Discover key strategies for SEO in the AI era, including E-E-A-T optimization, natural language processing, and technical best practices for 2025 and beyond.
Table of Contents
SEO for the AI era marks a new frontier in the digital marketing landscape. While traditional SEO principles still hold value, understanding how the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping strategies is crucial. This fusion of human understanding and AI’s data processing power presents new challenges for marketers.
Adapting to this changing landscape means getting smarter with how we create, format, and leverage our content — the heart and soul of SEO for the AI era. This goes far beyond adding a few keywords into your latest blog post. AI seeks substance, authority, and genuine user value.
How AI is Influencing Search Engines
Google has openly embraced AI with its Search Generative Experience (SGE), which leverages sophisticated algorithms to understand user queries. These algorithms include BERT, MUM, RankBrain, and neural matching systems. How to rank in SGE has changed as a result.
This allows SGE to return highly relevant content. Google states that SGE is “rooted in our core Search ranking and quality systems.” These core ranking and quality systems use many algorithmic components to deliver accurate Google search results for each user’s search intent.
AI plays a major role in making sure Google’s results are valuable, informative, and credible. This aligns with what Google’s Helpful Content Update aims to achieve.
Along with other strategies for SEO for the AI era, we must naturally follow SEO best practices. We must also align with Google’s Spam detection systems.
The Role of Keywords
Keywords remain crucial in the world of search. However, we can’t treat them as buzzwords sprinkled into text. Websites and marketers focused on delivering high-quality content will be the real winners in SEO for the AI era.
Using AI-powered systems, you can achieve greater visibility in searches. Many tactics can increase visibility. However, five tactics stand out when focusing your optimization efforts on content-based systems.
Top 5 Strategies For Content-Based System Optimizations
Take a look at this chart illustrating five strategies for content based system optimizations.
Content-Based System | Tactics to Optimize |
Freshness Systems | Look for old, but relevant content to update. Repurposing old blog posts, particularly those with timely or evolving subject matters, can breathe new life into them. |
Helpful Content System | Create helpful tools or in-depth guides on your topics. This delivers value, attracts attention, and keeps readers coming back for more information. |
Original Content Systems | Create unique and valuable content that other websites can reference back to you. For example, consider creating original research and case studies. |
Passage Ranking System | Craft your content to meet specific user needs. Pay close attention to user intent when creating content. |
Link Analysis Systems | Use various techniques to create an optimized site structure. This includes linking to other relevant content on your site, as well as building links from external websites. Effective backlinking strategies, both internal and external, are an important part of this process. |
These tactics highlight the importance of content marketing in the age of AI. You can’t just rely on old tactics. Instead, you must produce material that educates, answers questions, and is perceived as trustworthy.
When applying these five tactics, remember that SEO best practices shouldn’t be ignored. Use them as supplemental activities that can further increase your search engine ranking.
Let’s look at how SGE works. AI analyzes and sifts through massive amounts of content. It pulls out the best and most pertinent information, presenting it to the searcher in concise AI snapshots.
Google aims to give users the most accurate, authoritative information upfront. At the same time, SGE provides further conversational options to refine searches. SGE even cites its sources, preventing plagiarism.
Gaining Visibility Within Search Generative Experience
Google’s SGE will continue to change the SEO landscape. Getting your website featured as a source in SGE can significantly boost your traffic. So, how do you use SGE to your advantage with SEO for the AI era?
Since AI and search engines constantly evolve, we don’t yet know everything. That’s why ongoing observation and experimentation are critical for SEO professionals.
Claiming Your Google Knowledge Panel
With AI’s influence on search results, you want to ensure Google knows your business exists. Google often displays information like company location, hours of operation, address, logo, reviews, and even a knowledge graph in search results.
This is especially true for certain topics. Check to see if Google already has information on your brand.
If no information appears for your brand, you can take action. Use the Google Business Profile Manager. This gives you greater control over how Google portrays your business in search results.
When you input your business information into Google Business Profile Manager, Google will pull this information directly. Otherwise, Google tries to piece together information from different sources.
