Oct 28 2025
The AI Search Visibility Audit: 15 Questions Every CMO Should Ask

This post was sponsored by IQRush. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

Your traditional SEO is winning. Your AI visibility is failing. Here’s how to fix it.

Your brand dominates page one of Google. Domain authority crushes competitors. Organic traffic trends upward quarter after quarter. Yet when customers ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, or others about your industry, your brand is nowhere to be found.

This is the AI visibility gap, which causes missed opportunities in awareness and sales.

“SEO ranking on page one doesn’t guarantee visibility in AI search.  The rules of ranking have shifted from optimization to verification.”

Raj Sapru, Netrush, Chief Strategy Officer

Recent analysis of AI-powered search patterns reveals a troubling reality: commercial brands with excellent traditional SEO performance often achieve minimal visibility in AI-generated responses. Meanwhile, educational institutions, industry publications, and comparison platforms consistently capture citations for product-related queries.

The problem isn’t your content quality. It’s that AI engines prioritize entirely different ranking factors than traditional search: semantic query matching over keyword density, verifiable authority markers over marketing claims, and machine-readable structure over persuasive copy.

This audit exposes 15 questions that separate AI-invisible brands from citation leaders.

Download the Full Audit

We’re sharing the first 7 critical questions below, covering visibility assessment, authority verification, and measurement fundamentals. These questions will reveal your most urgent gaps and provide immediate action steps.

Question 1: Are We Visible in AI-Powered Search Results?

Why This Matters: Commercial brands with strong traditional SEO often achieve minimal AI citation visibility in their categories. A recent IQRush field audit found fewer than one in ten AI-generated answers included in the brand, showing how limited visibility remains, even for strong SEO performers. Educational institutions, industry publications, and comparison sites dominate AI responses for product queries—even when commercial sites have superior content depth. In regulated industries, this gap widens further as compliance constraints limit commercial messaging while educational content flows freely into AI training data.

How to Audit:

  • Test core product or service queries through multiple AI platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude)
  • Document which sources AI engines cite: educational sites, industry publications, comparison platforms, or adjacent content providers
  • Calculate your visibility rate: queries where your brand appears vs. total queries tested

Action: If educational/institutional sources dominate, implement their citation-driving elements:

  • Add research references and authoritative citations to product content
  • Create FAQ-formatted content with an explicit question-answer structure
  • Deploy structured data markup (Product, FAQ, Organization schemas)
  • Make commercial content as machine-readable as educational sources

IQRush tracks citation frequency across AI platforms. Competitive analysis shows which schema implementations, content formats, and authority signals your competitors use to capture citations you’re losing.

Question 2: Are Our Expertise Claims Actually Verifiable?

Why This Matters: Machine-readable validation drives AI citation decisions: research references, technical standards, certifications, and regulatory documentation. Marketing claims like “industry-leading” or “trusted by thousands” carry zero weight. In one IQRush client analysis, more than four out of five brand mentions were supported by citations—evidence that structured, verifiable content is far more likely to earn visibility. Companies frequently score high on human appeal—compelling copy, strong brand messaging—but lack the structured authority signals AI engines require. This mismatch explains why brands with excellent traditional marketing achieve limited citation visibility.

How to Audit:

  • Review your priority pages and identify every factual claim made (performance stats, quality standards, methodology descriptions)
  • For each claim, check whether it links to or cites an authoritative source (research, standards body, certification authority)
  • Calculate verification ratio: claims with authoritative backing vs. total factual claims made

Action: For each unverified claim, either add authoritative backing or remove the statement:

  • Add specific citations to key claims (research databases, technical standards, industry reports)
  • Link technical specifications to recognized standards bodies
  • Include certification or compliance verification details where applicable
  • Remove marketing claims that can’t be substantiated with machine-verifiable sources

IQRush’s authority analysis identifies which claims need verification and recommends appropriate authoritative sources for your industry, eliminating research time while ensuring proper citation implementation.

Question 3: Does Our Content Match How People Query AI Engines?

Why This Matters: Semantic alignment matters more than keyword density. Pages optimized for traditional keyword targeting often fail in AI responses because they don’t match conversational query patterns. A page targeting “best project management software” may rank well in Google but miss AI citations if it doesn’t address how users actually ask: “What project management tool should I use for a remote team of 10?” In recent IQRush client audits, AI visibility clustered differently across verticals—consumer brands surfaced more frequently for transactional queries, while financial clients appeared mainly for informational intent. Intent mapping—informational, consideration, or transactional—determines whether AI engines surface your content or skip it.

How to Audit:

  • Test sample queries customers would use in AI engines for your product category
  • Evaluate whether your content is structured for the intent type (informational vs. transactional)
  • Assess if content uses conversational language patterns vs. traditional keyword optimization

Action: Align content with natural question patterns and semantic intent:

  • Restructure content to directly address how customers phrase questions
  • Create content for each intent stage: informational (education), consideration (comparison), transactional (specifications)
  • Use conversational language patterns that match AI engine interactions
  • Ensure semantic relevance beyond just keyword matching

IQRush maps your content against natural query patterns customers use in AI platforms, showing where keyword-optimized pages miss conversational intent.

Question 4: Is Our Product Information Structured for AI Recommendations?

Why This Matters: Product recommendations require structured data. AI engines extract and compare specifications, pricing, availability, and features from schema markup—not from marketing copy. Products with a comprehensive Product schema capture more AI citations in comparison queries than products buried in unstructured text. Bottom-funnel transactional queries (“best X for Y,” product comparisons) depend almost entirely on machine-readable product data.

How to Audit:

  • Check whether product pages include Product schema markup with complete specifications
  • Review if technical details (dimensions, materials, certifications, compatibility) are machine-readable
  • Test transactional queries (product comparisons, “best X for Y”) to see if your products appear
  • Assess whether pricing, availability, and purchase information is structured

Action: Implement comprehensive product data structure:

  • Deploy Product schema with complete technical specifications
  • Structure comparison information (tables, lists) that AI can easily parse
  • Include precise measurements, certifications, and compatibility details
  • Add FAQ schema addressing common product selection questions
  • Ensure pricing and availability data is machine-readable

IQRush’s ecommerce audit scans product pages for missing schema fields—price, availability, specifications, reviews—and prioritizes implementations based on query volume in your category.

Question 5: Is Our “Fresh” Content Actually Fresh to AI Engines?

Why This Matters: Recency signals matter, but timestamp manipulation doesn’t work. Pages with recent publication dates, but outdated information underperforms older pages with substantive updates: new research citations, current industry data, or refreshed technical specifications. Genuine content updates outweigh simple republishing with changed dates.

How to Audit:

  • Review when your priority pages were last substantively updated (not just timestamp changes)
  • Check whether content references recent research, current industry data, or updated standards
  • Assess if “evergreen” content has been refreshed with current examples and information
  • Compare your content recency to competitors appearing in AI responses

Action: Establish genuine content freshness practices:

  • Update high-priority pages with current research, data, and examples
  • Add recent case studies, industry developments, or regulatory changes
  • Refresh citations to include latest research or technical standards
  • Implement clear “last updated” dates that reflect substantive changes
  • Create update schedules for key content categories

IQRush compares your content recency against competitors capturing citations in your category, flagging pages that need substantive updates (new research, current data) versus pages where timestamp optimization alone would help.

Question 6: How Do We Measure What’s Actually Working?

Why This Matters: Traditional SEO metrics—rankings, traffic, CTR—miss the consideration impact of AI citations. Brand mentions in AI responses influence purchase decisions without generating click-through attribution, functioning more like brand awareness channels than direct response. CMOs operating without AI visibility measurement can’t quantify ROI, allocate budgets effectively, or report business impact to executives.

How to Audit:

  • Review your executive dashboards: Are AI visibility metrics present alongside SEO metrics?
  • Examine your analytics capabilities: Can you track how citation frequency changes month-over-month?
  • Assess competitive intelligence: Do you know your citation share relative to competitors?
  • Evaluate coverage: Which query categories are you blind to?

Action: Establish AI citation measurement:

  • Track citation frequency for core queries across AI platforms
  • Monitor competitive citation share and positioning changes
  • Measure sentiment and accuracy of brand mentions
  • Add AI visibility metrics to executive dashboards
  • Correlate AI visibility with consideration and conversion metrics

IQRush tracks citation frequency, competitive share, and month-over-month trends across across AI platforms. No manual testing or custom analytics development is required.

Question 7: Where Are Our Biggest Visibility Gaps?

Why This Matters: Brands typically achieve citation visibility for a small percentage of relevant queries, with dramatic variation by funnel stage and product category. IQRush analysis showed the same imbalance: consumer brands often surfaced in purchase-intent queries, while service firms appeared mostly in educational prompts. Most discovery moments generate zero brand visibility. Closing these gaps expands reach at stages where competitors currently dominate.

How to Audit:

  • List queries customers would ask about your products/services across different funnel stages
  • Group them by funnel stage (informational, consideration, transactional)
  • Test each query in AI platforms and document: Does your brand appear?
  • Calculate what percentage of queries produce brand mentions in each funnel stage
  • Identify patterns in the queries where you’re absent

Action: Target the funnel stages with lowest visibility first:

  • If weak at informational stage: Build educational content that answers “what is” and “how does” queries
  • If weak at consideration stage: Create comparison content structured as tables or side-by-side frameworks
  • If weak at transactional stage: Add comprehensive product specs with schema markup
  • Focus resources on stages where small improvements yield largest reach gains

IQRush’s funnel analysis quantifies gap size by stage and estimates impact, showing which content investments will close the most visibility gaps fastest.

The Compounding Advantage of Early Action

The first seven questions and actions highlight the differences between traditional SEO performance and AI search visibility. Together, they explain why brands with strong organic rankings often have zero citations in AI answers.

The remaining 8 questions in the comprehensive audit help you take your marketing further. They focus on technical aspects: the structure of your content, the backbone of your technical infrastructure, and the semantic strategies that signal true authority to AI. 

“Visibility in AI search compounds, making it harder for your competition to break through. The brands that make themselves machine-readable today will own the conversation tomorrow.”
Raj Sapru, Netrush, Chief Strategy Officer

IQRush data shows the same thing across industries: early brands that adopt a new AI answer engine optimization strategy quickly start to lock in positions of trust that competitors can’t easily replace. Once your brand becomes the reliable answer source, AI engines will start to default to you for related queries, and the advantage snowballs.

