional SEO performance.

Most importantly, implement the 10 tangible steps we already provided you in August.

      1. Ensure your site is crawlable by LLM bots.
      2. Maintain strong traditional SEO rankings.
      3. Target “query fanout” keywords generated by LLMs.
      4. Keep brand mentions consistent across platforms.
      5. Avoid heavy reliance on JavaScript for core content.
      6. Engage on UGC-heavy platforms like Reddit and Wikipedia.
      7. Write in machine-readable, quotable formats with schema and clear facts.
      8. Optimize AI-generated content for unique terms, pros/cons, expert quotes, and structured data.
      9. Stick to verifiable facts and introduce original data.
      10. Invest in digital PR to increase brand authority and citations.

Measuring AEO Success

Standard analytics tools focus on clicks and rankings but miss citations and mentions—the core AEO metrics. Effective measurement requires distinct methodologies incorporating both direct AEO measures and integrated SEO-AEO metrics.

Direct AEO Metrics

Track mentions in AI-generated answers across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews using citation tracking tools. Monitor how frequently your content appears in Google’s featured snippets. Test branded and non-branded queries in voice assistants to assess voice search visibility. Create custom GA4 channel groups to isolate answer engine referrals and analyze traffic sources.

Tracking AEO mentions is like monitoring stock market transactions—each citation serves as an indicator of your content’s visibility and engagement.

Integrated SEO-AEO Measurement

Monitor growth in zero-click impressions and watch for declining click-through rates with deep impressions, indicating AI Overviews or featured snippet appearances, and track performance on conversational queries alongside traditional keywords. Conduct a conversion path analysis to show how AI discovery drives conversions. Watch for branded direct traffic growth from users learning about your brand through AI channels. Analyze question-based query rankings across conversational and traditional searches.

Comprehensive tracking systems that capture both traditional SEO performance and AEO visibility provide complete insight into how optimization efforts drive business results.

The Competitive Landscape Ahead

The search environment will become increasingly fragmented as AI tools become more sophisticated and personalized. Future answer engines will deliver varied results based on context, previous user actions, and individual preferences, making cross-platform visibility even more critical.

Companies that delay AEO adoption risk losing competitiveness to early adopters already gaining traction in AI-based search. The opportunity cost increases continuously as platforms train their models. Notably, 25% of top-quality sites in ChatGPT’s training data have already opted out of future training, creating space for brands producing authoritative content.

Getting Started with AEO

Begin by conducting a content audit to identify pages that could be reorganized to improve AI extraction. Apply schema markup to high-value pages, starting with FAQs and how-to guides. Maximize business profile presence across all platforms AI tools visit. Develop content incorporating questions your audience actually uses in conversational queries. Track and refine based on which content begins appearing in AI-generated answers.

The implementation complexity can be substantial, but the payoff justifies the effort. Integrated solutions that simultaneously achieve maximum visibility across conventional search engines and AI answer platforms ensure you reach your whole addressable audience regardless of the search method.

The Bottom Line

The brands dominating search visibility in 2026 won’t be those choosing between SEO and AEO. There’ll be those who understand how these strategies blend across all modern search touchpoints. The fragmentation of search behavior means that relying on a single approach guarantees missed opportunities.

Your content strategy must now account for how information flows through multiple channels: traditional Google results, AI chatbots, voice assistants, and social platforms. The companies that master this multi-channel visibility—maintaining authority, relevance, and discoverability across all platforms—will capture the full spectrum of search-driven opportunities.

AEO isn’t a future consideration. With 400 million weekly users already bypassing traditional search, it’s a present necessity. The question isn’t whether to implement AEO, but how quickly you can integrate it into your existing SEO foundation to capture the full addressable market of 2025 searchers.

Relevant Resources:

