AI Search: Implications for SEO and How to Move Forward - #ShenzhenSEOConference

Let’s see what changes with AI Search, how to enhance our optimization actions and the industry state with it:

1. Key traditional vs AI search differences
2. Current AI Search optimization trends from the SEOFOMO AI Search Optimization Survey
3. A Checklist for AI Search Optimization steps, examples and resources

Transcript

1. AI Search Implications for SEO and How to Move Forward THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM
2. Hello, I’m Aleyda Solís THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM SEO Consultant & Founder ❏ International SEO Consultant & Founder at Orainti ❏ Creator of the SEOFOMO & AI Marketers Newsletters ❏ Maker of LearningAIsearch.com & LearningSEO.io Speaker & Author ❏ Author of SEO, Las Claves Esenciales ❏ Spoke at +200 events in +30 countries
3. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM I’m tired of the “AI has killed SEO” clickbait, over-hyped posts by some AI Bros and non-specialized publications
4. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM Most decision makers are asking about AI search visibility, so it’s fundamental to address it with facts. Funnily, most don’t even call it GEO, just “AI Search Optimization” https://hub.seofomo.co/surveys/state-ai-search-optimization/
5. LLMs are expanding (not killing) Search as a discovery channel. 95% of ChatGPT users also use Google. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://www.similarweb.com/
6. Despite ChatGPT growth, Google is still the search king with 14X the visits. It had 83.8B vs 5.8B visits in August. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://www.similarweb.com/
7. What about AI Mode? In late August, it had still only 3% of daily usage in the US, and 3.5% in the UK… THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM Data by Similarweb
8. Google Search VP of Product has also announced they will start featuring more inline links in AI Mode answers soon THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM Data by Similarweb
9. LLMs answers also rely on grounding when current, factual information is needed, meaning SEO is vital for it. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://dejan.ai/blog/gpt-5-made-seo-irreplaceable/ LLMs Answers Retrieval / Grounding Data For dynamic, factual queries In “search mode” (like ChatGPT’s browsing) the model goes beyond static memory, retrieving real-time external information using it as grounding to produce more accurate, up-to-date answers. Pre-training Data For General knowledge Publicly available text (websites, books, papers, code, forums, etc.) and licensed/curated data, until the model’s knowledge cutoff date.
10. ChatGPT is even using Google search results via APIs (besides Bing’s one) for answers. I tested it first-hand. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://www.aleydasolis.com/en/ai-search/chatgpt-uses-google-serp-snippets-for-answers/
11. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF_sxLdfTbY& So SEO is not dead, just evolving, but… is traditional SEO enough to succeed in AI Search platforms?
12. Let’s see what changes with AI Search, how to enhance our optimization actions and the industry state with it THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM KEY TRADITIONAL VS AI SEARCH DIFFERENCES CURRENT AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION TRENDS FROM THE SEOFOMO AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION SURVEY A CHECKLIST FOR AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION STEPS, EXAMPLES & RESOURCES 1. 2. 3.