The window to be an early adopter and take AI visibility for your brand will not stay open forever.  As more brands invest in AI visibility, the visibility race is heating up.

Download the Complete AI Search Visibility Audit with detailed assessment frameworks, implementation checklists, and the 8 strategic questions covering content architecture, technical infrastructure, and linguistic optimization. Each question includes specific audit steps and immediate action items to close your visibility gaps and establish authoritative positioning before your market becomes saturated with AI-optimized competitors.

Download the Full Audit

Image Credits

Featured Image: Image by IQRush. Used with permission.

In-Post Images: Image by IQRush. Used with permission.

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Oct 24 2025
Holiday Email Deliverability: 4 Expert Tips To Reach More Inboxes

This post was sponsored by Campaign Monitor. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

Does it seem like fewer emails are getting delivered?

Are bounce rates and spam numbers too high for your liking?

Your well-crafted campaigns are at risk.

They are at risk of missing the mark if deliverability isn’t a priority.

Why Are My Email Delivery Scores So Low?

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and year-end sales push email volume to record highs, prompting mailbox providers (MBPs) like Gmail and Yahoo to tighten spam filters and raise the bar for acceptable sending practices.

How Can I Ensure Marketing Emails Reach Inboxes?

To help your emails reach subscribers when it matters most, our email deliverability experts outline four practical tips for safeguarding inbox placement, without sounding “salesy” or relying on quick fixes.

1. Understand & Strengthen Deliverability For Better Results

What Is Email Deliverability?

Email deliverability refers to whether your message actually reaches the recipient’s inbox.

What Determines Email Deliverability?

Each time an email is sent, the email passes through two critical stages.

Stage 1: Delivery.

  1. Your email is sent to an MBP (e.g., Gmail, Outlook).
  2. It is either accepted or rejected.

Rejections can be hard bounces (invalid addresses) or soft bounces (temporary issues like a full mailbox).

Stage 2: Inbox placement.

Once accepted, MBPs decide whether to:

  1. Place your email in the inbox.
  2. Route it to promotions.
  3. Filter it as spam.

What Causes Marketing Emails To Be Marked As Spam?

The judgment to flag an email as spam depends on:

During peak season, email volume can double or triple, especially around Black Friday/Cyber Monday.

MBPs must guard against spammers, so legitimate senders face stricter scrutiny.

Understanding these mechanics helps marketers avoid being mistaken for unwanted senders and improves inbox placement.

For a deeper dive into how email deliverability works, check out this full guide.

2. Build & Maintain a Strong Sender Reputation

Mailbox providers rely on sender reputation to separate trusted messages from spam.

What Is Sender Reputation?

Two factors determine sender reputation:

  • Audience Engagement. High open and click rates send positive signals. MBPs also track how long recipients read messages, whether they add you to contacts, or delete without opening.
  • List Quality. Permission and relevance are critical. New holiday sign-ups should go through a compliant opt-in process, supported by a welcoming automation that sets expectations.

How Do I Get A Better Sender Reputation?

To keep your reputation strong:

  • Re-engage inactive subscribers early, well before the holiday surge.
  • Remove dormant contacts if they stay unresponsive.
  • Honor unsubscribe requests promptly.

Maintaining this “good standing” ensures your campaigns consistently reach the inbox.

For practical steps, explore best practices for building healthy lists: https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/building-an-email-list/

3. Don’t Over-Spice Your Email Program

It’s tempting to send more emails to more people as the holidays approach.

However, sudden changes can trigger spam filters.

MBPs closely monitor sending patterns, and abrupt spikes can undo months of good reputation.

Do:

  • Keep your cadence steady and test any new segments early.
  • Maintain clear, bot-protected signup forms and offer preference options so users can “opt down” rather than unsubscribe entirely.

Don’t:

  • Send to old or inactive lists, or change your sending domain in Q4.
  • Ignore warning signs like falling open rates or rising complaints.

For guidance on email frequency and audience expectations, see Campaign Monitor’s insights on email engagement: https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/email-engagement/

4. Monitor Key Metrics Like a Hawk

Even seasoned marketers may see deliverability metrics fluctuate during the holidays. Careful monitoring helps catch issues before they escalate:

  • Bounce rates: Hard bounces above 2% call for immediate action.
  • Complaint rates: Aim for 0.1% or lower to avoid spam folder placement.
  • Opt-out rates: A sudden rise means your frequency or content may need adjustment.
  • Open rates by domain: Consistency across Gmail, Yahoo, and others indicates healthy inbox placement.
  • Reputation signals: Tools like Gmail Postmaster reveal if your domain is being flagged.

Remember that mailbox providers increasingly use AI and machine learning to evaluate sender behavior and content quality. Authentic engagement is key. To learn more about measuring success, visit Campaign Monitor’s email marketing benchmarks: https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/email-marketing-benchmarks/

How To Use These Tips To Create High-Deliverability Holiday Email Campaigns

Landing in the inbox is a privilege, not a guarantee, so always be sure to:

  1. Secure explicit opt-in and send only wanted content.
  2. Keep your sender reputation strong with healthy engagement and clean lists.
  3. Avoid sudden changes in cadence or audience.
  4. Watch key metrics and adapt quickly when anomalies appear.

These steps help marketers navigate heavy holiday email traffic while maintaining trust and engagement with subscribers.

Campaign Monitor’s tools can further support these efforts by simplifying list management, automating welcome journeys, and providing detailed reporting, without overcomplicating your workflow.

By combining smart strategy with careful monitoring, you’ll set the stage for a successful holiday season where every email has the best chance to shine in the inbox.

Start reaching more inboxes this holiday season

Image Credits

Featured Image: Image by Campaign Monitor. Used with permission.

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Oct 15 2025
The AI Search Effect: What Agencies Need To Know For Local Search Clients

This post was sponsored by GatherUp. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

Local Search Has Changed: From “Found” to “Chosen”

Not long ago, showing up in a Google search was enough. A complete Google Business Profile (GBP) and a steady stream of reviews could put your client in front of the right customers.

But today’s local search looks very different. It’s no longer just about being found; it’s about being chosen.

That shift has only accelerated with the rise of AI-powered search. Instead of delivering a list of links, engines like ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Perplexity now generate instant summaries. Changing the way consumers interact with search results, these summaries are the key to whether or not your client’s business gets seen at all.

Reality Check: if listings aren’t accurate, consistent, and AI-ready, businesses risk invisibility.

AI Search Is Reshaping Behavior & Brand Visibility

AI search is already reshaping behavior.

Only 8% of users click a traditional link when an AI summary appears. That means the majority of your clients’ potential customers are making decisions without ever leaving the AI-generated response.

So, how does AI decide which businesses to include in its answers? Two categories of signals matter most:

Put simply, if a client’s listings are messy, incomplete, or outdated, AI is far less likely to surface them in a summary. And that’s a problem, considering more than 4 out of 5 people use search engines to find local businesses.

The Hidden Dangers of Neglected Listings

Agencies know the pain of messy listings firsthand. But your clients may not realize just how damaging it can be:

  • Trust erosion: 80% of consumers lose trust in businesses with incorrect or inconsistent.
  • Lost visibility: Roughly a third of local organic results now come from business directories. If listings are incomplete, that’s a third of opportunities gone.
  • Negative perception: A GBP with outdated hours or broken URLs communicates neglect, not professionalism.

Consider “Mary,” a marketing director overseeing 150+ locations. Without automation, her team spends hours chasing duplicate profiles, correcting seasonal hours, and fighting suggested edits. Updates lag behind reality. Customers’ trust slips. And every inconsistency is another signal to search engines, and now AI, that the business isn’t reliable.

For many agencies, the result is more than frustrated clients. It’s a high churn risk.

Why This Matters More Than Ever to Consumers

Consumers expect accuracy at every touchpoint, and they’re quick to lose confidence when details don’t add up.

  • 80% of consumers lose trust in a business with incorrect or inconsistent information, like outdated hours, wrong addresses, or broken links.
  • A Google Business Profile with missing fields or duplicate entries signals neglect.
  • When AI engines surface summaries, they pull from this. Inconsistencies make it less likely your client’s business will appear at all.

Reviews still play a critical role, but they work best when paired with clean, consistent listings. 99% of consumers read reviews before choosing a business, and 68% prioritize recent reviews over overall star ratings. If the reviews say “great service” but the business shows the wrong phone number or closed hours, that trust is instantly broken.

In practice, this means agencies must help clients maintain both accurate listings and authentic reviews. Together, they signal credibility to consumers and to AI search engines deciding which businesses make the cut.

Real-World Data: The ROI of Getting Listings Right

Agencies that take listings seriously are already seeing outsized returns:

  • A healthcare agency managing 850+ locations saved 132 hours per month and reduced costs by $21K annually through listings automation, delivering a six-figure annual ROI.
  • A travel brand optimizing global listings recorded a 200% increase in Google visibility and a 30x rise in social engagement.
  • A retail chain improving profile completeness saw a 31% increase in revenue attributed to local SEO improvements.

The proof is clear: accurate, consistent, and scalable listings management is no longer optional. It’s a revenue driver.

Actionable Steps Agencies Can Take Right Now

AI search is moving fast, but agencies don’t have to be caught flat-footed. Here are five practical steps to protect your clients’ visibility and trust.

1.  Audit Listings for Accuracy and Consistency

Start with a full audit of your clients’ GBPs and directory listings. Look for mismatches in hours, addresses, URLs, and categories. Even small discrepancies send negative signals to both consumers and AI search engines.

I know you updated your listings last year, and not much has changed, but unless your business is a time capsule, your customers expect real-time accuracy.

2.  Eliminate Duplicates

Duplicate listings aren’t just confusing to customers; they actively hurt SEO. Suppress duplicates across directories and consolidate data at the source to prevent aggregator overwrites. Google penalized 6.1% of business listings flagged for duplicate or spam entries in Q1 alone, underscoring how seriously platforms are taking accuracy enforcement.

3.  Optimize for Engagement

Encourage clients to respond authentically to reviews. Research shows 73% of consumers will give a business a second chance if they receive a thoughtful response to a negative review. Engagement isn’t just customer service; it’s a ranking signal.

4.  Create AI-Readable Content

AI thrives on structured, educational content. Encourage clients to build out their web presence with FAQs, descriptive product or service pages, and customer-centric content that mirrors natural language. This makes it easier for AI to pull them into summaries.

5.  Automate at Scale

Manual updates don’t cut it for multi-location brands. Implement automation for bulk publishing, data synchronization, and ongoing updates. This ensures accuracy and saves agencies countless hours of low-value labor.

