The digital marketing landscape moves quickly (it always has), in the 2+ decades it’s existed. But it’s never moved faster than right now, and that’s thanks largely to AI and Large Language Models (such as Chat GPT).
For the last two years or so, we have seen endless articles and cheat sheets on creating content utilising AI. Some recommend using it just for research, while others ask AI to create whole pages, blog posts, and even apps. According to these ‘SEO gurus’, there isn’t anything AI can’t do.
Google’s ears twitched, and in March & April, they adjusted their algorithm, sending many of these unhelpful sites into a death spiral (Source).
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How to Write Content That Show Up in Search Results
Those of us that have been writing engaging, informative content breathed a welcome sigh of relief as a large portion of the internet was purged of regurgitated waste. Here’s our article on how to write informative, rich content.
And, for reference, here’s how our agency uses ChatGPT.
The days of lazy publishers relying on AI to write content – and being rewarded in Google – ended.
Now, we want to flip things and look at the other side. We’ll turn from how you should (or shouldn’t) be using AI for content to something that hasn’t yet been explored much–ranking in AI search results.
We’ve Googled terms like ‘write content to rank in AI’ or ‘how to get my site listed as a result in AI’, and while some have focused on ChatGPT ranking factors, no one has answered the question more broadly. So, we’re going to do that here.
Let’s start at the beginning…specifically with GEO.
What is Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)?
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), like SEO, involves optimising your website, content, etc., to achieve higher ranking opportunities within generative AI models, like ChatGPT, Perplexity AI and Google’s new SGE (aka Google’s AI Overview).
What does ranking in AI Results Pages (AIRPs) mean?
Most of us have, I assume, dabbled with AI search by now. By that, I mean ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, or others. We’ve asked it millions upon millions of questions, with the AI learning as we go. And, it can be as simple as an answer with a short piece of text. Sometimes, it’s a wall of information, and occasionally, there are links. Yes, links!
Here’s an example from a quick search We’ve just run on ChatGPT:
As you can see from the screenshot, ChatGPT has referenced three sources and provided hyperlinks to the external URLs for the user to access.
In this article from search engine land, they refer to leads they’ve seen generated through ChatGPT.
“With the widespread adoption of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, GEO can be a fundamental driver of leads. Some brands report getting 5% of their overall leads or $100,000 in monthly subscription revenue, from ChatGPT.”
When we refer to ‘ranking in AI’, this is what we mean. Your website is selected and linked to from within the AI results page (AIRPs).
Why have we called it AIRPs? What are AIRPs?
AIRPs stands for Artificial Intelligence Results Page(s). What we mean by this, is the results listed on a generative search page for something like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, etc. You ask the AI a question, and it provides an answer. The result is listed on an AIRP.
We have mimicked SERPs—Search Engine Results Page(s). ‘AIRPs’ offers a complementary symmetry, which means we can be more concise and refer to ranking in both SERPs and AIRPs.
After some Googling, it doesn’t appear there is a definitive name for AI ranking. GERPs might pop up in the future, but for now, we’re calling it AIRPs.
How we got content to rank in AI (AIRPs)
Searchengineland wrote an article referring to SEO–Search Everywhere Optimisation. This really resonated with us.
Many of us are familiar with Google’s ranking tenements, including EEAT–Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness. The premise is that for your content to rank well, especially for competitive terms, you must include all of these factors. In short, your content must be useful to the user.
There is also YMYL–Your Money, Your Life. If the page contains information that could affect a user’s happiness, health, financial stability, safety, or well-being, then EEAT is even more essential. For example, you wouldn’t want clinical medical advice from an untrusted source, and SERPs consider that when ranking relevant links.
SEMRush has a helpful post breaking down YMYL and EEAT here.
In order to rank for SERPs, let’s assume you’re covering these bases. You’re writing for EEAT and YMYL-Your Money or Your Life.
And if you’re looking for a handy list to check your content, we’ve written this one for you. Here’s a helpful breakdown to assess if your content is optimised for SERPs.
Neil Patel, Single Grain and Copyblogger have all written great articles on ChatGPT ranking factors, highlighting the following:
Brand Mentions – from other websites and social media (where relevant)
Reviews
- Service-based businesses need to obtain reviews on platforms like GBP and other relevant directories
- Product-based businesses need to obtain reviews on their own website, directories and also mentions on social media.
Relevancy
- Keyword and content research is a necessity
Age (of post)
- Publishing relevant content frequently is a high priority
Recommendations
- Recommendations from other websites or social media platforms
Authority
- Domain authority
- Social following
Here is an example of our website ranking in ChatGPT for the search ‘what happened to facebook jobs in australia? Not sure why they called us Biz Assist!