      • Gartner – “The Future of Search: AI-Powered Answer Engines” (2024-2025) https://www.gartner.com/en/search-marketing Provides the foundational 25% traffic shift projection cited in the article; includes broader enterprise-level research on search fragmentation, AI adoption timelines, and competitive implications for brands.
      • Google Search Central – “Answer Engine Optimization Best Practices” https://developers.google.com/search Official Google documentation on AI Overviews, featured snippet optimization, and schema markup for AI platforms—directly supports the article’s schema implementation and content structure recommendations.
      • Schema.org – Structured Data Documentation https://schema.org Complete reference for FAQPage, HowTo, Article, LocalBusiness, and Organization schema types mentioned in the article; essential technical foundation for implementing AEO markup.
      • Perplexity Labs – “Understanding Answer Engine Results” https://www.perplexity.ai Provides insight into how conversational AI platforms extract and cite sources, directly relevant to understanding citation mechanics and how brands appear in AI-generated responses.
      • Search Engine Journal – “Answer Engine Optimization: The New SEO Frontier” https://www.searchenginejournal.com Industry analysis on AEO vs. traditional SEO, emerging best practices, and case studies of brands adapting to fragmented search—provides broader context for the article’s core thesis.
      • Semrush – “2025 State of Search Report: AI’s Impact on SEO” https://www.semrush.com/state-of-search Data on zero-click searches, AI platform usage statistics, and how top brands are optimizing for both traditional and AI search—validates the article’s claims about search behavior fragmentation.

SEO Strategies for 2025 – Fall Edition

Strategies for better Search Rankings in the AI Era

Highlights

      • AI-Driven Search Takes Over
        Search engines now use advanced AI to interpret context and intent. Zero-click searches exceed 60%, AI summaries appear in ~20% of results, and answer engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity are diverting traffic from traditional search.

      • Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
        SEO must adapt to answer-first platforms by structuring content for direct responses, implementing schema markup, and optimizing FAQs and conversational queries.

      • Community and Forum Content Surge
        Reddit and other forums gain visibility due to demand for authentic, experience-based answers, making participation in niche communities an effective visibility strategy.

      • Sales-Focused SEO
        Middle- and bottom-funnel content targeting commercial intent keywords is critical. Product integration, case studies, and branded content improve conversions and rankings.

      • Experience as a Ranking Factor
        Google prioritizes firsthand experience (E-E-A-T). Unique insights, original research, and case studies help content stand out amid AI-generated material.

      • Intent-First Optimization
        Search algorithms now value user intent and engagement quality over exact keyword matches. Content clusters, semantic relevance, and problem-solving approaches outperform keyword stuffing.

      • Zero-Click Strategies
        Featured snippets, knowledge panels, and brand-building content are essential to gain visibility even when users don’t click through to websites.

      • Technical SEO and Core Web Vitals
        Fast, stable, mobile-friendly sites remain foundational. Optimizing for Core Web Vitals, structured data, and schema markup is required for strong rankings.

      • Backlink Quality Over Quantity
        Relationship-driven, authoritative backlinks matter more than volume. AI tools help identify and secure high-value link opportunities.

      • Continuous Monitoring
        Frequent algorithm updates and AI-driven changes demand ongoing tracking of performance metrics beyond rankings, including brand awareness, cross-platform visibility, and conversion rates.

The SEO environment has radically changed. What was successful in 2023 is already outdated, and the evolution continues daily into 2025.  We keep you up to date with what with real world solutions to Search Every Optimization we have implemented for  our clients.  Frankly, those who keep up with the change are doing very well, and some who are not are experiencing  difficulties. 

Unfortunately, many think that a redesign of the website will solve their problems which is almost never true.  On the other hand, the ability to shift content strategy based on the changes in AI will separate successful businesses from those that are left behind at the bottom of search results. The emergence of AI-based search, the appearance of new types of content, and the development of user expectations are among the most significant trends in SEO shaping 2025 efforts.

Search engines are currently utilizing advanced AI-based systems that comprehend the context, intent, and quality of content at unprecedented levels. Zero-click searches now comprise more than 60 percent of searches, AI summaries occupy close to 20 percent of results, and answer engines such as ChatGPT and Perplexity are capturing a significant portion of the traditional search market share. YouTube, the second largest in the world, is also increasing its role in SEO strategies and provides exceptional opportunities in terms of organic search traffic and visibility.

The companies that are doing well in the new environment are not simply adjusting; they are redefining their whole content and search visibility strategy. Video content is also becoming a key component in improving visibility and interaction on both Google and YouTube, and has become a valuable tool in modern SEO.

The New Era of SEO

Search Everywhere Optimization is the new paradigm for search. With the increasing integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning into search engines, user search behavior has undergone a radical shift, and this is equally true of the search engine’s understanding of search queries. Modern digital marketers need to reassess their SEO practices to align with these innovations. It is a success in this new age because it emphasizes high-quality, user-centric content that fulfills search intent and utilizes the latest AI-driven tools. When focusing on these factors, companies can improve online presence, and organic traffic, by maintain a higher placement on search result ranking pages. The future of SEO is all about how the search engines work with information and how you need to adjust your strategy so that you match the evolving demands of the search users and the search engine.