The AI Opportunity: Agencies as Strategic Partners

For agencies, the rise of AI search is both a threat and an opportunity. Yes, clients who ignore their listings risk becoming invisible. But agencies that lean in can position themselves as strategic partners, helping businesses adapt to a disruptive new era.

That means reframing listings management not as “background work,” but as the foundation of trust and visibility in AI-powered search.

As GatherUp’s research concludes, “In the AI-driven search era, listings are no longer background work; they are the foundation of visibility and trust.”

The Time to Act Is Now

AI search is here, and it’s rewriting the rules of local visibility. Agencies that fail to help their clients adapt risk irrelevance.

But those that act now can deliver measurable growth, stronger client relationships, and defensible ROI.

The path forward is clear: audit listings, eliminate duplicates, optimize for engagement, publish AI-readable content, and automate at scale.

And if you want to see where your clients stand today, GatherUp offers a free listings audit to help identify gaps and opportunities.

👉 Run a free listings audit and see how your business measures up.

Run A Free Listings Audit

Image Credits

Featured Image: Image by GatherUp. Used with permission.

In-Post Images: Image by GatherUp. Used with permission.

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Sep 24 2025
From SEO To GEO: How Can Marketers Adapt To The New Era Of Search Visibility? via @sejournal, @Semji_fr

This post was sponsored by Semji. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

For three decades, SEO has been the cornerstone of digital visibility.

Keywords, backlinks, and technical optimization determined whether your brand appeared at the top of search results.

However, the landscape is shifting, and it’s likely that if you’re reading this article, you already know it.

Download The Full Guide

With generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, or Perplexity, users no longer rely solely on lists of blue links.

Instead, searchers and researchers receive synthesized, conversational answers that draw content from high-authority sources.

The message is clear: ranking alone is no longer enough.

To be visible in the age of AI, marketers need a complementary discipline, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).

To do so, you need concrete methods and best practices to add GEO efficiently into your strategy.

What Is Generative Search Optimization (GEO)?

Generative Search Optimization (GEO) is the practice of ensuring that your content is selected, understood, and cited by large language models (LLMs) and generative engines.

How Does GEO Differ From Traditional SEO?

Traditional search engines use bots to crawl webpages and rank them.

LLMs synthesize patterns from massive pre-ingested datasets. LLMs and answer engines don’t index; they use them as their conversational padding.

What Is A Pre-Ingested Data Set?

Pre-ingested datasets are content that is pulled from websites, reviews, directories, forums, and even brand-owned assets.

This means your visibility no longer depends only on keywords

What Do I Need To Do To Show Up In AI Overviews & SERPs?

To increase your visibility in LLMs, your content must be:

Put simply: GEO ensures your brand shows up in the answers themselves as well as in the links beneath them.

How To Optimize For LLMs In GEO

Optimizing for LLMs is about aligning with how these systems select and reuse content.

From our analysis, three core principles stand out in consistently GEO-friendly content:

1. Provide Structure & Clarity

Generative models prioritize content that is well-organized and easy to parse. Clear headings, bullet points, tables, summaries… help engines extract information and recompose it into human-like answers.

2. Include Trust & Reliability Signals

LLMs reward factual accuracy, consistency, and transparency. Contradictions between your site, profiles, and third-party sources weaken credibility. Conversely, quoting sources, citing data, and showcasing expertise increase your chances of being cited!

3. Contextual & Semantic Depth Are Key

Engines rely less on keywords and more on contextual signals (as it has been more and more the case with Google these last years–hello BERT, haven’t heard from you in a while!). Content enriched with synonyms, related terms, and variations is more flexible and better aligned with diverse queries, which is especially important as AI queries are conversational, not just transactional.

3 Tips For Creating GEO-Friendly Content

In the GEO guide we’re sharing with you in this article, 15 tips are delivered–here are 3 of the most important ones:

1. Be Comprehensive & Intent-Driven

LLMs favor complete answers.

Cover not just the main query but related terms, variations, and natural follow-ups.

For example, if writing about “content ROI,” anticipate adjacent questions like “How do you measure ROI in SEO?” or “What KPIs prove content ROI?”!

By aligning with user intent, not just keywords, you increase the likelihood of your content being surfaced as the “best available answer” for the LLMs.

Learn how to do this.

2. Showcase E-E-A-T Signals

GEO is inseparable from trust. Engines look for identifiable signals of credibility:

  • Author bylines with expertise.
  • Real-world examples, roles, or case insights.
  • Transparent sourcing of statistics and references.
  • And many more opportunities to prove your credibility and authority.

Think of it as content that doesn’t just “read well,” but feels safe to reuse by the LLMs.

3. Optimize format for machine & human readability

Beyond clarity, formats like FAQs, how-tos, comparisons, and lists make your content both user-friendly and machine-friendly. Many SEO techniques are just as powerful and efficient in GEO:

  • Add alt text for visuals.
  • Include summaries and key takeaways in long-form content.
  • Use structured data and schema where relevant.

This dual optimization increases both discoverability and reusability in AI-generated answers.

Why It’s Essential To Optimize For LLMs

Skeptical about GEO? Consider this: 74% of problem-solving searches now surface AI-generated responses, and AI Overviews already appear in more than 1 in 10 Google queries in the U.S. AI Overviews, Perplexity summaries, and Gemini snapshots are becoming default behaviors in information-seeking. The line between “search” and “chat” is blurring.

The risk of ignoring GEO is not just lower traffic—it’s invisibility in the answer layer where trust and decisions are increasingly formed.

By contrast, marketers who embrace GEO can:

  • Defend brand presence where AI engines consolidate attention.
  • Create future-forward SEO strategies as search continues to evolve.
  • Maximize ROI by aligning content with both human expectations and machine logic.

In other words, GEO is not a trend: it’s a structural shift in digital visibility, where SEO remains essential but is no longer sufficient. GEO adds the missing layer: being cited, trusted, and reused by the engines that increasingly mediate how users access information.

GEO As A New Competitive Advantage

The age of GEO is here. For marketing and SEO leaders, the opportunity is to adapt faster than competitors—aligning content with the standards of generative search while continuing to refine SEO.

To win visibility in this environment, prioritize:

  • Auditing your current content for GEO readiness.
  • Enhancing clarity, trust signals, and semantic richness.
  • Monitoring your presence in AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and other generative engines.

Those who invest in GEO today will shape how tomorrow’s answers are written.

Want to explore the full framework of GEO?

Download the complete guide on Generative Engine Optimization

Image Credits

Featured Image: Image by Semji. Used with permission.

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Sep 23 2025
SERP Visibility Decline: How To Grow Brand Awareness When Organic Traffic Stalls

This post was sponsored by AdRoll. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

Text‑heavy AI Overviews blocking your brand?

The “People Also Ask” that you could scroll through forever, effectively hiding position 1?

Knowledge panels and rich snippets hogging the view?

The majority of people who entered a search query never made it past the top of the search result page (SERP) in 2024.

For users, these updates to Google’s SERPs are technically efficient.

For you, changes like AI Overviews are another strategy to master, and at worst, a direct competitor for attention.

So how do you increase brand awareness and search presence when Google is taking away your bids for top-of-funnel (TOFU) content?

The Rise of Zero-Click: Why Rankings Don’t Equal Traffic Anymore

As search evolves, AI-powered summaries now appear in more than 13% of queries.

This resulted in nearly 60% of Google searches ending without a click last year, dramatically shrinking the traditional flow of search traffic to a website.

Not only are you fighting for space against the usual blue links, you’re now competing with AI-generated answers that package everything up before a user even considers a click.

Which means that “we made it to the top” moment doesn’t guarantee anyone actually sees your brand.

So, even if your brand earns a top ranking, it may never translate into visibility. That’s the reality of today’s zero-click environment, and it is what creates the awareness gap — a challenge that every marketer now has to solve.

What Is Zero Click?

A “zero-click” search happens when a user gets their answer directly on the search results page through featured snippets, knowledge panels, or AI-generated overviews without ever clicking through to a website.

For users, it’s fast and convenient. For brands, it means fewer chances for visitors to actually land on your site, even when you’ve earned a top ranking. Think of it as Google (and increasingly, AI) keeping people inside its own ecosystem rather than sending them out to explore yours.

This is where the awareness gap comes in.

What Is The Awareness Gap?

The awareness gap is the space in which your content is seen, but it is not tied to your brand.

Even if your brand appears in these results, you may never see the traditional signals like traffic or time on site that prove your influence. People might recognize your name or absorb part of your story, but that exposure is not reflected in your metrics.

The gap is the difference between being seen and being measured, and closing it requires a new playbook for visibility and recall.

How Zero-Click Reshapes Discovery

The zero-click trend is most disruptive at the very start of the customer journey. Your website used to be Rome; eventually, all roads led there. Now? Fewer and fewer organic roads exist. That means the earliest brand touchpoints are disappearing.

Here’s what that means for marketers today:

  • Fewer chances for discovery. If users never click, they never see your story. All things that shape early perception, such as your messaging, your visuals, your value props, get skipped.
  • SEO loses some steam. While organic optimization still matters for long-term discoverability (hello, LLMs absorbing and citing content), its ability to drive top-of-funnel awareness isn’t what it used to be. In a zero-click world, amazing content may rank, but still never get seen.
  • Competition gets fiercer. If you’ve relied heavily on organic strategies alone, competitors who invest in paid ads are now likely to edge you out. Ads still sit above AI overviews in many results, and that’s prime real estate that’s hard to ignore.
  • Research shifts elsewhere. With crowded SERPs and often confusing AI answers, users are taking their research off of traditional search platforms to other places. Social media, communities, and unowned channels are becoming important sources for educational content that feels clearer and more trustworthy.

Bottom line: the early doors to discovering your brand are closing faster than they’re opening. It takes a new mix of channels to ensure you’re still part of the conversation.

3 Steps to Reclaim Top-of-Funnel Presence

So what’s a marketer to do? Is all hope lost?

Show up where they are still landing: relevant active sites that deliver clear ad space to your target audience.

Advertising offers a direct and reliable solution to the awareness gap.

Unlike organic results, paid campaigns guarantee an immediate and prominent presence on SERPs and other digital platforms. That means eyeballs on your ads, even if a user doesn’t click on them.

Consider paid campaigns as a type of insurance policy against brand invisibility on the SERP.