ChatGPT selected our blog post from 2022, when Facebook removed Facebook jobs. This post included the EEAT tenements and included the following:
- H1
- H2
- Contents table
- Paragraph text
- Lists
- Images
- Case studies
- FAQ schema
- Internal links
- Considered keywords and subtopics
- Metadata
- Expert input
As well as soaring in the SERPs, it’s been included as a knowledgeable resource in AIRPs.
We couldn’t put it any more succinctly than Searchengineland:
“we must take more ownership to optimize beyond Google. Search is more fractured than ever, so people turn to places beyond Google to find what they need.”
This is where AI steps in, usurping some of that traffic. Traffic that is growing incrementally.
And there are those who believe AI will make SERPs obsolete.
We don’t know what will happen yet, but we know we can’t avoid AI. Instead, our agency chooses to embrace it and scour it for opportunities.
At least for now, our experience suggests that writing for SERPs, including EEAT and YMYL considerations, will optimise your site to rank in AIRPs.
What is the value of your site appearing in AI?
That’s the big question we’re all waiting for an answer. And we will openly admit we don’t know. But the future of search is in AI, and ignoring it isn’t going to make it go away.
By taking the information available, which indicates that optimising for SERPs also optimises for AIRPs, you’re future-proofing your website. So should the inevitable switch happen, and AI monopolises 90%+ of online searches, you’re prepared. You won’t lose unnecessary traffic or have a significant task ahead of you–optimising all your existing content.
Yes this image was made by AI because we couldn’t find a better one to represent a strong website ready for the future.
Here’s a breakdown of how we have appeared in various AIRPs and the traffic we have seen from them:
Ranking in ChatGPT
When utilising ChatGPT, it doesn’t always provide sources, although it’s increasingly including them. Whether this is to reduce copyright lawsuits going forward or to match competitor results, we can’t speculate, but we’re happy to see referral links growing in number.
Ranking in Perplexity AI
Most queries on Perplexity return AIRPs with source links. They even provide user-friendly thumbnails. As such, we have seen traffic referred from ‘Perplexity.ai’ – screenshot below.
This screenshot shows traffic referred to us by Perplexity. It’s small, but it’s a start.
Ranking in Google's AI Overview
Google’s SERPs provide AI-based snippets at the top–Google’s Search Generative Experience. Here is a screenshot of how our website appeared for the same query as before.
Note: In Australia, the SGE update has not been rolled out. This screenshot of our website ranking in Google’s SGE was taken from outside Australia.
To date, we cannot find data for Google’s SGE as a traffic source. That may be because it hasn’t generated any traffic yet (as it hasn’t fully rolled out) or because it’s not configured as a referral source within GA4 and Google Search Console–although we suspect it’s only a matter of time before SGE results are included within Google Search Console Search Appearance reporting data. It might be that it currently refers traffic as a referral source, but it’s reported as ‘organic search’ and ‘google.com’ rather than Google > SGE.
MarketingMag has a great writeup on AI Overviews (like SGE) utilising Gemini at the top of organic SERPs. Including their tips on how to make your content appeal to AIO’s. Another way of saying ‘ai ranking factors’.
Should you optimise your content for AI?
From our experience: our site and those of our clients have started appearing in AIRPs for relevant queries without being specifically optimised for them.
All of our content is written with SERPs in mind–specifically Google, following the EEAT and YMYL guidelines.
Here’s another example of AIRPs selecting our website as a source.
In fact, Perplexity linked to our post five times:
So, we can safely assume, at this stage, that optimising your content following EEAT for SERPs will optimise it for AIRPs too.
Do you need to write separate content for SERPs and AIRPs?
If you have thoughtfully considered your existing content and optimised it for SEO–whether ‘Search Engines’ or ‘Search Everywhere’, ticking off the EEAT profile, you have covered your bases.
However, if your articles follow these guidelines below, we suggest that you will maximise your chances of your content appearing in SERPs and AIRP’s:
- We tend to write long form content
- We use extensive internal liking
- We link to trustworthy external sources
- We apply structured data
- We use attractive and clear images
What was the objective of this article?
We wanted to highlight that AI has the potential to generate traffic to your website and that optimising for it should be encouraged, and not be something to be afraid of or something to ignore.
Optimising for AIRPs is a consideration we discuss with our clients and is part of our SEO process going forward—Search Everywhere Optimisation, that is.
If your business needs guidance on SEO or GEO (AIO), we can assist.
Get in touch with our SEO experts who are happy to help. And why not sign up for a complimentary 45-minute strategy session – obligation-free?