Setting SEO Goals and Objectives

An effective SEO plan is based on practical, achievable objectives. The first step in developing effective strategies is to clarify what you would like to accomplish with your SEO activities, whether it be increasing organic traffic, achieving a higher ranking with search engines, or generating higher-qualified leads and conversions. Align your SEO goals with your overall business objectives to ensure that all optimization efforts work in your favor. Be specific and measurable: monitor key metrics such as search engine rankings, organic traffic, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Establishing data-driven goals provides you with a roadmap for your SEO strategy. It allows you to quantify the impact of your work, making it more likely to make adjustments and optimize it for further success.

1. AI-Powered Search Results Are Reshaping Visibility

The AI Overviews of Google are now shown on almost 20 percent of organic search traffic, as compared to only 7 percent in June 2024. In the information-heavy sectors such as technology and business, more than one-third of search results currently include AI-generated summaries. Answers generated by AI are altering the search results page (SERP) in response to user queries, delivering direct answers that affect user behavior and change the way users engage with search outcomes.

The change poses challenges and opportunities. As much as AI summaries can decrease direct clicks to websites, they also provide websites that are not in the top 10 results with a new citation opportunity.

Actionable Strategy:

      • Structure content in clear Q&A formats with concise 40-60-word answers
      • Use bullet points, numbered lists, and tables for easy parsing by AI.
      • Include authoritative statistics and data that AI systems can cite.
      • Focus on answering specific questions rather than broad topics.
      • Organize information to help search engines understand your content and generate accurate AI answers.

2. Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) Is The New SEO

Traditional search engines are evolving into answer engines. ChatGPT Search was introduced at the end of 2024 and is estimated to grow to 1 percent of the search market in 2025. Perplexity has increased to over 15 million users, and referral traffic has grown by 71 percent annually.

This represents a radical shift from connecting users to websites to connecting them with direct answers and citations.

As generative AI products generate more content, it is essential to evaluate the quality and reliability of this content to prioritize content ranking in answer engines.

Some essential steps include developing and maintaining FAQ sections for every significant content piece. You should also write in a way that your content addresses conversational queries. Next, you must pay close attention to implementing proper schema markup to help AI systems understand your content. And, finally, you must monitor performance across multiple answer tools, and not just Google.

3. Community and Forum Content Domination

Following the core refresh in August 2024, Reddit’s visibility improved to become the third most visible search result, next to Google, with a fourfold increase in Google traffic. Users are also actively incorporating Reddit into their searches to obtain more authentic and experience-based responses.

This tendency represents the desire of users to consume authentic, firsthand information, as opposed to AI-generated or strictly promotional texts.

Strategic Approach:

      • Identify relevant communities where your target audience actively participates.
      • Engage authentically in industry-specific forums.
      • Create content that answers fundamental questions being asked in these communities.
      • Develop relationships with community moderators and active participants within the community.

4. Sales-Focused SEO Content Strategy

The best SEO practices in the coming months will incorporate sales goals into content optimization, rather than focusing solely on the informational content in the top-of-funnel section. Winning strategies will be geared towards middle- and bottom-funnel keywords that drive conversions. Competitive analysis is crucial for identifying and optimizing target keywords, ensuring your content is ranked in high-traffic, commercially relevant search results.

Studies have shown that Google tends to give preference to websites with a higher percentage of branded content, implying that there is no cost associated with incorporating product promotion into SEO content.

The specific page should be audience- and goal-conversion focused, and on-page items should be customized to optimize visibility and interaction.

Content Integration Methods:

      • Weave product demonstrations and case studies into informational articles.
      • Target commercial intent keywords alongside informational ones
      • Ensure the target keyword is included in on-page elements, such as page titles, header tags, and meta descriptions. Although some elements, like meta descriptions, are not direct ranking factors, they can improve click-through rates and user engagement.
      • Create and optimize blog posts as part of a sales-focused SEO strategy to attract backlinks, drive organic traffic, and enhance online visibility.
      • Include video demos and interactive elements within educational content to enhance learning experiences.
      • Develop content that serves both search rankings and sales enablement.

5. Firsthand Experience as a Ranking Differentiator

The first E in the E-E-A-T guidelines at Google prioritizes experience. As the volume of AI-generated output increases, covering search results, unique insights, and firsthand experiences are now important ranking factors.

This was confirmed by the Google API leak, which exposed an artificial factor of OriginalContentScore. This factor is actually a ranking factor that proves search engines are actively scoring content based on novelty and authenticity.