SEO for the AI era – 5 Strategies to Stay Ahead of the Curve
Staying ahead of the curve with SEO in the AI era involves using multiple strategies. This includes targeting long-tail keywords, using structured data, and ensuring your site loads fast on all devices. Let’s take a closer look at these strategies based on our extensive knowledge getting excellent results for our clients.
1. Targeting Those All-Important Long Tail Searches
Long-tail keywords are longer and more specific keyword phrases that people use when searching. For example, instead of searching for “shoes,” someone might search for “best running shoes for flat feet.”
These phrases are often phrased as questions using natural language. Long-tail keywords are even more valuable in SEO for the AI era. AI algorithms are sophisticated enough to understand the context, meaning, and intent behind them.
Long-tail keywords go beyond simple keywords and attract a more specific audience. For example, they attract the people specifically looking for your niche keyword.
While long-tail keywords are important, suggested follow-up searches, unlike those found in an AI Overview, do not appear with those overviews. Let’s look at how you can take advantage of this.
2. Leveraging Structured Data
Structured data is a way of organizing information on your website to make it easier for search engines to understand. You can think of AI models as apprentices.
By giving them information in a way they can easily understand, you’re giving them blueprints instead of a stack of disorganized notes. Using structured data liberally will make your content more appealing to search engine AI.
Structured data is now becoming critical for getting your site chosen in the age of SEO for the AI era. This is because it helps bots understand your content’s context. Google’s Shopping Graph (Google’s database for products) uses structured data to serve up relevant product information.
Structured data plays a huge role in this. When thinking about SGE and the power behind it, product schema is one of the most important types of structured data to use.
Consider being intentional about using different schemas on various types of content. For example, you can use organization and Local Business schema. These are just two examples, and many other types of schema can benefit your content.
3. Joining Google Merchant Center
If you sell products online, consider joining Google Merchant Center, Google’s platform for eCommerce. This free service helps brands and companies selling products online get found across the platform. You can easily join by signing up on Google’s platform.
Both SGE and the Google Shopping Graph heavily utilize transactional keywords. Optimizing your website so that Google understands exactly what you offer is essential. This includes using relevant keywords in your product titles, descriptions, and other content.
Give your website an added boost by building your E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness. Increasing E-E-A-T makes Google happy and increases its trust in your website.
4. Amp Up E-E-A-T Indicators
Recent research into generative engines shows that E-E-A-T strongly influences the results these engines return. Now, we need to move beyond just creating adequate content.
We must create content that demonstrates expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. This will make your website more attractive to the AI algorithms that determine which websites Google shows to users.
- Showcase Your Expertise: Share what you know and demonstrate your unique experience in your niche. Readers will trust what you say if you show that you’re an authority on the topic. Google also favors brands that are viewed as trustworthy.
- Support Your Content with Evidence: Support claims with credible sources like industry journals or expert opinions. Incorporate and cite this information to strengthen your content and build relationships.
- Ensure Accurate Content: Double-check all facts before publishing. Grammatical errors and inconsistencies, even if minor, can make you look less authoritative.
5. Mobile Friendliness – Making Sure Your Site Loads On Every Screen
Your SEO efforts will be in vain if people reach a website that is hard to navigate. Imagine clicking a link in an SGE snippet, only to land on a slow-loading page that’s hard to read. This often happens when websites aren’t optimized for all devices.
Google wants websites to be optimized for every screen to improve user experience. In June of 2021, it made major updates to search, looking at a page’s Core Web Vitals to measure performance.
DMNews states that mobile SEO is now a top priority, with mobile searches representing the majority of search behavior. Since these metrics are growing in significance, prioritize the mobile user experience.
Google has continually shown its preference for mobile-friendly websites. For example, on February 26th of 2015, it began working towards providing users a quick-loading experience across devices. Over the years, Google has continued optimizing its algorithm and has even released mobile-friendly content guidance.
A report from USA Today showed that younger users now prefer using non-traditional search engines. With the number of mobile users increasing, websites must offer excellent user experiences across all devices.
