My last newsletter focused on the shift in search and the changes in traffic, behaviour and how decisions are being made.
I think a lot of businesses understand something has changed, but they don’t know what they can do to influence it. This follow-up looks at what actually works.
What AI search is actually looking for
From what I’m seeing (and being told by our search team), three things consistently influence whether a business gets picked.
Clarity, structure and credibility.
Most content issues sit somewhere within those three areas, but the important part is how they are applied.
Clarity is about focus
- Businesses that perform well are very easy to understand
- They are clearly associated with specific services, sectors or problems
- When a query is asked, there is no ambiguity about whether they are relevant
Structure is about usability
- AI tools aren’t reading your website in the same way a person would, they are extracting and interpreting
- Content that works is built around questions, broken into logical sections and written in a way that delivers answers quickly
Credibility is what determines whether you are trusted enough to be referenced
This goes beyond your website. It includes how consistently you are mentioned across other sites, whether you have authoritative links pointing back to you and whether your content demonstrates real experience rather than surface-level knowledge.
Where most businesses go wrong
A lot of businesses are still producing content based on how search used to work, targeting keywords, creating broad pages and trying to cover as much as possible.
Some of the most common issues:
- Content exists, but it doesn’t directly answer the questions people are asking
- Services are listed, but not clearly defined or separated
- Websites have grown over time, but without a clear structure behind them
- AI is used to generate content quickly, but without adding anything original or credible
- There is little external validation to reinforce trust
Individually, these do not seem like major issues, but combined, they make it difficult for AI to understand where you fit and even harder to justify referencing you.
What to focus on
For most businesses, the priority doesn’t need to be to overhaul everything, but rather to focus on getting the fundamentals right and build from there.
Start with how your business is understood
If someone asked what you do, in one sentence, would your website reflect that clearly across its structure and content?
Then look at how you support that
Do your key pages answer the questions your audience is asking at different stages, or do they just describe your services?
From there, consider how credible you appear beyond your own website
Are you being referenced elsewhere, are you contributing to industry conversations and is there evidence that supports your expertise?
These are the factors that influence whether you are selected as an answer, not just listed as an option.
How we can help
Search might feel like it’s become more complicated, but in all honesty, I think it’s always been complex.
The shift is more around it becoming less forgiving! There is less room for vague positioning, generic content or weak signals of credibility.
Businesses that are clear, structured and credible are being pulled into the answers, and those that aren’t are being filtered out earlier in the process.
If you are unsure where you currently stand, feel free to get in touch or leave a comment. I can run a GEO audit to show where you are visible, where that visibility is coming from and where the gaps are.
