Right now, AI is probably poking around your site and sizing it up. Tools like ChatGPT search are flipping the script on how people find answers online. Smart assistants are doing a lot of the heavy lifting these days, so if your site isn’t speaking their language, your search results could be in big trouble.
Relax. The robots aren’t taking over.
It’s true that AI is changing search behaviour, but then so did the shift from old-school directories and the prominence of localisation. In terms of AI, though, the shift is more fundamental.
When someone asks ChatGPT to search for something, it doesn’t pull up a list of sites; it jumps straight to answers. These are shaped by what the AI already knows and what it’s been trained on. So the big question is, are you teaching AI to recognise your site?
Teach AI and Optimise For It
Traditional Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) gave us some key rules. Keywords, backlinks, structured data. That stuff still matters, but ChatGPT search puts way more emphasis on context.
To appear in AI-powered search results, your site needs to help the model understand. That means clear, authoritative content written in natural language. It also means aligning your brand with topical relevance, so when someone asks a question, the AI remembers that you had the answer last time. Updating your content helps here, too. AI loves fresh, reliable sources.
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Our in-house team of creatives, copywriters, and SEO experts can work with you to create content that’s loved by human beings, as well as the algorithms that drive search engine positions. Find out more about our content marketing services here, or get in touch with any questions.
What AI Sees vs. What People See
An AI doesn’t really care how pretty your homepage looks (though your users do, so if you care about human engagement, never scrimp on it). AI doesn’t scroll. It doesn’t hover. It reads code. If your site is packed with bloated scripts or lacks schema markup, AI might not see it clearly.
Structured data is key.
Think of it as subtitles for your website. Schema markup tells AI what each piece of your page is, whether it’s product details or business hours. Without it, your content can be invisible to AI search results. A proper technical audit helps here. The best SEO agencies can identify what’s missing from your site and how to make your content work harder for both humans and AI tools like ChatGPT search.
The Aim is to Get Quoted
ChatGPT search might never send a user to your site, so in terms of clickthroughs, you probably won’t see a big lift from optimising your site for AI. However, these large language models do quote answers directly. This means the payoff happens earlier in the funnel in the form of brand visibility and authority.
If your copy is clear, helpful, and informative, you become AI’s mouthpiece. If it’s thin, vague, or bloated with filler, you’ll be skipped.
Ready to Cut the Fluff and Make ChatGPT Search Work For You?
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FAQs
What is AI search, and how does it work?
AI search uses large language models to provide direct answers to questions instead of linking out to websites like old-school search engines do.
Can AI affect how much traffic my website gets?
Absolutely. Even if AI brings up answers without linking to your site, your brand could still benefit. That said, click-through traffic may drop.
Do I need to change all my content?
No, but you might need to rework it for clarity, context and structure so it’s easier for AI to understand and use. This shouldn’t come at a cost to the human reader, though.
Is structured data really that important?
Structured data helps AI interpret your site accurately, which makes it a crucial piece of the puzzle for modern SEO.