13. There are 5 key areas of difference between AI search and traditional search 1. Search Behavior 2. Query Handling 3. Optimization Target 4. Authority & Popularity Signals 5. Results Presentation THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM
14. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM 1. Search Behavior: Keywords vs Conversational & Action SHORT, KEYWORD BASED, ONE OFF QUERIES WITH HIGH NAVIGATIONAL INTENT TRADITIONAL SEARCH LONG, CONVERSATIONAL BASED, MULTI-TURN QUERIES WITH HIGH TASK ORIENTED INTENT AI SEARCH
15. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM TRADITIONAL SEARCH AI SEARCH “Learn Marketing Automation” “Hubspot” “Marketing Automation Roadmap for Ecommerce sites” “Please help me creating a detailed six month Marketing Automation Roadmap for an Ecommerce Site” 1. Search Behavior: Keywords vs Conversational & Action
16. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM 1. Search Behavior: Keywords vs Conversational & Action https://openai.com/index/how-people-are-using-chatgpt/ “ChatGPT Consumer use patterns can be thought in terms of Asking (49%), Doing (40%), and Expressing (11%)”
17. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM 2. Query Handling: Single Query vs Fan-out Match SINGLE QUERY MATCH TRADITIONAL SEARCH AI SEARCH QUERY FAN-OUT (MULTIPLE SUB-QUERIES MATCHES)
18. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM 3. Optimization Target: Page vs Passage level PAGE LEVEL RELEVANCE TRADITIONAL SEARCH PASSAGE / CHUNK LEVEL RELEVANCE AI SEARCH
19. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM 4. Authority & Popularity Signals: Links vs Mentions LINKS AND ENGAGEMENT BASED POPULARITY AT DOMAIN AND PAGE LEVEL TRADITIONAL SEARCH MENTIONS/CITATIONS & ENTITY BASED AUTHORITY AT PASSAGE & CONCEPT LEVEL AI SEARCH
20. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM 5. Results Presentation: Ranked list vs Synthesized answer RANKED LIST OF MULTIPLE LINKED PAGES TRADITIONAL SEARCH SINGLE SYNTHESIZED ANSWER WITH MENTIONS AND SECONDARY LINKS TO SOURCES AI SEARCH
21. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM So, although principles remain, these differences create shifts in AI vs Traditional Search Optimization Practices Crawlability Indexability Relevance Popularity Differences in User Search Behavior / Intents to target Bigger Role of third-party Citations / Mentions Different bots/user agents for which you might have specific crawlability rules Lack of CSR JS support by AI bots Metrics/Goals To monitor answer visibility/Sentiment to Traffic/sales (vs monitoring SERP Rankings to Traffic/sales)
22. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM How much should you invest in AI Search then? It’s about alignment with current SEO actions, goals impact vs effort 1. How much are AI platforms already bringing to your traffic, revenue and impacting marketing goals? 2. How AI search behavior differ from traditional search? 3. What’s your visibility and traffic from relevant to target AI search queries vs competitors? What’s the growth opportunity? 4. How’s your content already optimized for relevant AI search queries? 5. How do the needed optimization actions overlap with existing or planned SEO, Digital PR & Community management efforts? What additional actions / investments are needed? 6. What’s the ROI from the additional efforts? Are they worthy? Prioritize accordingly
23. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM Let’s go through a roadmap to address these Key AI search optimization criteria and characteristics 1. Research and Assess your AI Search Platform Audience Behavior 2. Optimize for content AI crawlability and indexability 3. Establish business aligned “On Brand” Topical Authority 4. Optimize for Chunks Retrieval by structuring for humans 5. Optimize for Answer Synthesis with Concise Content 6. Optimize for Content Citation-Worthiness with EEAT 7. Grow Content Authoritativeness 3rd Party Signals 8. Optimize for Multi-Modal Support 9. Optimize for Personalization Resilient Content 10. Monitor Your content AI Search Performance
24. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM While reviewing the results of the State of AI Search Optimization Survey to see how we’re already doing https://hub.seofomo.co/surveys/state-ai-search-optimization/
25. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM Identify the AI Search Platforms Your Audience Uses, the ones already referring top traffic to your site, as well as those referring AI traffic to your competitors Identify the most popular and relevant Queries/Prompts used by your audience to search for your product / services and brand across the customer journey Identify your Current Content Performance (mentions, links, sentiment) vs Competitors for relevant Queries/Prompts across the relevant AI Platforms Establish your relevant queries/prompts and topics to target and prioritize to optimize for with your content strategy based on your current site and brand performance vs competitors 1. Research & Assess AI Search Audience Behavior Assess how AI search behavior differs from traditional search, to identify topics to target and prioritize
26. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM AI Traffic Analytics Performance: Top Pages, platforms, conversion, etc. Looker Studio Dashboard Here 1. Research & Assess AI Search Audience Behavior Assess how AI search behavior differs from traditional search, to identify topics to target and prioritize
27. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://similarweb.com/ Top AI Traffic Platforms vs Competitors Top AI Traffic Pages & Prompts Top Competitors Pages & Prompts 1. Research & Assess AI Search Audience Behavior Assess how AI search behavior differs from traditional search, to identify topics to target and prioritize
28. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://www.tryprofound.com/ 1. Research & Assess AI Search Audience Behavior Assess how AI search behavior differs from traditional search, to identify topics to target and prioritize
29. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://ai.sistrix.com/ 1. Research & Assess AI Search Audience Behavior Assess how AI search behavior differs from traditional search, to identify topics to target and prioritize
30. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM 2. Optimize for Content Crawlability and Indexability Relevant content must be accessible, indexable and reusable by AI crawlers Allow search engine crawlers from AI systems through your robots.txt directives in the areas featuring relevant content to surface: GPTBot, Googlebot and Google-Extended token, bingbot, Claude, CCBot, PerplexityBot/Perplexity‑User. Avoid blocking AI bots with firewalls or bot filters, by whitelisting their IP ranges. Render all essential content server-side or use pre-rendering. Avoid Client Side Rendered JavaScript reliance for key content to avoid indexability challenges as not all AI systems render it. Avoid noindexing via meta robots valuable content to be surfaced in AI answers. Avoid using a “nosnippet” rule via meta robots in valuable content to be surfaced in AI answers, which will prevent the content from being used as a direct input for AI Overviews and AI Mode.
31. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://maxbraglia.com/ai-bot-analyzer Are your robots.txt, CDN/firewall or hosting blocking AI bots? 2. Optimize for Content Crawlability and Indexability Relevant content must be accessible, indexable and reusable by AI crawlers
32. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://sitebulb.com/ How reliant on CSR JS are you for key product descriptions, reviews, FAQs, Q&A’s & links? Rendering Difference Engine Chrome Extension 2. Optimize for Content Crawlability and Indexability Relevant content must be accessible, indexable and reusable by AI crawlers
33. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM 2. Optimize for Content Crawlability and Indexability Relevant content must be accessible, indexable and reusable by AI crawlers Look for an increase of 404s in your log files due to LLMs hallucinations, and optimize your 404 HTTP status page to facilitate browsability
34. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://hub.seofomo.co/surveys/state-ai-search-optimization/ 2. Optimize for Content Crawlability and Indexability Relevant content must be accessible, indexable and reusable by AI crawlers
35. 3. Establish Business Aligned On Brand Topical Authority AI search platforms break complex queries into multiple related subqueries, gathering and synthesizing information from diverse sources, rewarding sites with comprehensive topical breadth and depth. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM Query fan-out explores different user intents, so targeting a diversity of angles of a relevant to target topic, increases coverage. Focus on meaningful business topics, for which you can provide comprehensive, useful, expert answers, aligned to your company USP and specialization, that can drive product awareness and adoption. Use topical clusters: A comprehensive pillar (hub) page for your business, relevant, main broader topics, and cluster pages around specific facets. Cover the whole buyer journey to support the user from the awareness, to consideration, decision making, up to post-purchase stage of the purchase process. Structure and cross-link your clusters with hub as a central resource to establish semantic relationships, enabling AI to better understand the full context and connections between topics.
36. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM * Products How-To Guides & Tutorials * Thought Leadership & Expert Advice * FAQs * New product releases Awareness Consideration Decision * Knowledge base articles * Troubleshooting Guides & FAQs * Community & support forum * Video tutorials Post-Purchase * Comprehensive Product Description * Documentation & Manuals * Pricing & Plans Pages * Case Studies * Compliance content * Reviews & Testimonials * Studies & Research * Comparison & Alternatives * Product Q&As * Community & Forum Content Industry Insights Research, Stats, Surveys, Case Studies Product Insights Products descriptions, features comparisons, FAQs Business & Product Related UGC Reviews, Q&As, Forums 3. Establish Business Aligned On Brand Topical Authority AI search platforms break complex queries into multiple related subqueries, gathering and synthesizing information from diverse sources, rewarding sites with comprehensive topical breadth and depth.
37. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://dejan.ai/tools/fanout/ https://aicoverage.locomotive.agency/ 3. Establish Business Aligned On Brand Topical Authority AI search platforms break complex queries into multiple related subqueries, gathering and synthesizing information from diverse sources, rewarding sites with comprehensive topical breadth and depth.
38. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://www.semrush.com/ https://alsoasked.com/ 3. Establish Business Aligned On Brand Topical Authority AI search platforms break complex queries into multiple related subqueries, gathering and synthesizing information from diverse sources, rewarding sites with comprehensive topical breadth and depth.
39. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://waikay.io/ 3. Establish Business Aligned On Brand Topical Authority AI search platforms break complex queries into multiple related subqueries, gathering and synthesizing information from diverse sources, rewarding sites with comprehensive topical breadth and depth.
40. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://ahrefs.com/ai-content-helper 3. Establish Business Aligned On Brand Topical Authority AI search platforms break complex queries into multiple related subqueries, gathering and synthesizing information from diverse sources, rewarding sites with comprehensive topical breadth and depth.
41. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://www.similarweb.com/ 3. Establish Business Aligned On Brand Topical Authority AI search platforms break complex queries into multiple related subqueries, gathering and synthesizing information from diverse sources, rewarding sites with comprehensive topical breadth and depth.
42. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM 3. Establish Business Aligned On Brand Topical Authority AI search platforms break complex queries into multiple related subqueries, gathering and synthesizing information from diverse sources, rewarding sites with comprehensive topical breadth and depth.
43. 4. Optimize for Chunks Retrieval, Structuring for Humans AI search engines break content into passages or “chunks” and retrieve the most relevant segments for synthesis. That’s why you should optimize each section like a standalone, easy to understand snippet. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM Each chunk should be independently understandable without relying on the whole page for context. Keep passages semantically tight and self-contained. One idea per section: keep each passage tightly focused on a single concept. Use structured, accessible, and well-formatted HTML with clear subheadings (H2/H3) for every subtopic.
44. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://www.chris-green.net/post/content-structure-for-ai-search 4. Optimize for Chunks Retrieval, Structuring for Humans AI search engines break content into passages or “chunks” and retrieve the most relevant segments for synthesis. That’s why you should optimize each section like a standalone, easy to understand snippet.
45. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://ahrefs.com/blog/seo-chunk-optimization/ 4. Optimize for Chunks Retrieval, Structuring for Humans AI search engines break content into passages or “chunks” and retrieve the most relevant segments for synthesis. That’s why you should optimize each section like a standalone, easy to understand snippet.
46. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM ✅ Good Example <h2>What is Technical SEO?</h2> <p>Technical SEO focuses on optimizing a website’s infrastructure to ensure search engines can crawl, render, and index content effectively. It includes enhancing internal linking, site speed, mobile usability, and implementing structured data.</p> Why this works: ➔ One clear concept: “What is Technical SEO” ➔ Self-contained and understandable without needing other sections ➔ Structured with a clear heading and concise explanation 4. Optimize for Chunks Retrieval, Structuring for Humans AI search engines break content into passages or “chunks” and retrieve the most relevant segments for synthesis. That’s why you should optimize each section like a standalone, easy to understand snippet.
47. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM ❌ Bad Example <h2>Learn SEO</h2> <p>SEO covers a lot, like technical SEO, content, link building, and more. For example, technical SEO helps with crawlability and indexation. Content is key for relevance. Link building supports authority. All of these are important parts of an SEO strategy you’ll need to understand eventually as you go through the roadmap…</p> Why this fails: ➔ Multiple concepts jammed into one paragraph ➔ Lacks focus: not semantically tight ➔ Heading is too broad (“Learn SEO”) and doesn’t guide chunk retrieval ➔ Requires surrounding context to make sense 4. Optimize for Chunks Retrieval, Structuring for Humans AI search engines break content into passages or “chunks” and retrieve the most relevant segments for synthesis. That’s why you should optimize each section like a standalone, easy to understand snippet.
48. 5. Optimize for Answer Synthesis with Concise Content AI search engines synthesize multiple chunks from different sources into a coherent response, so content must be easy to extract and logically structured to fit into a multi-source answer. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM Summarize complex ideas clearly, then expand (Include a clearly structured “Summary” or “Key takeaways”). Start answers with a direct, concise sentence. Favor plain, factual, non-promotional tone. Use Structured Data to help AI models better classify and extract structured answers. Use natural language Q&A format.
49. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM ✅ Good Example <h2>What is an SEO audit?</h2> <p><strong>Summary:</strong> An SEO audit is a comprehensive analysis of a website to identify issues that could affect its optimization and organic visibility in search engines.</p> <p>It typically includes reviewing the site crawlability, indexability, speed, structured data usage, content relevance and quality, and link popularity vs competitors. The goal is to uncover technical, content and link popularity related issues and opportunities to improve its performance in organic search.</p> Why this works: ➔ Starts with a direct, concise summary ➔ Expands with structured detail ➔ Uses Q&A format and clear heading ➔ Plain, factual tone 5. Optimize for Answer Synthesis with Concise Content AI search engines synthesize multiple chunks from different sources into a coherent response, so content must be easy to extract and logically structured to fit into a multi-source answer.
50. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM ❌ Bad Example <h2>SEO audits and other essential resources we offer</h2> <p>At LearningSEO.io, we guide you through audits, checklists, and toolkits tailored to improve your visibility online. Our complete SEO roadmap empowers marketers to become experts. Discover how technical SEO, content, and backlinks can take your traffic to the next level.</p> Why this fails: ➔ Promotional and vague language ➔ No clear definition or summary ➔ No structured data ➔ Lacks Q&A structure and extractable format ➔ Merges multiple topics, hard to synthesize into an AI response 5. Optimize for Answer Synthesis with Concise Content AI search engines synthesize multiple chunks from different sources into a coherent response, so content must be easy to extract and logically structured to fit into a multi-source answer.
51. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM 5. Optimize for Answer Synthesis with Concise Content AI search engines synthesize multiple chunks from different sources into a coherent response, so content must be easy to extract and logically structured to fit into a multi-source answer.
52. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://frase.io/ 5. Optimize for Answer Synthesis with Concise Content AI search engines synthesize multiple chunks from different sources into a coherent response, so content must be easy to extract and logically structured to fit into a multi-source answer.
53. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM Use specific, up-to-date, verifiable claims, fact-based statements, not vague generalities. Show authorship and credentials for EEAT signals. Include source citations (link to studies, stats, or experts). Use author, organization structured data for brand and entity salience that reinforces citation metadata. Refresh key content regularly and signal updated content by adding timestamps. 6. Optimize for Content Citation-Worthiness with EEAT AI search engines will cite content when it’s perceived as factually accurate, up-to-date, well-structured, and authoritative.
54. 6. Optimize for Content Citation-Worthiness with EEAT AI search engines will cite content when it’s perceived as factually accurate, up-to-date, well-structured, and authoritative. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM ai.sistrix.com
55. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM EEAT Content Quality Checklist 6. Optimize for Content Citation-Worthiness with EEAT AI search engines will cite content when it’s perceived as factually accurate, up-to-date, well-structured, and authoritative.
56. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM ai.sistrix.com https://www.tryprofound.com/ 6. Optimize for Content Citation-Worthiness with EEAT AI search engines will cite content when it’s perceived as factually accurate, up-to-date, well-structured, and authoritative.
57. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://frase.io/ https://validator.schema.org/ 6. Optimize for Content Citation-Worthiness with EEAT AI search engines will cite content when it’s perceived as factually accurate, up-to-date, well-structured, and authoritative.
58. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM Optimize your brand presence across web platforms, including social channels, in a consistent way, linking back to your main site, engaging with your community, answering reviews, etc. Secure coverage in industry and expert publications, contribute quotes or guest content to respected newsletters and blogs in your industry. Publish original research, reports, or data studies, conduct surveys, compile unique datasets, or run industry studies. Promote them to journalists and bloggers who create content roundups. Promote your content across relevant third-party channels: Engage with influencers, experts, Slack groups, subreddits, and communities. Ask for feedback and mentions. 7. Grow Content Authoritativeness 3rd Party Signals Authority increases the likelihood of content getting cited in AI-generated answers, using entity recognition and reputation to determine which sources to trust.
59. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM 7. Grow Content Authoritativeness 3rd Party Signals Authority increases the likelihood of content getting cited in AI-generated answers, using entity recognition and reputation to determine which sources to trust. Digital PR Positive coverage, citations, backlinks from Media Sites Community Management Positive mentions from relevant social platforms and communities Link Building Backlinks from related, authoritative sites reviewing relevant businesses Branding Mentions, promotion, visibility alignment with brand positioning and voice
60. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://www.similarweb.com/ https://sparktoro.com/ 7. Grow Content Authoritativeness 3rd Party Signals Authority increases the likelihood of content getting cited in AI-generated answers, using entity recognition and reputation to determine which sources to trust.
61. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://www.similarweb.com/ buzzabout.ai 7. Grow Content Authoritativeness 3rd Party Signals Authority increases the likelihood of content getting cited in AI-generated answers, using entity recognition and reputation to determine which sources to trust.
62. 8. Optimize for Multi-Modal Support AI search systems are increasingly retrieving and synthesizing multimodal content, -including images, charts, tables, videos-, to better answer user queries. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM Ensure images and videos crawlability for search and AI bots. Images should use descriptive alt text that includes topic context. Serve images via clean HTML and avoid lazy-loading with JS-only rendering, since AI search crawlers don’t render CSR JS. Add captions to images and videos with explanation right below or beside the visual. Use <figure>, <table>, etc. with contextually correct markup to help parse tables, figures, lists. Avoid images of tables, use HTML tables instead for a machine-readable format supporting tokenization and summarization.
63. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM 8. Optimize for Multi-Modal Support AI search systems are increasingly retrieving and synthesizing multimodal content, -including images, charts, tables, videos-, to better answer user queries.
64. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://www.similarweb.com/ https://www.lazyspy.us/ 8. Optimize for Multi-Modal Support AI search systems are increasingly retrieving and synthesizing multimodal content, -including images, charts, tables, videos-, to better answer user queries.
65. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://sitebulb.com/ 8. Optimize for Multi-Modal Support AI search systems are increasingly retrieving and synthesizing multimodal content, -including images, charts, tables, videos-, to better answer user queries.
66. 9. Optimize for Personalization Resilient Content AI search engines can personalize answers using a combination of contextual signals, retrieval techniques, and user-centric data. It’s then fundamental to take it into account to maximize visibility. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM Cover multiple intents for the same topic, so your content aligns with many personalized subqueries, increasing surface area. Add contextual signals that aligns content with profile-based personalization, segmenting content for specific personas or use cases. Optimize for localized intent by including regional content, currencies, addresses, or local schema markup (Place, LocalBusiness). Get links and mentions across reputable domains and popular platforms where your audience engages via digital PR, contributor posts, Wikipedia citations, mentions in research, strong community and social media presence and engagement. Retain attention and engagement with fast, useful content that gives a satisfying user experience since AI search systems refine results based on user behavior, thumbs up/down, etc. This feedback loops into ranking and synthesis decisions for future answers.
67. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM * Products How-To Guides & Tutorials * Thought Leadership & Expert Advice * FAQs * New product releases Awareness Consideration Decision * Knowledge base articles * Troubleshooting Guides & FAQs * Community & support forum * Video tutorials Post-Purchase * Comprehensive Product Description * Documentation & Manuals * Pricing & Plans Pages * Case Studies * Compliance content * Reviews & Testimonials * Studies & Research * Comparison & Alternatives * Product Q&As * Community & Forum Content 9. Optimize for Personalization Resilient Content AI search engines can personalize answers using a combination of contextual signals, retrieval techniques, and user-centric data. It’s then fundamental to take it into account to maximize visibility.
68. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM 9. Optimize for Personalization Resilient Content AI search engines can personalize answers using a combination of contextual signals, retrieval techniques, and user-centric data. It’s then fundamental to take it into account to maximize visibility.
69. 10. Monitor Your content AI Search Performance Monitoring your brand visibility, sentiment, referrals from relevant AI answers allows you to identify opportunities to improve inclusions that matter vs competitors. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM To Do’s ❏ Your Audience AI Search Behavior: ❏ Monitor popular prompts related to your brand and main product/service topics in AI tools that provide them to understand your audience’s AI search behavior and use this data to inform your content optimization strategy. ❏ Your AI Search Presence vs. Competitors: ❏ Track your brand mentions, sentiment, and links in AI answers separately for each major AI search platform (eg. ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews/AI Mode, Perplexity, etc.). ❏ Monitor and assess the sentiment of your brand mentions in AI search answers for relevant product/service, as well as brand focused prompts across AI search platforms. ❏ Monitor the inclusion of links to your Website from relevant brand mentions in AI search answers across platforms. ❏ Benchmark your brand mentions, sentiment and links in relevant answers vs main competitors across AI search platforms. ❏ Benchmark your brand mentions, sentiment and links inclusions in AI answers content sources vs main competitors across AI search platforms. …
70. 10. Monitor Your content AI Search Performance Monitoring your brand visibility, sentiment, referrals from relevant AI answers allows you to identify opportunities to improve inclusions that matter vs competitors. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM To Do’s ❏ Your AI Search Traffic Activity: ❏ Monitor AI referral traffic via your analytics platform by creating a new channel for AI platforms sources to understand its growth over time, pages destinations, engagement, and conversion. ❏ Your Site AI Search Crawling & Indexing Behavior: ❏ Monitor the crawling behavior of AI platforms on your site: Crawl frequency, crawled URLs and depth, HTTP status codes returned, robots.txt access patterns, requested content type, changes in crawl behavior over time, etc. To Do’s ❏ Your AI Search Traffic Activity: ❏ Monitor AI referral traffic via your analytics platform by creating a new channel for AI platforms sources to understand its growth over time, pages destinations, engagement, and conversion. ❏ Your Site AI Search Crawling & Indexing Behavior: ❏ Monitor the crawling behavior of AI platforms on your site: Crawl frequency, crawled URLs and depth, HTTP status codes returned, robots.txt access patterns, requested content type, changes in crawl behavior over time, etc. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM 10. Monitor Your content AI Search Performance Monitoring your brand visibility, sentiment, referrals from relevant AI answers allows you to identify opportunities to improve inclusions that matter vs competitors.
71. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM Looker Studio Dashboard Here https://seotesting.com/ 10. Monitor Your content AI Search Performance Monitoring your brand visibility, sentiment, referrals from relevant AI answers allows you to identify opportunities to improve inclusions that matter vs competitors.
72. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://www.tryprofound.com/ similarweb.com 10. Monitor Your content AI Search Performance Monitoring your brand visibility, sentiment, referrals from relevant AI answers allows you to identify opportunities to improve inclusions that matter vs competitors.
73. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM 10. Monitor Your content AI Search Performance Monitoring your brand visibility, sentiment, referrals from relevant AI answers allows you to identify opportunities to improve inclusions that matter vs competitors. https://hub.seofomo.co/surveys/state-ai-search-optimization/
74. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM 1. Research and Assess your AI Search Platform Audience Behavior 2. Optimize for content AI crawlability and indexability 3. Establish business aligned “On Brand” Topical Authority 4. Optimize for Chunks Retrieval by structuring for humans 5. Optimize for Answer Synthesis with Concise Content 6. Optimize for Content Citation-Worthiness with EEAT 7. Grow Content Authoritativeness 3rd Party Signals 8. Optimize for Multi-Modal Support 9. Optimize for Personalization Resilient Content 10. Monitor Your content AI Search Performance By assessing all of these key AI search optimization areas you will be able to prioritize actions for a positive ROI
75. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM In the survey, SEOs said that AI search still brings less 5% of site revenue, while traditional search attracts +50% https://hub.seofomo.co/surveys/state-ai-search-optimization/
76. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM Most decision makers have allocated AI search budget but not as an independent channel, after research & audit https://hub.seofomo.co/surveys/state-ai-search-optimization/
77. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM Most have expanded their SEO accordingly to integrate AI search optimization, and also have an AI search strategy https://hub.seofomo.co/surveys/state-ai-search-optimization/
78. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://hub.seofomo.co/surveys/state-ai-search-optimization/ Existing or planned AI search optimization work focuses on structured data, digital PR & content restructuring
79. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM The goals for AI search optimization are related to visibility, traffic, conversions & awareness https://hub.seofomo.co/surveys/state-ai-search-optimization/
80. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM The biggest AI Search Optimization Challenges are related to measurement, data transparency & tooling https://hub.seofomo.co/surveys/state-ai-search-optimization/
81. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://hub.seofomo.co/surveys/state-ai-search-optimization/ Speaking of tools, the top mentioned AI search optimization and monitoring tools are Ahrefs, GA4, Semrush, GSC and SE Ranking
82. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM https://hub.seofomo.co/surveys/state-ai-search-optimization/ AI Search Optimization is still nascent, and the industry is adapting after 25 years of stable search evolution.
83. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM It’s about aligning & prioritizing your AI optimization efforts with your existing SEO Initiatives to high impact 1. How much are AI platforms already bringing to your traffic, revenue and impacting marketing goals? 2. How AI search behavior differ from traditional search? 3. What’s your visibility and traffic from relevant to target AI search queries vs competitors? What’s the growth opportunity? 4. How’s your content already optimized for relevant AI search queries? 5. How do the needed optimization actions overlap with existing or planned SEO, Digital PR & Community management efforts? What additional actions / investments are needed? 6. What’s the ROI from the additional efforts? Are they worthy? Prioritize accordingly
84. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM Want to take the next steps? Download the AI Search Optimization Checklist For Free https://www.aleydasolis.com/en/ai-search/ai-search-optimization-checklist/
85. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM Learn more about AI Search Optimization with free reliable resources from LearningAIsearch.com https://learningaisearch.com/
86. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM Keep up with the latest AI Search news by subscribing to the Free SEOFOMO Newsletter https://seofomo.co/
87. THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM GEO is dead. Long Live SEO … for [AI / TikTok / YouTube / Baidu / Any Platform Used for Search]
88. Thanks! Questions? THE AI SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ROADMAP BY ALEYDA SOLIS FROM ORAINTI / SEOFOMO / LEARNINGAISEARCH.COM SEO Consultant & Founder ❏ International SEO Consultant & Founder at Orainti ❏ Creator of the SEOFOMO & AI Marketers Newsletters ❏ Maker of LearningAIsearch.com & LearningSEO.io Speaker & Author ❏ Author of SEO, Las Claves Esenciales ❏ Spoke at +200 events in +30 countries