Remember: early impressions = stronger recall later in the funnel. The power of showing up first cannot be overstated. Even if a user doesn’t click on your ad, the exposure to your name, logo, or key message fosters familiarity. Early recognition makes your brand more memorable when it comes time to convert.

Step 1: Implement An Awareness-Focused Advertising Strategy

If you’ve made it this far, you’re likely nodding along: zero-click is here, and advertising has to play a bigger role. But where do you start? The good news is you don’t need to overhaul everything overnight. Instead, think of paid as a strategic layer that enhances the visibility you’ve already worked hard to build organically.

Here’s the first step in making that shift in a way that feels purposeful, not scattered:

Leverage common queries

Run search and display ads tied to common zero-click queries. Many of the searches most impacted by zero-click are informational: “what is,” “how to,” and “why does” questions that rarely result in clicks. Instead of letting that traffic disappear into AI overviews, run search and display campaigns against these queries. Your brand may not get the click, but it will get the visibility, ensuring you stay part of the conversation even when Google is trying to keep people on the page.

Connect with tomorrow’s customers today. AdRoll makes brand awareness ads work for you. Get started with a demo.

Use what you already know

Build awareness campaigns in categories where your brand already shows up. If you’ve earned a featured snippet or knowledge panel, don’t leave it unsupported. Pair that organic placement with a targeted ad so your brand appears twice on the same page. This kind of overlap creates a halo effect: users perceive your brand as both authoritative and unavoidable. It’s one of the fastest ways to reinforce recall.

Enhance, don’t replace SEO

Paid advertising isn’t a substitute for strong organic presence, it’s an amplifier. Use ads to reinforce your authority and extend the reach of your organic work, not cover for it. Think of the two channels as partners: SEO earns you credibility, while ads guarantee visibility. Together, they create a more holistic visibility strategy that keeps you top of mind across formats and touchpoints. And don’t forget: LLMs and AI overviews are still learning from organic signals. If your content isn’t strong, your ads won’t carry the same weight.

At the end of the day, this isn’t about abandoning what has always worked. It’s about making sure your brand shows up where discovery is actually happening, whether that’s in a blue link, a snippet, or a sponsored placement.

Step 2: Measure Zero-Click Strategies The Right Way

Here’s the tricky part: in a zero-click world, traditional metrics don’t always tell the whole story. If you’re only watching organic traffic, it may look like your efforts are failing. But the reality is that influence is happening upstream, before a user ever lands on your site.

Here’s what to measure instead:

  • Branded search volume. If more people are searching for your brand name specifically, you know your awareness strategy is working. This is often the clearest leading indicator of recall.
  • Visibility share. Track how often your brand appears in SERPs, featured snippets, AI overviews, and paid placements, even if it doesn’t result in a click.
  • Impression lift. Ads may not drive immediate conversions, but consistent exposure increases recognition. Measuring impressions alongside recall surveys can help connect the dots.
  • Engagement on unowned channels. As research moves to social and communities, track where your educational content sparks conversations and shares outside of your own site.

The key is to shift from measuring traffic to measuring presence. Visibility in high-authority spaces, whether through organic or paid efforts, is the new top-of-funnel KPI.

Step 3: Connect The C-Suite To Zero-Click Strategies

Of course, metrics only matter if your leadership team understands them. However, many executives are still trained to see organic traffic as the gold standard. So when traffic dips, even for reasons outside your control, it can look like a problem.

This is where your role as translator becomes critical. You need to reframe the conversation from clicks to visibility, from pageviews to presence. The message to the C-suite should sound less like an apology and more like a strategic shift:

  • A decline in organic traffic doesn’t equal a decline in influence. Zero-click means users may never land on your site, but they’re still seeing your brand. Visibility is impact.
  • Your brand may actually be showing up more often. The problem is measurement, not presence. Snippets, AI overviews, and social conversations don’t show up in traffic charts, but they absolutely shape perception.
  • Advertising fills the gap. Paid campaigns guarantee your brand isn’t invisible at the exact moment prospects are forming their first impressions, making it the perfect complement to organic efforts.

The way to make this stick with leaders is through narrative. Show them that early impressions are building brand memory. Connect branded search growth to that recall. Paint the picture that what looks like “less traffic” is often “more visibility in new places.”

Executives care about competitive positioning and long-term growth, not just line graphs. So remind them: being the brand people remember when it’s time to buy is the real win. Presence is what creates that memory, and memory is what drives future pipeline.

Zero-Click Isn’t the End. It’s Your Advantage If You Move First

Zero-click isn’t the end of marketing as we know it. It’s just the latest evolution in how people discover and remember brands. The marketers who win will be the ones who adapt their strategies, blending organic authority with paid presence, reframing their KPIs, and helping their companies understand what visibility really means today.

The awareness gap is real, but it’s also an opportunity. By rethinking how you measure, how you communicate results, and how you show up at the top of the funnel, you can set your brand up to thrive in an environment where discovery no longer depends on a click.

And this is only Part 1. In Part 2, we’ll dig into the real secret weapon in a clickless world: recall. Because the brands that stay top of mind are the ones that get chosen later. Advertising’s biggest power isn’t in driving a click, it’s in building the kind of recognition that lasts.

Check back soon on the AdRoll website for Part 2: How to Build Recall in a Clickless World.

Get A Free Trial

Image Credits

Featured Image: Image by AdRoll. Used with permission.

In-Post Images: Image by AdRoll. Used with permission.

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Sep 10 2025
GEO: How To Position Your Agency As An AI Search Authority

This post was sponsored by Visto. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

Clients keep asking a new question: “Are we visible in AI search?”

This is the reality: Google’s AI Overviews are reducing organic traffic by 30-70% for many businesses.

In fact, we’re seeing that SEO agencies that incorporate GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) tactics into their SEO strategy and offerings are charging $4,000/month for these additional menu services.

However, when it comes to GEO, a newly evolved and still-evolving branch of SEO, answering the AI visibility question is:

  • Less about grand strategy.
  • More about a quick field check.

But if you skip the check and jump straight to fixes, you risk solving the wrong problem.

Phase 1. Perform An AI Visibility Audit To Confirm If There Is A Visibility Gap

Start with a simple AI Visibility Audit:

  1. Select five to 10 key phrases that align with the business’s goals.
  2. Search those phrases across Google’s AI Overviews, Bing Copilot, Perplexity, and ChatGPT.
  3. Look at the AI answer first, not the classic blue links.
  4. Do you show up? Are you cited? Which competitors are visible and cited? Notate this for each phrase.
  5. Notate down which competitors are cited and where any links point; take screenshots to showcase in any presentations.

Once you identify which phrases you display and those you do not, you can begin to build a comprehensive audit, repeating the steps as you would for keyword research or, traditionally, People Also Ask research.

The Easy Way: Use this AI Visibility audit and bring the snapshot to your next client call. It gets you out of the “we think” zone and into “here’s what we saw today.”

Phase 2. Interpret Your AI Visibility From The Audit Results

Once you have your audit results in hand, it’s time to determine where you stand:

  • Highly visible: Your brand is named inside the answer. Great. Assess what’s working, and expand upon it.
  • Partially visible: Your content fuels the answer, but the brand is missing. That erodes authority over time.
  • Absent: The answer engines are leaning on other sources. That’s your gap, and your opportunity.

Notice how some of this is traditional ranking talk, and other facets are new.

So, it’s time for a new lens here.

Look at GEO as more of a traffic channel, as opposed to a new technique: Do we show up in the answer people actually read?

This is where agencies need to act fast. If you’re not helping clients with GEO now, they’ll find someone who will.

Phase 3. Showcase The Real Problem Behind Falling Organic Traffic

In this step, it’s time to connect the dots for everyone outside of your SEO team.

How will clients or bosses handle a change to your reporting?

What is the best way to convince a stakeholder that they need additional SEO services to stay ahead during the GEO boom?

How To Clarify The AI Addition To SEO For Clients & Stakeholders

This is how to turn a vague “traffic is down” conversation into “here’s where we’re missing in the answer and what we’ll fix.”

Within your audit presentation, the AI Search findings should follow this structure:

  1. Rule out serving issues that can tank crawl or clicks. Do not include these in the report during this part of the conversation.
  2. Split branded from non-branded terms, as AI answers often cluster around certain intents. Display this information broken out.

Pro Tip: Leverage a side-by-side comparison. The left side could include the AI answer with your brand’s status. The right side a quick look at on-site metrics for those same topics.

Phase 4. Consider The Perfect Mix Of Traditional SEO & GEO

Once your audit is approved, and a contract is in place to expand your SEO offerings to include GEO techniques, it’s time to apply the perfect mix of traditional SEO and GEO to improve visibility in the areas you’ve identified in the audit.

From a high level, there are two constraints that change the game, especially when adding GEO tactics to your SEO offerings:

  • Speed (“time to first token”). AI systems have to answer fast. Crawlers are impatient, so pages that surface the right answer early tend to win the tie.
  • Context window. Models skim and compress. Think skim-friendly, middle-school clarity: straightforward headings, unambiguous entities, and no padding.

That’s why old habits can backfire. You’re optimizing for clarity, entities, and extractability, not density.

How Do I Approach SEO & GEO The Right Way?

The way we think about it is this: if SEO is about ranking for keywords, GEO is about showing up for prompts.

How Does A Prompt Differ From Keywords?

When someone types a prompt, modern AI doesn’t just “look up” one thing. It:

  1. Breaks the prompt into sub-questions.
  2. Runs background searches.
  3. Shortlists a small set of pages worth crawling right now.

From our perspective, that’s the bridge between SEO and GEO: your classic search visibility still matters, but only as a feeder into which sources the AI decides to read.

What To Focus On When Incorporating GEO Into Your SEO Strategies

You will see overlaps here; that’s because there are slight changes to traditional methods that you’ll need to consider when optimizing for answer engines.

What to focus on, from a traditional SEO angle:

  • On-page SEO: answer-first structure, clean headings, scannable evidence.
  • Technical SEO (or GEO for Answer Engines): Fast paths to answers; crawlability that supports quick fetches.
  • Content gaps your competitors are filling in AI answers. We’re consistently surprised by how often the “nearly there” pages win. If the AI crawler already understands a page, one sharp paragraph and a clearer H1 can push it over the top.
  • Link analysis to strengthen credible citations.
  • Competitor analysis of who’s being named in answers (and why).
  • Sentiment analysis to catch how your brand is described when it’s mentioned.

