“Guitar lessons adults.” Does that make sense to you? Who talks like that, right? Well, actually, millions of people do, every day, when searching on Google and other platforms.
But that’s starting to change, and the reason (or the culprit, depending on how you see it) is a tool that’s transforming not only how people search online, but how they engage with the digital world in general: AI.
People now ask questions in a much more natural way, almost as if speaking to a person. Queries like “What’s the best way to learn guitar at 40?” are becoming increasingly common, replacing clunky keyword-based searches.
And search engines are adapting. Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), Bing with ChatGPT, and other AI-powered tools now generate full responses often complete with sources, rather than simply displaying a list of links.
All of this makes our interaction with the digital world feel more intuitive and human. But it also brings challenges, especially for digital marketers. If people are now talking (literally) to these engines instead of just searching, what exactly should you be optimising for: AI or SEO?
How People Search Has Changed
The biggest change is that people are no longer trying to “think like a search engine”. This shift reflects a deeper change in how we engage with technology. We now expect it to understand us. And the engines know it.
With tools like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, search is increasingly spoken aloud, often while driving, cooking, or walking. This means queries are shorter, more direct, and phrased in plain language. People are also asking more complex, multi-layered questions, trusting that AI-powered tools can interpret context and deliver a relevant response.
At the same time, user expectations have changed. We no longer want a list of ten websites to click through. We want the answer, and we want it immediately. Users expect responses, not options. And search engines are rapidly evolving to meet that demand.
How Search Engines Have Adapted
Traditional search was built on indexing web pages and matching them to keywords. But AI has pushed engines to move beyond that, from simply retrieving information to actively interpreting and generating it.
Google, for instance, is rolling out its Search Generative Experience (SGE), which uses AI to provide full, contextual answers at the top of the results page. Rather than displaying a list of links, it summarises key points, compares options, and often anticipates follow-up questions, all within a single response. Bing, powered by ChatGPT, follows a similar approach, offering conversational answers that draw from multiple sources.
This transition means that search engines are now analysing tone, context, user intent, and even prior queries to deliver results that feel more like personalised guidance than generic information retrieval.
However, while this makes search more efficient for users, it introduces new challenges for content creators. Featured snippets, AI-generated summaries, and conversational answers all reduce the need to click through to individual websites.
In many cases, users get the information they need without ever leaving the search results page.
In other words, search engines are becoming answer engines. And while that’s great for user experience, it’s forcing a major rethink of how visibility, engagement, and value are measured online.
What Should You Optimise For?
Traditional SEO principles, such as using the right keywords, building backlinks, and improving page speed, still matter. But they’re no longer the whole picture.
With AI tools now generating answers directly in the results, fewer users are clicking through to websites. This pattern, often called zero-click search, is only increasing. If a user finds what they need without leaving the results page, your beautifully optimised landing page might never be seen, even if it technically ranks first.
So, where does that leave optimisation?
The answer isn’t to abandon SEO. Instead, it’s to evolve with it. Optimising for AI-generated search means focusing both on visibility and usefulness, a concept increasingly referred to as GEO, or Generative Engine Optimisation.
AI needs copy to pull from, and it prefers structured, authoritative, clearly written material. That means writing in a way that answers real questions clearly and concisely, and using structured data and schema markup to help search engines understand your content.
Furthermore, anticipating follow-up questions and addressing them within your content is also a good strategy. And just like in SEO, prioritising clarity over keyword stuffing is still imperative.
In short, you’re still optimising, but now for both humans and machines. The best-performing content today is technically sound from an SEO perspective, AI-readable, and user-first in its design. Everything at the same time.
So, it’s not a choice between SEO or Artificial Intelligence. It’s about adapting SEO for an AI-driven world, where the goal is:
- To be found.
- To be understood and surfaced by the tools shaping tomorrow’s search landscape.
Strategies for Improving Your AI Results
The core focus is becoming a trusted source that powers AI-generated answers. Here’s how to approach that effectively.
Start with clear, well-structured content.
Artificial Intelligence prefers clarity. Content that follows a logical flow, with clear headings, short paragraphs, and organised sections, is easier for AI systems to interpret and cite. Prioritise user intent and readability from the start.
Focus on answering real questions.
AI tools are designed to respond to natural, conversational queries. Shape your content around those same patterns. Include FAQs, how-to guides, definitions, and clear explanations that directly meet the needs of your audience.
Use structured data and schema markup.
Schema, or schema markup, is a type of structured data added to a website’s HTML code that helps search engines understand the content of a page more clearly. It’s like a set of labels or tags that explain what different parts of your copy actually mean. By marking up product information, reviews, FAQs, articles, and events, you increase the chances of your publication appearing in AI summaries.
Build topical authority.
AI systems often rely on signals that demonstrate depth and consistency. Create clusters of related content around key themes, use internal linking strategically, and show your expertise across multiple pages within the same domain.
Optimise for featured snippets and zero-click formats.
AI frequently draws from content designed to answer questions concisely. Offer definitions, lists, summaries, and step-by-step explanations in a format that aligns with how featured snippets are displayed.
Maintain up-to-date, trustworthy content.
AI tools favour content from reliable sources with current information. Regularly review your pages, highlight author expertise, include references, and follow E-E-A-T principles — Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
Use an “llms.txt” to control how your content is used.
As Artificial Intelligence systems increasingly rely on public web pages to train and improve models, website owners may want to set boundaries. The llms.txt file is a proposed standard that allows you to specify whether your content can be accessed, used, or stored by AI crawlers. It functions like robots.txt, but is specifically designed for large language models. While adoption is still voluntary, using llms.txt sends a clear signal about how your publications should be treated, and gives you a level (or, at least, a sense) of control.
AI or SEO? The Answer Is Both
AI vs. SEO: What should you really optimise your website for? The short answer is both, because the two are no longer separate.
We’ve moved from keyword-heavy queries and long lists of links to a search experience that feels more like a conversation. You need content that performs well in traditional search rankings and supports AI tools in generating accurate, useful responses.
So, it’s not a question of choosing between AI and SEO. The real challenge is understanding how to optimise for both, because they’re now part of the same system. Want to learn more? Please speak to our Liverpool SEO agency.