Experience-Driven Content Creation:

      • Conduct original research and surveys within your industry.
      • Interview subject matter experts and include unique insights.
      • Share specific case studies and real-world applications.
      • Document proprietary processes and methodologies
      • Include personal anecdotes and lessons learned from actual implementation.

6. User-Centric Intent Optimization Over Keywords

The percentage of Google AI Overviews that include a perfect match to the key phrase is only 5.4%, which suggests that search engines no longer focus on a specific phrase, but instead on the user’s intention.

The Navboost platform at Google analyzes various types of clicks, including good clicks, longest-lasting clicks, and bad clicks. That is, the quality of engagement is considered more important than mere traffic data.

Intent-First Optimization:

      • Research the specific problems your audience faces at each stage of their journey. Effective keyword research is essential here—using keyword research tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs helps uncover search intent, relevant topics, and new SEO opportunities.
      • Create content clusters that address related questions and concerns, and optimize for semantic relevance by using natural language and addressing related concepts to improve visibility in AI-driven search engines.
      • Develop shorter, focused pieces that interlink rather than massive pillar pages.
      • Focus on solving specific user problems rather than targeting keyword volumes.
      • Analyze queries entered into the search bar to identify long-tail keyword opportunities and better understand user needs.

7. Zero-Click Search Strategy Development

As zero-click searches now account for 60% of all Google searches, effective SEO practices must consider the visibility that does not result in direct traffic to a website.

This change requires the creation of content strategies that will foster brand awareness and authority, even when users do not click through to your website. It should be noted that measuring traffic is not as important as engagement, conversions, and the quality of buyers and visitors, particularly as zero-clicks and AI-based SERPs become more prevalent.

Zero-Click Optimization Tactics:

      • Optimize for featured snippets with clear, concise answers.
      • Develop content specifically designed for knowledge panels.
      • Create brand-focused content that builds recognition in search results.
      • Track brand search volume and awareness metrics alongside traditional traffic metrics to gain a comprehensive understanding of your brand’s performance.
      • Use local SEO optimization for location-based zero-click queries.
      • Leverage zero-click features to increase organic traffic and brand visibility.

Examine the most popular results to understand what Google rewards without clicks, as it may be helpful to structure your content in accordance with what is highly ranked. It is essential to stay up-to-date with the changes in Google search that can impact zero-click visibility, ensuring your SEO strategy remains effective and enhanced.

Optimizing for Clarity and Context

Clarity and context are now more than ever before in the era of AI-driven search engines. To produce content that is notable on search engine results pages, emphasize the use of natural language that reflects the search and speech of users. It is essential not to emphasize stuffing keywords, but instead to focus on content that helps users, making it easy for search engines to understand the purpose and relevance of each web page. Divide your material and use clear header tags, interesting meta descriptions, and key internal links to help guide your visitors and search engines across your site. Beyond featured snippets optimization, which means the ability to give a brief and direct response to frequent search queries, can also increase your visibility and attract more organic traffic. It aims to produce content that not only ranks well but also provides real value to your target audience.

Building High-Quality Backlinks in 2025

Backlinks are still considered the cornerstone of any successful SEO strategy, yet the process of link building is evolving with the emergence of AI-powered search engines. In 2025, the quality of an earned backlink will not be a matter of volume, but rather the development of proper relationships with other websites and offering valuable, relevant content that will naturally lead to links. Consider becoming a guest blogger, creating detailed resources, and promoting user-generated content that others will find helpful to refer to. Utilize the power of modern AI tools to analyze your backlink profile, identify potential loopholes, and uncover new collaboration opportunities. A diverse and authoritative backlink profile can help increase the credibility of your website, improve your ranking with search engines, and drive organic traffic from a wide range of sources.

Technical Foundation: Core Web Vitals and Performance

Search engines continue to prioritize technical performance based on Core Web Vitals metrics. The next Interaction to Next Paint (INP) value will be added to Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) as necessary ranking measures. Technical SEO is crucial for enhancing the site’s speed and overall performance, which directly impacts user experience and the webpage’s visibility on search engines.

Technical Optimization Priorities:

      • Compress images using WebP and AVIF formats.
      • Implement lazy loading for below-fold content.
      • Minimize third-party scripts and unnecessary JavaScript.
      • Ensure mobile-first design with touch-friendly navigation.
      • Reserve space for dynamic content to prevent layout shifts
      • Apply image optimization techniques, such as image compression, descriptive file naming, and adding alt text with targeted keywords, to enhance site speed and improve search rankings.