What to focus on, from the GEO perspective:

  • The semantic space AI explores vs. the entity mapping in your content.
  • Technical GEO (or SEO for Answer Engines): Fast paths to answers; crawlability that supports quick fetches.
  • Content gaps your competitors are filling in AI answers.

The Easy Way: Visto can consolidate these checks into a single workflow, allowing you to baseline quickly and track progress without needing a dozen tools.

Phase 5. Implement GEO Tactics Into Your SEO Strategy To Regain & Grow Visibility

Step 1. Provide Answers Upfront

Within traditional SEO, this refers to improving readability.

Your goal here is to give the answer engine what it needs as quickly as a good support team would:

  • Lead your most important pages with the plain-English answer your buyer is after.
  • One or two sentences up top, then the detail and sources.

If the reader needs to scroll to find the point, the crawler will likely give up at that same point.

Step 2. Strengthen Entity Clarity

Next, make the page unambiguous with consistent:

  • Product names.
  • Categories.
  • Specs.
  • Simple schema to help the system map your entity to the right concepts.

Think of this as labeling the shelves in a small shop. If the labels are clear, the model finds what it came for without guessing.

Step 3. Implement Technical GEO

Then handle the technical side of GEO. AI crawlers care about time to the first useful token, so shorten the path to the answer.

Tighten titles and H1s, move key facts above the fold, and keep interstitials from blocking the first read. The AI crawler has a limited context window and reads fast. Help it skim the right lines.

Step 4. Assess Comparison Coverage

If your customers compare options, publish a straightforward comparison that highlights only the differences people ask about.

What we’ve seen is that honest tables and short “who it’s for” notes get cited more than glossy positioning.

Step 5. Manage Links & Sentiment

Finally, reinforce what supports the page. Link credible sources to the version you want cited. Check how your brand is described in the existing answers. If the tone is off, correct the original source you’re referencing.

Then, regularly review your metrics: presence, named mentions, and competitor share. GEO isn’t a set-and-forget channel, so a light monthly review helps prevent drift.

Visto’s platform automates much of this tracking, giving agencies the tools to prove value with measurable, prompt-level insights and easy-to-share reports.

Examples: Learn From Early GEO Adopters Who Are Rebuilding Traffic

“In the first two quarters, we have seen an 88% year-over-year increase in organic traffic and a 42% YoY increase in unique pageviews from organic traffic.“

Agencies using a platform like Visto’s see their clients’ brands referenced more in AI answers after tightening entities and updating a handful of high-value pages.

The agencies succeeding are those positioning themselves as AI search authorities now, not waiting to see how things shake out.

Get Started With Visto

Visto helps agencies measure AI visibility and manage the work.

Built specifically for marketing agencies, the platform shows where your brand appears in AI answers, summarizes citations across engines, and highlights the pages most likely to move the needle.

Visto provides:

  • Direct access to GEO experts who understand agency needs.
  • Consistent product updates aligned with the latest AI search trends.
  • The ability to influence the roadmap with your input.
  • Education and support to confidently lead your clients through the AI shift.
  • Sales enablement tools that are purpose-built for marketing agencies to prospect clients.
  • A focus on actionability and optimization, in addition to visibility and analytics.

Don’t wait for your clients to ask why they’re invisible in AI search. Position your agency as the AI search authority they need right now.

Special Offer: For SEJ readers, sign up for three months free access and start prospecting and serving clients.

SIGN UP NOW

Image Credits

Featured Image: Image by Visto. Used with permission.

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Sep 4 2025
8 Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Strategies For Boosting AI Visibility in 2025 via @sejournal, @samanyougarg

This post was sponsored by Writesonic. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

AI search now makes the first decision.

When? Before a buyer hits your website.

If you’re not part of the AI answer, you’re not part of the deal. In fact, 89% of B2B buyers use AI platforms like ChatGPT for research.

Picture this:

  • A founder at a 12-person SaaS asks, “best CRM for a 10-person B2B startup.”
  • AI answer cites:
    a TechRadar roundup,
    a r/SaaS thread,
    a fresh comparison,
    Not you.
  • Your brand is missing.
  • They book demos with two rivals.
  • You never hear about it.

Here is why. AI search works on intent, not keywords.

It reads content, then grounds answers with sources. It leans on third-party citations, community threads, and trusted publications. It trusts what others say about you more than what you say about yourself.

Most Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) tools stop at the surface. They track mentions, list prompts you missed, and ship dashboards. They do not explain why you are invisible or what to fix. Brands get reports, not steps.

We went hands-on. We analyzed millions of conversations and ran controlled tests. The result is a practical playbook: eight strategies that explain the why, give a quick diagnostic, and end with actions you can ship this week.

Off-Page Authority Builders For AI Search Visibility

1. Find & Fix Your Citation Gaps

Citation gaps are the highest-leverage strategy most brands miss.

Translation: This is an easy win for you.

What Is A Citation Gap?

A citation gap is when AI platforms cite web pages that mention your competitors but not you. These cited pages become the sources AI uses to generate its answers.

Think of it like this:

  • When someone asks ChatGPT about CRMs, it pulls information from specific web pages to craft its response.
  • If those source pages mention your competitors but not you, AI recommends them instead of your brand.

Finding and fixing these gaps means getting your brand mentioned on the exact pages AI already trusts and cites as sources.

Why You Need Citations In Answer Engines

If you’re not cited in an answer engine, you are essentially invisible.

Let’s break this down.

TechRadar publishes “21 Best Collaboration Tools for Remote Teams” mentioning:

  • Asana.
  • Monday.
  • Notion.

When users ask ChatGPT about remote project management, AI cites this TechRadar article.

Your competitors appear in every response. You don’t.

How To Fix Citation Gaps

That TechRadar article gets cited for dozens of queries, including “best remote work tools,” “Monday alternatives,” “startup project management.”

Get mentioned in that article, and you appear in all those AI responses. One placement creates visibility across multiple search variations.

Contact the TechRadar author with genuine value, such as:

  • Exclusive data about remote productivity.
  • Unique use cases they missed.
  • Updated features that change the comparison.

The beauty? It’s completely scalable.

Quick Win:

  1. Identify 50 high-authority articles where competitors are mentioned but you’re not.
  2. Get into even 10 of them, and your AI visibility multiplies exponentially.

2. Engage In The Reddit & UGC Discussions That AI References

Social platformsImage created by Writesonic, August 2025

AI trusts real user conversations over marketing content.

Reddit citations in AI overviews surged from 1.3% to 7.15% in just three months, a 450% increase. User-generated content now makes up 21.74% of all AI citations.

Why You Should Add Your Brand To Reddit & UGC Conversations

Reddit, Quora, LinkedIn Pulse, and industry forums together, and you’ve found where AI gets most of its trusted information.

If you show up as “trusted” information, your visibility increases.

How To Inject Your Brand Into AI-Sourced Conversations

Let’s say a Reddit thread titled “Best project management tool for a startup with 10 people?” gets cited whenever users ask about startup tools.

Since AI already cites these, if you enter the conversation and include your thoughtful contribution, it will get included in future AI answers.

Pro Tip #1: Don’t just promote your brand. Share genuine insights, such as:

  • Hidden costs.
  • Scaling challenges.
  • Migration tips.

Quick Win:

Find and join the discussions AI seems to trust:

  • Reddit threads with 50+ responses.
  • High-upvote Quora answers in your industry.
  • LinkedIn Pulse articles from recognized experts.
  • Active forum discussions with detailed experiences.

Pro Tip #2: Finding which articles get cited and which Reddit threads AI trusts takes forever manually. GEO platforms automate this discovery, showing you exactly which publications to pitch and which discussions to join.

On-Page Optimization For GEO

3. Study Which Topics Get Cited Most, Then Write Them

Something we’re discovering: when AI gives hundreds of citations for a topic, it’s not just citing one amazing article.

Instead, AI pulls from multiple sites covering that same topic.

If you haven’t written about that topic at all, you’re invisible while competitors win.

Consider Topic Clusters To Get Cited

Let’s say you’re performing a content gap analysis for GEO.

You notice these articles all getting 100+ AI citations:

  • “Best Project Management Software for Small Teams”
  • “Top 10 Project Management Tools for Startups”
  • “Project Management Software for Teams Under 20”

Different titles, same intent: small teams need project management software.

When users ask, “PM tool for my startup,” AI might cite 2-3 of these articles together for a comprehensive answer.

Ask “affordable project management,” and AI pulls different ones. The point is that these topics cluster around the same user need.

How To Outperform Competitors In AI Generated Search Answers

Identify intent clusters for your topic and create one comprehensive piece on your own website so your own content gets cited.

In this example, we’d suggest writing “Best Project Management Software for Small Teams (Under 50 People).”

It should cover startups, SMBs, and budget considerations all in one authoritative guide.

Quick Win:

  • Find 20 high-citation topic clusters you’re missing.
  • Create comprehensive content for each cluster.
  • Study what makes the top versions work, such as structure, depth, and comparison tables.
  • Then make yours better with fresher data and broader coverage.

4. Update Content Regularly To Maintain AI Visibility

AI platforms heavily favor recent content.

Content from the past two to three months dominates AI citations, with freshness being a key ranking factor. If your content appears outdated, AI tends to overlook it in favor of newer alternatives.

Why You Should Keep Your Content Up To Date For GEO Visibility

Let’s say your “Email Marketing Best Practices” from 2023 used to get AI citations.

Now it’s losing to articles with 2025 data. AI sees the date and chooses fresher content every time.

How To Keep Your Content Fresh Enough To Be Cited In AIOs

Weekly refresh for top 10 pages:

  • Add two to three new statistics.
  • Include a recent case study.
  • Update “Last Modified” date prominently.
  • Add one new FAQ.
  • Change title to “(Updated August 2025)”.

Bi-weekly, on less important pages:

  • Replace outdated examples.
  • Update internal links.
  • Rewrite the weakest section.
  • Add seasonal relevance.

Pro Tip: Track your content’s AI visibility systematically. Certain advanced GEO tools alert you when pages lose citations, so you know exactly what to refresh and when.

5. Create “X vs Y” And “X vs Y vs Z” Comparison Pages

Users constantly ask AI to help them choose between options. AI platforms love comparison content. They even prompt users to compare features and create comparison tables.

Pages that deliver these structured comparisons dominate AI search results.

Common questions flooding AI platforms:

  • “Slack vs Microsoft Teams for remote work”
  • “HubSpot vs Salesforce for small business”
  • “Asana or Monday for creative agencies”

AI can’t answer these without citing detailed comparisons. Generic blog posts don’t work. Promotional content gets ignored.

