AI and SEO: What You Need To Do To Be Seen Online In 2025
ChatGPT opened to the public in November of 2022. Fast-forward almost 3 years and nearly everyone uses AI in their daily lives. Most major companies use AI bots to answer user questions. College students use it to draft papers. Those adults who didn’t quite excel at English in high school use it to polish writing for their corporate jobs. Heck, my mom even used it to help her plan an international trip a few months ago. It’s everywhere, and it’s changing how we do many tasks in our daily personal and professional lives.
Businesses trying to market themselves often think of AI as a tool to make writing and researching easier. It can help with idea generation and many of the more tedious tasks of mass communication. But many are not paying close enough attention to what AI means for exposure on a greater scale and how we need to change our tactics to make us visible in an AI-first environment.
AI Overviews
In May of last year, Google’s Gemini began returning “AI overviews” in conjunction with traditional search results. For those unfamiliar with the feature, it is the summary blurb at the top of a google search return before the traditional (both sponsored and organic) website links . Since its introduction, the number of searches yielding an AI overview have grown exponentially. Pew Research Center estimated about 1/5 of search results returned an AI overview in March of 2025. The consequence? Users click through to a link on a Google search results page about half as often when there is an AI overview present.
In other words, users are getting the answer they’re looking for on the search results page without ever clicking through to the source material, i.e. your website.
Consumer Behavior Changes
User search habits are changing in response to AI’s expansion. Some users are choosing to skip the traditional Google search page altogether in favor of asking their favorite Large Language Model (LLM) for answers to their questions. Others are adapting their language in the more traditional search engines to deliver specific answers rather than a curated list of web pages. Instead of searching for key terms like we historically have (examples: flu symptoms), users are rapidly asking google very specific questions (How do I know if I have the flu rather than covid?).
Now, if you’re a business owner or marketing generalist, you might be saying to yourself “Cool, but this all sounds very technical, and I’m not sure this really relates to me.” But, stay with me, because this is making a huge difference in your marketing metrics, and creating a new avenue of opportunity for your business.
As AI infiltrates how we search and receive information on the internet, and page views subsequently diminish, we as marketing professionals and business owners must rethink how we communicate to get in front of our customers.
What business owners/marketers can do about it
While it is true that the rapidly changing information-gathering interface is making traditional marketing efforts, and measurement, incredibly difficult, we’re also entering a time of great opportunity for those of us who can learn to work with and not against, this historic wave of change.
In much the same way that companies have spent the last couple of decades optimizing their website for traditional search engines, companies, especially small businesses, should now be looking to pivot their marketing endeavors to appeal to AI engines as well.
Here are a few tips for those of us trying to remain relevant in online search in 2025.
Traditional SEO: Don’t throw out your basic SEO checklists. Cross-link your platforms, update your content regularly, use keywords and alt tags, and communicate clearly and succinctly. Traditional SEO optimization increases the likelihood that you’ll be preferred by AI.
Answer specific questions: AI is designed to mine the internet for answers to specific questions. So, if your website and social platforms include FAQs, basic how-tos, and tutorials, you’ll have a much better chance of being seen.
Don’t let AI write your copy: Many can tell if they’re reading something straight from ChatGPT. While there’s no shame in using it for certain purposes, AI should not replace your human expertise and your brand voice. People crave connection. You are uniquely positioned (as a human) to connect with your clients in a way an algorithm never could. The more people connect to you, the more reputable AI assumes you are.
Reference others: Cross-linking/back-linking increases credibility. Cite your sources in any blogs or white papers you write, and try to get other industry partners to link to you on their websites and social channels, too. AI is looking for social proof that you’re a valid source of information.
Google business profile: Google, in particular, is looking at your business profile to gather reviews and information about your offerings, hours of operations, location, etc. Make sure it’s up to date. And, boost it with reviews from your happy customers if you can. Which leads me to my next point…
Get reviews: This pairs nicely with #5 but the reviews don’t need to be limited to Google. Lists of top professionals in your industry, social media reviews, and any commentary about you on the internet can be mined by AI to teach it how great you are and that it should recommend you.
Use AI to optimize for AI: When in doubt, open up your favorite LLM and ask it what it knows about you and what you can do to optimize for AI. It probably won’t give you every potential area of improvement but it will give you a few key recommendations specific to you.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt that AI is creating massive upheaval for industries world-wide. But, where there is change there is opportunity, and I see many potential avenues for small-to-medium-sized businesses to optimize for the new search environment with less work than one might think.
Interested in a site audit for specific optimization opportunities for your brand? Send us a message today for a free consultation.