Using high-quality images with descriptive alt text and proper schema markup enhances the user experience, supports visual search optimization, and contributes to faster content loading. Technical improvements like these can have a significant impact on SERP rankings.

Structured Data and Schema Implementation

Structured data has become a choice and a requirement in contemporary SEO. Good schema markup enables rich results and allows AI to understand the context and relationships within content. The adoption and validation of structured data can be easily achieved, and by leveraging reliable SEO tools, the information will be accurate and have a significant impact on search results. Structured data also makes larger content marketing plans more productive, as it enhances the visibility and interaction of content across multiple media.

Priority Schema Types for 2025:

      • Article schema with author information and publication dates
      • Product schema with ratings, prices, and availability
      • FAQ schema for question-and-answer content
      • LocalBusiness schema for location-based businesses
      • HowTo schema for instructional content

Staying Updated on Algorithm Changes

SEO is a constantly evolving world with hundreds of changes made to the search engines every year. It is imperative to keep up with these changes to maintain and increase your organic traffic. It should be a habit to follow industry news, attend webinars, and conferences to stay up to date with recent events. Track the performance of your website using AI-powered tools and rapidly detect the impact of any algorithmic changes. Of particular interest are trends in the field of SEO, including the emergence of AI-based search engines, the growing importance of core web vitals, and the role of user-generated content in search engine rankings. Being proactive and flexible will keep your SEO strategy contributing to organic traffic and showing results, regardless of how the search landscape changes.

Measuring Success in the New SEO Landscape

Traditional metrics, such as organic traffic and keyword rankings, while still important, don’t tell the complete story of SEO success in 2025.

Expanded Metrics Framework:

      • Brand search volume and awareness tracking
      • Featured snippet and AI Overview appearances
      • Cross-platform visibility (YouTube, social media, answer engines)
      • Content engagement depth and time-on-page metrics
      • Conversion rate optimization from organic traffic
      • Share of voice in your industry’s search landscape

Website owners play a crucial role in tracking and interpreting these metrics to ensure ongoing improvements in SEO. High-quality content directly contributes to improved engagement and better performance across these key SEO metrics.

Building Your Fall 2025 SEO Strategy

The most effective SEO techniques in 2025 will combine these factors into a unified solution that is user-focused, featuring multi-search and AI-search optimization. Even though new AI-based approaches are being developed, the operational principles of classical SEO, i.e., creating original content and an adequate site structure, will remain a pillar and must be integrated with the new methods.

Begin with a content audit of your existing E-E-A-T signals to identify opportunities to incorporate first-hand experience and professional observations. Producing content that directly relates to the user’s needs and search intent is key to supporting your overall search engine goals. Build content around user purpose, not keyword lists, and perform technical Optimization that serves both humans and AI.

Keep in mind that SEO in 2025 is not just about ranking in Google; it is about creating omnichannel content authority that benefits users across all the platforms they seek information.

The companies that succeed in the new environment will be those that consider SEO as a component of a wider content and brand approach, one that is concerned with actual value creation, rather than search engine optimization.

Dream Warrior Group, a Los Angeles-based web design and digital marketing Company, provides solutions for your online marketing needs. Our expertise includes Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Posts and marketing, and Google PPC campaigns. Call us now at 818.610.3316 or click here.

How to Build up your Generative AI Optimization Engines – Part 2

Step 1: Be Crawlable

This may even sound simple, but this is a vital preliminary process. Your best bet for getting seen in large language models is to enable them to crawl your site. There are many LLM crawlers, such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

Specific crawlers are likely to act so predatorily that they can provoke scraping and DDoS mitigation actions. If you have automated blocks against aggressive bots, align with your IT team to make sure that you do not block the LLM crawlers that you do want to access.

When you deploy a CDN, such as Fastly or Cloudflare, your LLM crawlers should not be blocked by default.

Step 2: Continue Gaining Search Engine Optimization Rankings

The best strategy for GEO is relatively simple: target traditional SEO. Rank highly on Google (Gemini and AI Overviews), Bing (ChatGPT and Copilot), Brave (Claude), and Baidu (DeepSeek).

SEO remains crucial in Google Search and other search engines. However, the introduction of AI search with its advanced models is changing the game of generating and providing search results by eliminating the need to match keywords merely and instead offering highly context-sensitive and personalized search results.