Create comprehensive comparisons like: “Asana vs Monday vs ClickUp: Project Management for Creative Teams.”

How To Create Comparisons That Have High Visibility On SERPs

Use a content structure that wins:

  • Quick decision matrix upfront.
  • Pricing breakdown by team size.
  • Feature-by-feature comparison table.
  • Integrations.
  • Learning curve and onboarding time.
  • Best for: specific use cases.

Make it genuinely balanced:

  • Asana: “Overwhelming for teams under 5”
  • Monday: “Gets expensive with add-ons”
  • ClickUp: “Steep learning curve initially”

Include your product naturally in the comparison. Be honest about limitations while highlighting genuine advantages.

AI prefers citing fair comparisons over biased reviews. Include real limitations, actual pricing (not just “starting at”), and honest trade-offs. This builds trust that gets you cited repeatedly.

Technical GEO To Do Right Now

6. Fix Robots.txt Blocking AI Crawlers

Most websites accidentally block the very bots they want to attract. Like putting a “Do Not Enter” sign on your store while wondering why customers aren’t coming in.

ChatGPT uses three bots:

  • ChatGPT-User: Main bot serving actual queries (your money maker)
  • OAI-SearchBot: Activates when users click search toggle.
  • GPTBot: Collects training data for future models.

Strategic decision: Publications worried about content theft might block GPTBot. Product companies should allow it, however, because you want future AI models trained on your content for long-term visibility.

Essential bots to allow:

  • Claude-Web (Anthropic).
  • PerplexityBot.
  • GoogleOther (Gemini).

Add to robots.txt:

User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Allow: /
User-agent: Claude-Web
Allow: /
User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /

Verify it’s working: Check server logs for these user agents actively crawling your content. No crawl activity means no AI visibility.

7. Fix Broken Pages For AI Crawlers

Just like Google Search Console shows Googlebot errors, you need visibility for AI crawlers. But AI bots behave differently and can be aggressive.

Monitor AI bot-specific issues:

  • 404 errors on important pages.
  • 500 server errors during crawls.
  • Timeout issues when bots access content.

If your key product pages error when ChatGPT crawls them, you’ll never appear in AI responses.

Common problems:

  • AI crawlers triggering DDoS protection.
  • CDN security blocking legitimate bots.
  • Rate limiting preventing full crawls.

Fix: Whitelist AI bots in your CDN (Cloudflare, Fastly). Set up server-side tracking to differentiate AI crawlers from regular traffic. No errors = AI can cite you.

8. Avoid JavaScript For Main Content

Most AI crawlers can’t execute JavaScript. If your content loads dynamically, you’re invisible to AI.

Quick test: Disable JavaScript in your browser. Visit key pages. Can you see the main content, product descriptions, and key information?

Blank page = AI sees nothing.

Solutions:

  • Server-side rendering (Next.js, Nuxt.js).
  • Static site generators (Gatsby, Hugo).
  • Progressive enhancement (core content works without JS).

Bottom line: If it needs JavaScript to display, AI can’t read it. Fix this or stay invisible.

Take Action Now

People ask ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity for recommendations every day. If you’re missing from those answers, you’re missing deals.

These eight strategies boil down to three moves: get mentioned where AI already looks (high-authority sites and Reddit threads), create content AI wants to cite (comparisons and fresh updates), and fix the technical blocks keeping AI out (robots.txt and JavaScript issues).

You can do all this manually. Track mentions in spreadsheets, find citation gaps by hand, and update content weekly. It works on a smaller scale, consumes time, and requires a larger team.

Writesonic provides you with a GEO platform that goes beyond tracking to giving you precise actions to boost visibility – create new content, refresh existing pages, or reach out to sites that mention competitors but not you.

Plus, get real AI search volumes to prioritize high-impact prompts.

Track & Boost your AI Visibility with Writesonic

Image Credits

Featured Image: Image by Writesonic. Used with permission.

In-Post Image: Image by Writesonic. Used with permission.

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Sep 3 2025
What To Expect AT NESS 2025: Surviving The AI-First Era via @sejournal, @NewsSEO_

This post was sponsored by NESS. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

For anyone who isn’t paying attention to news SEO because they feel it isn’t their relevant niche – think again.

The foundations of SEO are underpinned by publishing content. Therefore, news SEO is relevant to all SEO. We are all publishers online.

John Shehata and Barry Adams are the experts within this vertical and, between them, have experience working with most of the top news publications worldwide.

Together, they founded the News and Editorial SEO Summit (NESS) in 2021, and in the last four years, the SEO industry has seen the most significant and rapid changes since it began 30 years ago.

I spoke to both John and Barry to get their insights into some of the current issues SEOs face, how SEO can survive this AI-first era, and to get a preview of the topics to be discussed at their upcoming fifth NESS event to be held on October 21-22, 2025.

You can watch the full interview at the end of this article.

SEO Repackaged For The AI Era

I started out by commenting that recently, at Google Search Central Live in Thailand, Gary Illyes came out to say that there is no difference between GEO, AEO, and SEO. I asked Barry what he thought about this and if the introduction of AI Mode is going to continue taking away publisher traffic.

Surprisingly, Barry agreed with Google to say, “It’s SEO. It’s just SEO. I fully agree with what the Googlers are saying on this front, and it’s not often that I fully agree with Googlers.”

He went on to say, “I have yet to find any LLM optimization strategy that is not also an SEO strategy. It’s just SEO repackaged for the AI era so that agencies can charge more money without actually creating any more added value.”

AI Mode Is A Threat To Publisher Traffic

While AI Overviews have drawn significant attention, Barry identifies AI Mode as a more serious threat to publisher traffic.

Unlike AI Overviews, which still display traditional search results alongside AI-generated summaries, AI Mode creates an immersive conversational experience that encourages users to continue their search journey within Google’s ecosystem.

Barry warns that if AI Mode becomes the default search experience, it could be “insanely damaging for the web because it’s just going to make a lot of traffic evaporate without any chance of recovery.”

He added that “If you can maintain your traffic from search at the moment, you’re already doing better than most.”

Moving Up The Value Chain

At NESS, John will be speaking about how to survive this AI-first era, and I asked him for a preview of how SEOs can survive what is happening right now.

John highlighted a major issue: “Number one, I think SEOs need to move up the value chain. And I have been saying this for a long time, SEOs cannot be only about keywords and rankings. It has to be much bigger than that.”

He then went on to talk about three key areas as solutions: building topical authority, traffic diversification, and direct audience relationships.

“They [news publishers] need to think about revenue diversification as well as going back to some traditional revenue streams, such as events or syndication. They also need to build their own direct relationships with users, either through apps or newsletters. And newsletters never got the attention they deserve in any of the different brands I’m familiar with, but now it’s gaining more traction. It’s extremely important.”

Quality Journalism Is Crucial For Publishers

Despite the AI disruption, both John and Barry stress that technical SEO fundamentals remain important, but to a point.

“You have to make sure the foundations are in place,” Barry notes, but he believes the technical can only take you so far. After that, investment in content is critical.

“When those foundations are at the level where there’s not much value in getting further optimization, then the publisher has to do the hard work of producing the content that builds the brand. The foundation can only get you so far. But if you don’t have the foundation, you are building a house on quicksand and you’re not going to be able to get much traction anyway.”

John also noted that “it’s important to double down on technical elements of the site.” He went on to say, “While I think you need to look at your schema, your speed, all of the elements, the plumbing, just to make sure that whatever channel you work with has good access and good understanding of your data.”

Barry concluded by reaffirming the importance of content quality. “The content is really what needs to shine. And if you don’t have that in place, if you don’t have that unique brand voice, that quality journalism, then why are you in business in the first place?”

The AI Agents Question

James Carson and Marie Haynes are both speaking about AI agents at NESS 2025, and when I asked Barry and John about the introduction of AI agents into newsrooms, the conversation was both optimistic and cautious.

John sees significant potential for AI to handle research tasks, document summarization, and basic content creation for standardized reporting like market updates or sports scores.

“A lot of SEO teams are using AI to recommend Google Discover headlines that intrigue curiosity, checking certain SEO elements on the site and so on. So I think more and more we have seen AI integrated not to write the content itself, but to guide the content and optimize the efficiency of the whole process.” John commented.

However, Barry remains skeptical about current AI agent reliability for enterprise environments.

“You cannot give an AI agent your credit card details to start shopping on your behalf, and then it just starts making things up and ends up spending thousands of your dollars on the wrong things … The AI agents are nowhere near that maturity level yet and I’m not entirely sure they will ever be at that maturity level because I do think the current large language model technology has fundamental limitations.”

John countered that “AI agents can save us hundreds of hours, hundreds.” He went on to say, “These three elements together, automation, AI agents, and human supervision together can be a really powerful combination, but not AI agent completely solo. And I agree with Barry, it can lead to disastrous consequences.”

Looking Forward

The AI-first era demands honest acknowledgment of changed realities. Easy search traffic growth is over, but opportunities exist for publishers willing to adapt strategically.

Success requires focusing on unique value propositions, building direct audience relationships, and maintaining technical excellence while accepting that traditional growth metrics may no longer apply.

The future belongs to publishers who understand that survival means focusing on their audience to build authentic connections that value their specific perspective and expertise.

Watch the full interview below.

If you’re a news publisher, or an SEO, you cannot afford to miss the fifth NESS on October 21-22, 2025.

SEJ readers have a special 20% discount on tickets. Just use the code “SEJ2025” at the checkout here.

Headline speakers include Marie Haynes, Mike King, Lily Ray, Kevin Indig, and of course John Shehata and Barry Adams.

Over two days, there are 20 speakers representing the best news publishers such as Carly Steven (Daily Mail), Maddie Shepherd (CBS), Christine Liang (The New York Times), Jessie Willms (The Guardian), among others.

Check out the full schedule here.

Featured Image: Shelley Walsh/Search Engine Journal/ NESS

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Aug 29 2025
Why WooCommerce Slows Down (& How to Fix It With the Right Server Stack)

This post was sponsored by Cloudways. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

Wondering why your rankings may be declining?

Just discovered your WooCommerce site has slow load times?

A slow WooCommerce site doesn’t just cost you conversions. It affects search visibility, backend performance, and customer trust.

Whether you’re a developer running your own stack or an agency managing dozens of client stores, understanding how WooCommerce performance scales under load is now considered table stakes.

