Insights on How to Make SEO Work For You

Ranking in Google search is no longer the only game in town, which means your content strategy is ripe for change. If you want to become visible with Google's AI Answer Engine, you'll need your content to follow an answer structure.

Content structure matters more than repetition when it comes to Google. For instance, directly answering a question in a clear manner makes content far more likely to be cited by AI engines.

Using phrases such as "According to [your brand]..." works especially well because they imitate the structure of reliable sources. The key here is to sound authoritative. The AI does not favor filler; it favors straightforwardness.

Why context-rich pages beat dispersed content

Previously, the idea was to distribute related concepts over several brief pages, as this would be beneficial for keyword ranking. However, this approach dilutes your authority.

If you combined these fragmented pages into fewer comprehensive ones, you would experience more AI citations. That's because AI models favor pulling from context rich sources. Additionally, combining related subjects on one page also makes for better reference and improves search outcomes.

Transparency: More important than you think

Being transparent is also important, like explaining your methods, listing your data sources, and even noting your work's limitations.

With AI, the goal of search engines is highlight content that seems trustworthy and can be easily checked. So adding a straightforward "How we calculated this" section to your content is a smart way to promote your transparency, especially for AI tools looking to cite online information.

Write the way you talk to get noticed

Adjusting the tone of your writing will also help. Instead of corporate speak like "Best practices for...," you might want to use phrasing that's closer to everyday speech: "What is the best way to..."

Text that is more conversational in style aligns better with the training data that most LLMs employ. Real world dialogue is key here, since using more natural sounding questions increases your content's chances of being cited. Even small language adjustments can give you the upper-hand here.

Fresh data is growing in importance

While evergreen content still holds value, AI desires fresh content more. Be sure to update key stats and insights monthly if relevant. You'll gain additional citations. Note too that AI tools favor the most current information to remain relevant.

For B2B companies, an AI strategy is no longer optional

If you're focused on the B2B market, the decision-makers you're shorting for are using AI not Google. SEO is not dead but it is sharing the spotlight. Which means you ned to structure your content so that AI is able to read and cite it.Embracing this strategy can help increase your leads and conversion rate.

Next steps for forward thinking companies

The next step would be to audit every page of your site for readability. One wasy to streamline this is to construct a content architecture that prioritizes direct answer formats. Pretty soon, it won't be how well you rank in Google but how often you're mentioned in AI generated responses.

Branding become intertwined with AI here, so be sure to act accordingly.