Although the shift toward AI-powered search continues, websites still need to be mobile-friendly. There are several ways to accomplish this:
- Use Responsive Website Design: Responsive web design allows websites to adjust to any screen size. With a responsive website, users can easily navigate your website without pinching and zooming. A responsive web design can help you avoid a high bounce rate on your site.
- Lightning Fast Page Speed: Fast loading speeds boost search rankings and user experience. Optimize your site by minimizing large files and images.
- Easy Readability: Content should be easy to read on all devices. Use large font sizes, clear fonts, and mobile-friendly layouts.
Producing Baseline SEO for the AI Era
While incorporating new AI strategies is important, don’t forget about tried and tested baseline SEO methods. When deployed correctly, these methods deliver impressive results.
Focus on ethical SEO strategies that add value to your users. Tried-and-true SEO techniques can be highly effective.
They can help your brand quickly gain traction, especially if you have a strong website. Keep this in mind as you explore different strategies for SEO in the AI era.
Prioritize Creating Content with Information Gain in Mind
Your content needs to stand out from the crowd. AI will quickly move on if it looks like everyone else’s. In SEO for the AI era, content is more important than ever. To increase information gain, your content needs to provide valuable insights that others don’t offer.
Understanding your topic thoroughly before creating content is vital. In June of 2022, Google was granted a patent for “Information Gain Score.” Although this has always been a part of its algorithm, it is even more important now due to AI’s ability to generate large amounts of content.
Think of your content like a chef creating a meal. Don’t rehash old dishes. Craft unique dishes by combining ingredients in novel ways.
Creativity and innovation will make your content stand out. Google loves unique and helpful content, which aligns with its mission to deliver the best search results.
When creating content in the age of AI, consider the following:
- Originality
- Impact
- Quality
Use these three pillars to create the highest-quality content that will engage readers and perform well in search results. It’s essentially all about keeping yourself in the shoes (or seat) or your reader and writing what you know will satisfy their reason for clicking on your content.
FAQs about SEO for the AI era
Does SEO still matter with AI?
Yes. AI plays a growing role in SEO; however, core SEO principles are here to stay. They are even more critical now due to AI.
Search engines rely on AI, and we must optimize our content to ensure these engines work properly. Google’s goal is still to deliver quality content to users. Therefore, SEO is critical for achieving this. SEO and AI can and should work together.
What is the future of SEO in the age of AI?
AI will continue to impact SEO. Although it is impossible to predict how AI will change, marketers need to adapt to these changes.
Search engines and AI constantly improve. Staying current on SEO best practices and trends is essential for maintaining visibility online.
How can AI be used in SEO?
You can use AI in SEO in several ways. For example, it can help with keyword research and content creation. However, ensure you follow ethical white-hat SEO practices.
Also, remember that content needs to provide a high level of information gain. AI should be used to improve your workflow, but it shouldn’t replace the human touch entirely.
How is AI going to affect content SEO strategies in 2025?
Content SEO strategies must evolve to account for AI. Well-researched, authentically written, and fact-checked content is essential. The need for factual content will become increasingly important.
Additionally, leveraging expert opinions will enhance content and build E-E-A-T. SEO experts need to become excellent storytellers as they adapt to the changes AI brings.
Content structure also plays an important role in providing a good user experience. Content marketing success relies on a multi-faceted approach that combines strong writing, SEO, and user experience.
Ready To Level Up Your SEO?
AI will continue to impact how we approach SEO. Marketers need to adapt to stay ahead of the curve.
One thing remains constant. Strong SEO skills will always be in demand. AI should be viewed as a tool.
You can leverage this tool, along with high-quality content, to reach a wider audience. Google’s commitment to providing users with excellent resources gives us insight into where SEO is headed. SEO for the AI era will continue to focus on creating helpful, purpose-driven content.
As a leading digital marketing company, Storm Brain’s team of digital marketing and SEO experts understand what it takes to build a beautiful site that your customers and search engines love. Contact us today to see how we can help you stand out from your competitors.