Today, many WordPress sites are far more dynamic, meaning many things are happening at the same time:

  • Stores run real-time sales.
  • LMS platforms track user progress.
  • Membership sites deliver highly personalized content.

Every action a user takes, from logging in, updating a cart, or initiating checkout, relies on live data from the server. These requests cannot be cached.

Tools like Varnish or CDNs can help with public pages such as the homepage or product listings. But once someone logs in to their account or interacts with their session, caching no longer helps. Each request must be processed in real time.

This article breaks down why that happens and what kind of server setup is helping stores stay fast, stable, and ready to grow.

Why Do WooCommerce Stores Slow Down?

WooCommerce often performs well on the surface. But as traffic grows and users start interacting with the site, speed issues begin to show. These are the most common reasons why stores slow down under pressure:

1. PHP: It Struggles With High User Activity

WooCommerce depends on PHP to process dynamic actions such as cart updates, coupon logic, and checkout steps. Traditional stacks using Apache for PHP handling are slower and less efficient.

Modern environments use PHP-FPM, which improves execution speed and handles more users at once without delays.

2. A Full Database: It Becomes A Bottleneck

Order creation, cart activity, and user actions generate a high number of database writes. During busy times like flash sales, new merchandise arrivals, or course launches, the database struggles to keep up.

Platforms that support optimized query execution and better indexing handle these spikes more smoothly.

3. Caching Issues: Object Caching Is Missing Or Poorly Configured

Without proper object caching, WooCommerce queries the database repeatedly for the same information. That includes product data, imagery, cart contents, and user sessions.

Solutions that include built-in Redis support help move this data to memory, reducing server load and improving site speed.

4. Concurrency Limits Affect Performance During Spikes

Most hosting stacks today, including Apache-based ones, perform well for a wide range of WordPress and WooCommerce sites. They handle typical traffic reliably and have powered many successful stores.

As traffic increases and more users log in and interact with the site at the same time, the load on the server begins to grow. Architecture starts to play a bigger role at that point.

Stacks built on NGINX with event-driven processing can manage higher concurrency more efficiently, especially during unanticipated traffic spikes.

Rather than replacing what already works, this approach extends the performance ceiling for stores that are becoming more dynamic and need consistent responsiveness under heavier load.

5. Your WordPress Admin Slows Down During Sales Seasons

During busy periods like seasonal sales campaigns or new stock availability, stores can often slow down for the team managing the site, too. The WordPress dashboard takes longer to load, which means publishing products, managing orders, or editing pages also becomes slower.

This slowdown happens because both shoppers and staff are using the site’s resources at the same time, and the server has to handle all those requests at once.

Modern stacks reduce this friction by balancing frontend and backend resources more effectively.

How To Architect A Scalable WordPress Setup For Dynamic Workloads?

WooCommerce stores today are built for more than stable traffic. Customers are logging in, updating their carts, taking actions to manage their subscription profile, and as a result, are interacting with your backend in real time.

The traditional WordPress setup, which is primarily designed for static content, cannot handle that kind of demand.

Here’s how a typical setup compares to one built for performance and scale:

Component Basic Setup         Scalable Setup
Web Server Apache NGINX
PHP Handler mod_php or CGI PHP-FPM
Object Caching None or database transients Redis with Object Cache Pro
Scheduled Tasks WP-Cron System cron job
Caching CDN or full-page caching only Layered caching, including object cache
.htaccess Handling Built-in with Apache Manual rewrite rules in NGINX config
Concurrency Handling Limited Event-based, memory-efficient server

How To Manually Setup A Performance-Ready & Scalable WooCommerce Stack

Don’t have bandwidth? Try the easy way.

If you’re setting up your own server or tuning an existing one, are the most important components to get right:

1) Use NGINX For Static File Performance

NGINX is often used as a high-performance web server for handling static files and managing concurrent requests efficiently. It is well suited for stores expecting high traffic or looking to fine-tune their infrastructure for speed.

Unlike Apache, NGINX does not use .htaccess files. Rewrite rules, such as permalinks, redirects, and trailing slashes, need to be added manually to the server block. For WordPress, these rules are well-documented and only need to be set once during setup.

This approach gives more control at the server level and can be helpful for teams building out their own environment or optimizing for scale.

2) Enable PHP-FPM For Faster Request Handling

PHP-FPM separates PHP processing from the web server. It gives you more control over memory and CPU usage. Tune values like pm.max_children and pm.max_requests based on your server size to prevent overload during high activity.

3) Install Redis With Object Cache Pro

Redis allows WooCommerce to store frequently used data in memory. This includes cart contents, user sessions, and product metadata.

Pair this with Object Cache Pro to compress cache objects, reduce database load, and improve site responsiveness under load.

4) Replace WP-Cron With A System-Level Cron Job

By default, WordPress checks for scheduled tasks whenever someone visits your site. That includes sending emails, clearing inventory, and syncing data. If you have steady traffic, it works. If not, things get delayed.

You can avoid that by turning off WP-Cron. Just add define(‘DISABLE_WP_CRON’, true); to your wp-config.php file. Then, set up a real cron job at the server level to run wp-cron.php every minute. This keeps those tasks running on time without depending on visitors.

5) Add Rewrite Rules Manually For NGINX

NGINX doesn’t use .htaccess. That means you’ll need to define URL rules directly in the server block.

This includes things like permalinks, redirects, and static file handling. It’s a one-time setup, and most of the rules you need are already available from trusted WordPress documentation. Once you add them, everything works just like it would on Apache.

A Few Tradeoffs To Keep In Mind

This kind of setup brings a real speed boost. But there are some technical changes to keep in mind.

  • NGINX won’t read .htaccess. All rewrites and redirects need to be added manually.
  • WordPress Multisite may need extra tweaks, especially if you’re using subdirectory mode.
  • Security settings like IP bans or rate limits should be handled at the server level, not through plugins.

Most developers won’t find these issues difficult to work with. But if you’re using a modern platform, much of it is already taken care of.

You don’t need overly complex infrastructure to make WooCommerce fast; just a stack that aligns with how modern, dynamic stores operate today.

Next, we’ll look at how that kind of stack performs under traffic, with benchmarks that show what actually changes when the server is built for dynamic sites.

What Happens When You Switch To An Optimized Stack?

Not all performance challenges come from code or plugins. As stores grow and user interactions increase, the type of workload becomes more important, especially when handling live sessions from logged-in users.

To better understand how different environments respond to this kind of activity, Koddr.io ran an independent benchmark comparing two common production setups:

  • A hybrid stack using Apache and NGINX.
  • A stack built on NGINX with PHP-FPM, Redis, and object caching.

Both setups were fully optimized and included tuned components like PHP-FPM and Redis. The purpose of the benchmark was to observe how each performs under specific, real-world conditions.

The tests focused on uncached activity from WooCommerce and LearnDash, where logged-in users trigger dynamic server responses.

In these scenarios, the optimized stack showed higher throughput and consistency during peak loads. This highlights the value of having infrastructure tailored for dynamic, high-concurrency traffic, depending on the use case.

WooCommerce Runs Faster Under Load

One test simulated 80 users checking out at the same time. The difference was clear:

Scenario Hybrid Stack Optimized Stack Gain
WooCommerce Checkout 3,035 actions 4,809 actions +58%
Screenshot from Koddr.io, August 2025

LMS Platforms Benefit Even More

For LearnDash course browsing—a write-heavy and uncached task, the optimized stack completed 85% more requests:

Scenario Hybrid Stack Optimized Stack Gain
LearnDash Course List View 13,459 actions 25,031 actions +85%

This shows how optimized stacks handle personalized or dynamic content more efficiently. These types of requests can’t be cached, so the server’s raw efficiency becomes critical.

Screenshot from Koddr.io, August 2025

Backend Speed Improves, Too

The optimized stack wasn’t just faster for customers. It also made the WordPress admin area more responsive:

  • WordPress login times improved by up to 31%.
  • Publish actions ran 20% faster, even with high traffic.

This means your team can concurrently manage products, update pages, and respond to sales in real time, without delays or timeouts.

It Handles More Without Relying On Caching

When Koddr turned off Varnish, the hybrid stack experienced a 71% drop in performance. This shows how effectively it handles cached traffic. The optimized stack dropped just 7%, which highlights its ability to maintain speed even during uncached, logged-in sessions.

Both setups have their strengths, but for stores with real-time user activity, reducing reliance on caching can make a measurable difference.

Stack Type With Caching Without Caching Drop
Hybrid Stack 654,000 actions 184,000 actions -7%
Optimized Stack 619,000 actions 572,000 actions -7%
Screenshot from Koddr.io, August 2025

Why This Matters?

Static pages are easy to optimize. But WooCommerce stores deal with real-time traffic. Cart updates, login sessions, and checkouts all require live processing. Caching cannot help once a user has signed in.

The Koddr.io results show how an optimized server stack:

  • Reduces CPU spikes during traffic surges.
  • Keeps the backend responsive for your team.
  • Delivers more stable speed for logged-in users.
  • Helps scale without complex performance workarounds.

These are the kinds of changes that power newer stacks purpose-built for dynamic workloads like Cloudways Lightning, built for real WooCommerce workloads.

Core Web Vitals Aren’t Just About The Frontend

You can optimize every image. Minify every line of code. Switch to a faster theme. But your Core Web Vitals score will still suffer if the server can’t respond quickly.

That’s what happens when logged-in users interact with WooCommerce or LMS sites.

When a customer hits “Add to Cart,” caching is out of the picture. The server has to process the request live. That’s where TTFB (Time to First Byte) becomes a real problem.

Slow server response means Google waits longer to start rendering the page. And that delay directly affects your Largest Contentful Paint and Interaction to Next Paint metrics.

Frontend tuning gets you part of the way. But if the backend is slow, your scores won’t improve. Especially for logged-in experiences.

Real optimization starts at the server.

How Agencies Are Skipping The Manual Work

Every developer has a checklist for WooCommerce performance. Use NGINX. Set up Redis. Replace WP-Cron. Add a WAF. Test under load. Keep tuning.

But not every team has the bandwidth to maintain all of it.

That’s why more agencies are using pre-optimized stacks that include these upgrades by default. Cloudways Lightning, a managed stack based on NGINX + PHP-FPM, designed for dynamic workloads is a good example of that.

It’s not just about speed. It’s also about backend stability during high traffic. Admin logins stay fast. Product updates don’t hang. Orders keep flowing.