Step 3: Target the Query Fanout

The current generation of LLMs does a little more than simple RAG. They generate multiple queries. This is called query fanout. LLMs analyze user queries and process entire sequences of text, allowing them to generate AI-generated responses that are tailored to user intent.

As an example, I also recently asked ChatGPT, “What is the newest Google patent that SEOs talk about?”, and it did two web searches on the queries “latest Google patent discussed by SEOs patent 2025 SEO forum” and “latest Google patent SEOs 2025 discussed” (which returned identical results as the former query).

Tips: Check typical query fanouts to your prompts and strive to acquire ranking on those keywords too.

The most common fanout patterns I encounter in ChatGPT involve using the word “forums” to inquire about a topic in the public and attaching “interview” to questions about people. Also often mentioned is the current year (2025).

Caution: fanout patterns can change across LLMs and may change over time as well. What we are seeing today may not be relevant in a year.

Step 4: Keep Consistency Across Your Brand Mentions

It is a rather basic but essential exercise for all people, whether in a business context or otherwise. Ensure your presence remains consistent across all platforms, including X, LinkedIn, your web page, Crunchbase, and GitHub. Always maintain the same profile description, regardless of where you are.

When listing your occupation on multiple social sites, such as “GEO consultant on small business,” do not alter it to “AEO expert” on Github or “LLMO Freelancer” in your press releases.

On ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews, people have claimed to see positive results within a couple of days by simply utilizing a consistent self-description throughout the web. The same can be said about PR coverage, too. The broader and better the PR coverage you get on your brand, the more you will get referred back to users by the large language models.

Step 5: Avoid JavaScript

With SEO, we preferred that our developers to use  as little  JavaScript as possible.  With GEO/AEO, we  insist on it!

The majority of LLM crawlers are unable to process JavaScript. You are out if your main content is buried in JavaScript.

Step 6: Embrace Social Media & UGC

LLMs appear to be heavily dependent on Reddit and Wikipedia. Both sites provide user-generated content on nearly any subject. And with various levels of community-based moderation, a lot of the junk and spam already gets weeded out. Platforms are now dealing with the issue of maintaining a balance between human contributions and the volume of AI-generated content and posts.

Donors can manipulate both platforms, but the general content trustworthiness of those systems is much more customary than it is on the internet. Besides, the two are constantly updated.

Reddit provides valuable insights to LLM labs on how individuals can engage in online discourse, the terminology used in various topics, and knowledge of specific specialty areas.

It is only logical to suppose that user-generated content that is moderated on websites such as Reddit, Wikipedia, Quora, and Stack Overflow will remain relevant in large language models.

I do not suggest spamming those sites, but whenever you have such an opportunity to influence how your brand and competitors are represented there, it might be worth considering.

Step 7: Create For Machine-Readability & Quotability

Write in a manner or style that large language models (LLMs) will understand readily and tend to cite. Although there is nobody who has it right yet, the following approaches appear to work:

Write indicating and factual words. Instead of typing something like “We are fairly confident that the shoe is good on our customers”, type something like this: 96 percent of buyers have self-reported being happy with this shoe.

Add schema. It has been argued many times. Very recently, Fabrice Canel (Principal Product Manager at Bing) stated that schema markup can assist LLMs to comprehend your content.

If you desire to be quoted in an already publicized AI Overview, then you are supposed to possess content that is approximately of the same length as the already available one. Having a high cosine can also assist, but you are not just supposed to copy the current AI Overview. And nerd-fans: yes, you can of course use dot product instead of cosine similarity, given normalization.

In case you use some technical terms that you wish to explain in your content, do so, ideally in a single sentence.

Include summaries of lengthy paragraphs of text, lists of reviews, tables, videos, and other forms of content formats that may be difficult to cite.

Step 8: Optimize your AI-generated content

To be cited for some topics in some LLMs, it helps to:

      • Add unique words.
      • Have pros/cons.
      • Gather user reviews.
      • Quote experts.
      • Include quantitative data and name your sources.
      • Use easy-to-understand language.
      • Write with positive sentiment.
      • Add product text with low perplexity (predictable and well-structured).
      • Include more lists (like this one!).
      • Provide valuable insights and actionable insights to support data-driven decisions, and ensure human oversight to maintain content quality and accuracy.

Nevertheless, such measures may backfire with other combinations of topics and LLMs.

Until well-established best practices become standard practice, in the short term, my advice is to think about what benefits users, and to experiment enthusiastically.

Step 9: Stick to the Facts

In more than 10 years, algorithms have been able to learn through text represented as triples such as (Subject, Predicate, Object) — in other words, (Lady Liberty, Location, New York). Text that has been disproven by known facts can be considered unreliable, and the information that agrees with the majority opinion and contains new information is the kind that will benefit both LLMs and knowledge graphs.

The facts presented can be validated using mathematical models, and the information provided to LLMs can be precise.

And stick to the ascertained facts. And include some original facts.

Step 10: Invest in Digital PR

All of this will be true of your site as well as literally any other site. How best to influence this? Digital PR!

The more coverage you get for your brand, the more likely LLMs are to repeat it to users.

I have even read situations where advertorials were used as sources!

Learn Who Your Competitors Are

As with other aspects of SEO, leveraging a good tool can reveal unexpected information. Review the list of competitors that are identified automatically on a  regular basis. In case of any surprises, look into where they have been prompted and investigate the sources that was included. Are you placing well in those sources? if not, take action!

Is a competitor cited because of their profile, and you have no reviews? Ask your customers review your product.

Did a popular YouTuber interview the CEO of your competitor? You want to be featured on that show, or create your videos using the exact keywords.

Does your rival often find itself on the top 10 or some lists, whereas you can never break the top 5? It may be a good idea to provide the publisher of the list with a hard-to-resist affiliate offer. You may be the number one with the following content update.

Understand the Sources

Sources are consulted when LLMs carry out generation searching.

Investigate the leading sources that could provide a broad scope of pertinent prompts, but leave your site and rivals on the back street. Of these, you may hear some of the following:

      • A community like Reddit or X. Become part of the community and join the discussion. X is your best bet to influence results on Grok.
      • An influencer-driven website like YouTube or TikTok. Hire influencers to create videos. Make sure to instruct them to target the right keywords.
      • An affiliate publisher. Buy your way to the top with higher commissions.
      • A news and media publisher. Buy an advertorial and/or target them with your PR efforts. In some instances, you should contact their commercial content department.

Target Query Fanout

Once you have discovered the searches that query fanout is producing on your key prompts, create something with the express intent of targeting those search terms.

Whether that will be on your site, posted on Medium and LinkedIn, published in press releases, or even by paying to place an article–so long as it appears high in search engines, chances are good LLM-based answer engines will cite it.

Position Yourself for AI-Discoverability

Generative Engine Optimization is what is needed most nowadays- it is the vanguard of organic growth. At Peec AI, we are working on tools to help you track, influence, and succeed within this changing landscape.

We have seen clients doubling their LLM-fuelled traffic in 2 to 3 months with conversion rates as much as 20 times higher than conventional SEO traffic!

The question is not whether you are going to do any of the following: create artificial intelligence answers, monitor your brand mentions, or pursue source authority. The question is the urgency in doing so. The LLMs that consumers will use in the future are being trained now.

Conclusion

Generative Engine Optimization is quickly becoming a critical discipline as AI-driven search changes how users discover information. While many traditional SEO best practices still apply, GEO requires a deeper focus on machine readability, source authority, and positioning content where LLMs can find, trust, and quote it. Brands that adopt GEO now can capture early advantages in AI search visibility, potentially driving higher-quality traffic and stronger conversion rates. The future of search is being shaped today, and those who prepare for AI discoverability will be best positioned to lead in the next wave of organic growth.

How to Build up your Generative AI Optimization Engines – Part 1

Generative AI (generative engine) is any artificial intelligence (AI) that can generate content (text, images, audio, video, code, or a combination of many) as opposed to being merely a retriever or classifier of existing content and is deemed to be part of generative AI. Generative AI systems and models are composed of deep learning models, including neural networks, which make them a part of artificial intelligence. Optimization for Generative Engines is a subset of Serch Everywhere Optimization. This is a two part article, where I have separated the basics from the pratical  work.

