SEO in the Age of AI Search: How to Get Found and Cited

People increasingly get answers from AI assistants and AI summaries in search results instead of clicking through ten links. Your content strategy needs to adapt.

• Answers appear before links, so fewer clicks for simple questions.
• AI systems cite sources, so being clearly trustworthy and quotable matters.
• Brand mentions and reputation influence what gets recommended.
• Long-tail, specific questions are increasingly asked in full sentences.

• Helpful, accurate, original content written for people.
• Clear structure: descriptive headings, short paragraphs, lists and tables.
• Fast, mobile-friendly, crawlable pages.
• Good internal linking and sensible URLs.
• Reviews, mentions and links from reputable sites.

1. Answer questions directly near the top of a page, then expand.
2. Use structured data (schema) for products, FAQs, organisations and reviews.
3. Show expertise: author names, credentials, dates and sources.
4. Publish original information: data, case studies and first-hand experience that AI can't invent.
5. Keep facts consistent across your site, profiles and listings.
6. Check how AI tools describe you, and correct inaccuracies at the source.
7. Allow or restrict crawlers deliberately using your robots settings and policies.

• Mass-producing thin AI text.
• Fake reviews or fabricated statistics.
• Keyword stuffing.

Track organic traffic, branded searches, citations and mentions in AI answers, and enquiries, not just rankings.

Write the clearest, most trustworthy answer to real questions and make it easy for both people and machines to understand.