Joe Lackner, founder of Celsius LLC, shared what changed for them:

“Moving our WordPress workloads to the new Cloudways stack has been a game-changer. The console admin experience is snappier, page load times have improved by +20%, and once again Cloudways has proven to be way ahead of the game in terms of reliability and cost-to-performance value at this price point.”

This is what agencies are looking for. A way to scale without getting dragged into infrastructure management every time traffic picks up.

Final Takeaway

WooCommerce performance is no longer just about homepage load speed.

Your site handles real-time activity from both customers and your team. Once a user logs in or reaches checkout, caching no longer applies. Each action hits the server directly.

If the infrastructure isn’t optimized, site speed drops, sales suffer, and backend work slows down.

The foundations matter. A stack that’s built for high concurrency and uncached traffic keeps things fast across the board. That includes cart updates, admin changes, and product publishing.

For teams who don’t want to manage server tuning manually, options like Cloudways Lightning deliver a faster, simpler path to performance at scale.

Use promo code “SUMMER305” and get 30% off for 5 months + 15 free migrations. Signup Now!

⚡ Power Up My WooCommerce Store

Image Credits

Featured Image: Image by Cloudways. Used with permission.

In-Post Images: Images by Cloudways. Used with permission.

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Aug 28 2025
2025 AI SERP Changes: New Strategies To Gain Local Search Visibility

This post was sponsored by DAC. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

The new reality of Search and brand discovery requires an Enterprise-to-Local strategy.

Traditional keyword-driven search engine results pages (SERPs) are being disrupted by AI-driven experiences that anticipate, summarize, and even act on users’ needs.

As generative AI tools like Google’s AI Overviews and platforms such as Perplexity become more prominent in the Search journey, the marketer’s task expands: It’s no longer just about ranking well on Google but being visible wherever decisions begin.

For multilocation businesses, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity. AI is flattening the competitive playing field, restructuring what influences purchasing decisions, and automating formerly human-led interactions.

Here are four key takeaways to help local marketers understand what’s changing, what strategies are needed right now, and what the future holds.

Strategy 1. You Must Navigate Google’s AI-First Search Experience To Stay Visible

Google’s inclusion of AI Overviews has introduced an entirely new kind of SERP.

These AI-generated summaries often sit atop the page, pushing traditional blue links down. Unlike the 10-blue-link layout of old, AI Overviews synthesize answers across sources, citing a few but effectively removing the need to click.

What To Look For, Learn About & Incorporate

Google’s AI Mode, now available as a Labs experiment, prioritizes user intent by stitching together information to answer nuanced queries (e.g., “best affordable Thai near me for a date”) into a conversational response.

For local queries, it factors in:

What No Longer Works

Structured data or map pack signals alone do not supply enough context to be recognized in a modern AI-first search experience.

Strategy 2. Adopt An Enterprise-To-Local Strategy To Capture Both Informational & Local Intent

DAC’s study of over 700 real SERPs across four major verticals (Apparel, Auto Services, Financial Services & Insurance, and Home Services) revealed a clear divergence between the kinds of queries that trigger AI Overviews (AIOs) and those that surface the traditional Maps Pack.

Only 1% of queries triggered both features in the same SERP. When both appeared, the AIO came first, pushing the Maps Pack below the fold.

What To Look For, Learn About & Incorporate

AIOs dominate informational queries, while Maps Packs dominate transactional or locational ones:

  • Queries beginning with question words (“how,” “why,” “what”) triggered AIOs 28% of the time, but Maps Packs <1%>
  • “Near me” queries triggered Maps Packs 100% of the time and never triggered an AIO.
  • Pluralized terms (e.g., “jackets”) were more likely to trigger AIOs than singular or specific terms.

Marketers, especially those managing multilocation brands, need a bifurcated strategy:

For AI Overviews

  • Invest in informational content that addresses common customer questions.
  • Ensure that content is structured, educational, and aligns with E-E-A-T principles (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness).
  • Use clear question-answer formatting to increase chances of AIO inclusion.

For Maps Pack Visibility

  • Optimize your Google Business profile.
  • Encourage reviews and manage responses.
  • Create localized landing pages with clear CTAs and schema markup.
  • Use local backlinks and citations to build trust.

Strategy 3. Gain Visibility In Alternate Search Experiences With A Distributed Content Footprint

Many users, especially younger generations, are increasingly bypassing traditional search engines altogether.

Inject your brand into new channels and open your windows and doors to complete visibility.

Perplexity AI has seen a remarkable rise in adoption, with around 22 million monthly active users in 2025, positioning it as a major alternative search platform.

Perplexity can geolocate the user and surface locally-relevant searches through its own web crawling, but also offers specific Local Search functionality that is enriched by a Yelp integration, and a restaurant booking capability that integrates with OpenTable – highlighting the importance of strong business listing data partnerships for any AI-based search that wishes to challenge Google’s dominance.

Reddit has become a trusted resource for recommendations, given the importance consumers are placing on social proof. Reddit commands strong loyalty among younger users, with over 70% of its user base being Millennials or Gen Z.

Its long-lasting content delivers value over time; 34% of Reddit posts continue to be viewed more than a year after posting. While Reddit does not offer an explicitly local search function, local business discovery is discussion-based.

Local content can be prioritized in the interface through the user’s geolocation, and explicitly local subreddits (e.g., r/Vancouver) can become forums for brands to build authentic connections with local customers.

TikTok is also a strong contender. A 2024 Adobe study revealed that 64% of Gen Z and 49% of Millennials have used TikTok as a search engine. While TikTok does not provide a maps-based search, its “Nearby” feed supports the discovery of content posted by local creators.

TikTok is currently testing an experimental feature that will place user-generated reviews into the Comments section when a place or local business has been tagged in the content.

In this way, TikTok can support local brand discovery through a blend of metadata, location tagging, and algorithmic signals. TikTok’s rapidly evolving paid search capabilities also support geotargeting as granularly as the zip code level.

The generational differences in Search behavior are clear. Gen Z often turns to TikTok and Reddit for inspiration and discovery rather than Google.

Millennials blend traditional, AI-assisted, and visual search, while Gen X and Boomers still lean toward Google, though they’re increasingly open to AI-generated summaries.

What To Look For, Learn About & Incorporate

To reach these diverse platforms and audiences requires tailored content. Video-first assets optimized for TikTok, Reels, and YouTube cater well to short-form, visual-first consumption.

On forums such as Reddit and Quora, building textual credibility through authentic, conversational answers is key.

Pinterest thrives on visuals and moodboards, while FAQs, how-to guides, and structured content (with schema markup) are crucial for AI engines that reward clear, structured information.

In this evolving landscape, marketers must build a distributed content footprint to ensure a presence wherever people are searching, and where AI tools may source it.

As AI platforms increasingly summarize content from various social and community channels, your brand’s participation in those discussions becomes essential,  not just for visibility, but to be cited accurately.

Strategy 4. Prepare For The Future Of Agentic Local Search

We are entering the agentic era, where users don’t just search, they delegate.

Google’s experimental “Call with AI” feature allows users to let an AI assistant call local businesses on their behalf. This transforms search from a real-time human task into an asynchronous agentic process.

What To Look For, Learn About & Incorporate

Key Impacts:

  • Proximity matters less: If AI finds a better deal 20 minutes away, you may be willing to make the trip
  • Price pressure increases: Transparent price comparisons and AI-led negotiations could initiate a race to the bottom
  • “Vibes” matter less: Warm greetings won’t influence the AI. Decision-making shifts from emotional to transactional.
  • Big brands lose leverage: Without human biases for logos or familiarity, small businesses can compete if they meet the decision criteria

Operational Challenges

  • Call volume may spike, but call value drops; your business could receive 100 AI-generated inquiries while winning only a few sales.
  • Unanswered calls = lost sale. AI agents will move on quickly if a call goes unanswered.
  • Scalability issues: AI can contact 100 businesses in seconds. Human-staffed phones can’t scale similarly.

Long-Term Adjustments

  • Structured pricing data must be public and machine-readable.
  • Agent-to-agent negotiation will require new infrastructure, with bots communicating with each other to confirm inventory and schedule appointments.
  • Local search becomes asynchronous: Agents might initiate requests at midnight and complete transactions during business hours, with no human involved.

Evolving Local Search, Enduring Foundations

There has been a seismic shift in how users discover brands and make decisions.

Businesses, especially multilocation enterprises, must adapt to a new hybrid model where visibility is dictated by both informational depth and local precision.

What’s Changing:

  • AI reshapes SERPs: Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode prioritize synthesized answers and intent-matching over clickable links, reducing organic link visibility.
  • Query types split visibility paths: Informational queries are now more likely to trigger AI Overviews, while transactional/local queries still favor Maps Packs; rarely do both appear together.
  • New platforms drive discovery: Reddit, TikTok, Perplexity, and Pinterest are no longer fringe sources – they are now primary discovery tools for younger generations.
  • Agentic search emerges: Users increasingly delegate tasks to AI (e.g., “Call with AI”), reshaping search from human-led interactions into asynchronous, bot-to-bot transactions.
  • Operational pressure increases: Businesses must prepare for surges in AI-driven interactions, increased price competition, and reduced influence of brand familiarity or emotional cues.

What’s Staying The Same:

  • Relevance and trust still rule: Google’s EEAT ranking principles remain crucial for AI visibility.
  • Local optimization is still vital: For transactional/local intent, the Maps Pack remains dominant. Accurate business listings, reviews, and structured local content continue to impact discoverability.
  • Content matters: Informational, structured, and platform-tailored content remains the cornerstone of any successful visibility strategy, only now must it live across multiple channels and formats.
  • Brand credibility drives citations: AI systems rely on trustworthy sources, so being the “answer” in AIOs or Perplexity depends on being referenced as a reputable, visible voice across the web.

To thrive in this transformed landscape, marketers must double down on creating a distributed content footprint, intent-driven optimization, and technical readiness for AI delegation, while still leaning on the fundamentals of trust, relevance, and local authority.

At DAC, we help brands thrive in this complexity with strategies that balance informational depth, local precision, and future-ready adaptability. Our recent analysis of 700+ SERPs across four major industries reveals how AI Overviews and Maps Packs divide visibility and what multilocation brands must do to capture both.

If you’re ready to turn today’s search disruption into tomorrow’s growth, get the full insights in our new whitepaper.

Download the Whitepaper

Image Credits

Featured Image: Image by DAC. Used with permission.

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments