There’s a lot that’s changed online over the years, and one of those changes is how internet users search for things they need.
Optimizing for humans through user experience, quality, and intent still remains an essential effort when it comes to SEO. However, there’s the rise of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and AI agents demanding a new and parallel focus, which is where you optimize content for machines instead.
This shift from SEO, where keyword-focused efforts were made, has now become about optimizing content to be machine-readable and easily extractable by Large Language Models.
So how can you optimize your efforts when it comes to appeasing the machines that operate on AI?
Adopt the ‘answer-first’ structure
First and foremost, look to adopt the ‘answer-first’ structure where you’re leading with the answer first. AI models prefer concise, readily extractable information, and that most importantly, is accurate.
So with that in mind, lead with the answer. Structure your content to answer questions within 2-3 sentences at the start of sections of pages. Follow this up with supporting context.
It’s good to think about formatting, too. Using clear H2/H3 headings that mirror conversational queries will make the content scannable for both humans and AI to do so effectively.
Finally, create chunkable content. Break down your information into bullet points, lists, and even tables, as this all makes it easier for AI to lift directly into answers for users.
Prioritize semantic relevance over keywords
AI doesn’t just match keywords. Instead, it goes one step further by evaluating the meaning behind the query as well as the depth of the topic.
Therefore, you should be prioritizing all content with semantic relevance. Cover topics more comprehensively than creating small pieces of content for single keywords. You should also try to incorporate related concepts and natural language.
Keyword stuffing is forced and can often have the opposite effect when trying to appeal to the AI.
The FAQ schema is well worth implementing because it tells the machines directly what your content means and enhances visibility in AI overviews as a result.
Emphasize fact density and trust
LLMs require high-quality and verifiable data in order to avoid giving low-quality answers. Therefore, when you’re creating content, you’ll need to cite primary sources like original research and statistics. Expert quotes help to increase the likelihood of it being cited by AI.
Authority signals are something you’ll want to build upon when it comes to building brand reputation. This can be done by third-party mentions, reviews, and links. All of which are very helpful for LLMs to guage trustworthiness of your content and site in general.
When it comes to your content and optimizing existing content in particular, try to keep all of your content as current as possible. Regularly update your older content as AI likes to prioritize the fresh and reliable information over anything that’s dated or hasn’t been published in the last year or so.
By repurposing and updating old content, which you then republish under the current date, is an excellent way of getting it spotted by AI.
Ensure machine-readable accessibility
If AI isn’t able to crawl your site, then it cannot possibly rank your content. So, as before, when you would optimize content for humans, it needs to now be optimized in a way that makes it machine-readable and accessible for AI to crawl successfully.
With that in mind, think about how you can adjust your settings to permit AI agents to crawl the content. Relying on JavaScript rendering will actually prevent many LLM crawlers from reading the page, so it’s best to try to avoid this where possible.
Shift to relevance engineering
Within this new domain of the online world, visibility is considered a ‘vector’, where content is judged by how deeply it aligns with the user’s intent.
Therefore, it’s important to target conversational queries and frame content around how people actually speak or ask questions to AI assistants, like the chatbots on your website, for example.
It’s worthwhile using optimization tools to track how your brand appears in LLM responses, and that way, you can adjust your strategy to optimize content accordingly.
Optimization remains an important part of driving traffic to your site, but it’s just a little different from traditional efforts since AI reared its head. Make sure you’re utilizing these techniques and tips for your own GEO efforts this year, and hopefully you’ll see a noticeable improvement in how users interact and access your content.