Highlights

    • Generative AI & LLMs – Generative AI creates new content (text, images, video, audio, code) rather than simply retrieving information. Large Language Models (LLMs) like GPT-4 fall within this category, alongside models using GANs, RNNs, and hybrid neural networks.
    • Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)/Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) – A new branch of SEO focused on making content discoverable and quotable by generative AI systems. It emphasizes understanding user intent, providing EEAT-rich content, and optimizing for AI-driven search environments.
    • Two Core Strategies – Influence foundational models (often difficult for most creators) and optimize for Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), ensuring your content is chosen as a source and cited often.
    • 10 Practical Steps for GEO/AEO –
        1. Ensure your site is crawlable by LLM bots.
        2. Maintain strong traditional SEO rankings.
        3. Target “query fanout” keywords generated by LLMs.
        4. Keep brand mentions consistent across platforms.
        5. Avoid heavy reliance on JavaScript for core content.
        6. Engage on UGC-heavy platforms like Reddit and Wikipedia.
        7. Write in machine-readable, quotable formats with schema and clear facts.
        8. Optimize AI-generated content for unique terms, pros/cons, expert quotes, and structured data.
        9. Stick to verifiable facts and introduce original data.
        10. Invest in digital PR to increase brand authority and citations.
    • Workflow & Tactics – Use GEO tools to identify competitors, analyze high-authority sources, target keywords from query fanouts, and leverage PR, influencer marketing, and affiliate opportunities to secure citations in AI responses.

Genrative AI Vs. Large Language Models

Generative AI allows the creation of content on a diverse variety of outputs, including generated text, image generation (such as realistic images), video generation, music generation, and voice cloning. The use of AI-generated media and content is becoming widespread, enabling the production of content at scale through generative artificial intelligence.

The Generative Engines that only have natural language processing characteristics fall under the large language models (LLMs). These are also a form of foundation models and are instances of advanced models that employ machine learning and neural networks. The generative AI models also employ generative adversarial networks (GANs), recurrent neural networks, and architectures that combine two neural networks. Data augmentation techniques utilize generative AI models to train machine learning models, relying on extensive data sets that contain synthetic and structured data. You can address complex problems in various fields by leveraging outputs from numerous generative AI models that demonstrate high levels of advanced capabilities.

In this article, we will discuss Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), a sub-form of Search Everywhere Optimization (SEO). The initial process of any successful GEO campaign is to generate content that Large Language models will want to link to or cite. To create that content, you need to understand your users’ intent! What is it that the user is interested in finding out, and what is his reason to come seeking answers? Unlike traditional search engines, you are not just optimizing content on sites; you are developing a comprehensive understanding of who, what, where, when, why, and how this content relates to your product or service. The users are not even on your site, and you have to guess the condition that leads them to perform the search.

GEO Strategy Components

Consider experiences that you wouldn’t typically expect to find directly within ChatGPT or similar systems:

    • Engaging content like a 3D tour of the Louvre or a virtual reality concert. Generative AI can also automate the creation of web pages and digital assets, making it easier to deliver interactive and personalized experiences.
    • Live data includes prices, flight delays, and available hotel rooms. While LLMs can integrate this data via APIs, I see the opportunity to capture some of this traffic for the time being.
    • Topics that require EEAT (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness).

Users want a firsthand experience, but LLMs do not have one. Thus, the issue motivates LLMs to cite sources where the knowledge resides and can be accessed firsthand. Well, that is only one critical consideration; what then are the others?

We should differentiate between 2 strategies: the role of influencing the basis of the model and the role of grounding as an instructional tool. Whereas the former is mainly out of reach of most creators, the latter holds opportunities. To succeed, new SEO developments must incorporate improved AI tools to aid content creation and optimization, according to GEO.

Influencing Foundational and Large Language Models

The foundational models have a pre-determined set of data and are not able to learn anything outside their training sets once they are trained. These datasets can incorporate synthetic data, structured data, and data augmentation methods to enhance the performance and robustness of the models. On existing systems such as GPT-4, it is too late – such systems have already been trained.

However, this is relevant towards the future: a so-called refrigerator that is operating on o4-mini in 2025 and which, in theory, may have a preference towards Coke rather than Pepsi. This prejudice may affect purchasing decisions in the future.

RAG

Optimizing For Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)/Grounding

When large language models (LLMs) are unable to produce answers based solely on their training data, they employ the retrieval augmented generation (RAG) technique to incorporate new information and provide an answer. Such systems as AI Overviews or ChatGPT web search are based on this approach. RAG combines information retrieval and generative model outputs to provide contextually more precise and contextually appropriate answers, resulting in improved contextual knowledge of the system.

As SEO professionals, we want three things:

    1. Our content gets selected as a source.
    2. Our content is most frequently quoted within those sources.
    3. Other selected sources support our desired outcome.

Concrete Steps To Succeed With GEO

Don’t panic – there is no rocket science involved in optimizing your content and referencing your brands when using large language models. To the contrary, a lot of the old SEO strategies will still work, and only a couple of new ones will need to be implemented into your routine. AI assistants and AI agents can also be used to automate and simplify your GEO operations, allowing you to streamline content optimization and management processes more easily.