AI is undoubtedly changing the landscape and it’s influence will only grow stronger.
For years, as web designers, we’ve all been pursuing the same, stringent path for best SEO practices. And then before you can blink, AI has come along and ripped up the song sheet.
We are all familiar with the practices of SEO in terms of traditional page ranking. You type in a search on Google and you are presented with a list of entries and websites that best match your search.
And of course, SEO is fundamental and will remain fundamental in everything we do. Ensuring our clients are ranked on Google for their top services is a key part of our services.
AI is the new kid on the block and in a relatively short space of time has revolutioned our daily lives.
The new raft of internet AI tools are becoming common space. From Chat GBT to Google’s Gemini, these tools have revolutionised the way we interact on the internet.
Gemini was designed to enhance and transform how users interact with Google Search. This advanced AI technology generates responses to prompts by pulling information from the internet and presenting it in a more, human, conversational manner. Unlike traditional Google listings, which provide snippets of information or a list of links, Gemini works to deliver contextual responses.
Lets look at an example of this. So if I type “web designers near Hertford” into Gemini, I am presented with a list similar to a Google search, but the entries are more contextual. Glad to see us obviously listed!
Let’s look at a similar search request in Chat GBT. Again, glad to see Beanebytes included in the Search Results!
AEO Explained
AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimization, which is the practice of formatting and structuring online content so that AI-powered tools, and search features can easily extract and cite it as answers to a direct prompt.
There are some subtle differences that are important to understand in formating content for AEO as we’ve discovered.
Traditional SEO focuses on matching keywords to queries, but AI-driven search emphasizes understanding user intent. This shift requires marketers to create content that aligns with user preferences and behaviours more than ever before.
AI systems favour content that provides immediate, concise answers to specific questions. Content should be structured with question and answer formats that directly address common queries and make it easier for AI to digest and interpret.
Let’s consider an example of how we’ve adapted our website for AEO.
In this section of our site, we explain the practices we use when designing a website to drive more enquiries. We have broken down the section into small, concise snippets with a leading question, ie. How is the website structured?, How do we make the website search-friendly?, etc.
This structure and format, with clear concise snippets is deisgned to help the AI tools make better sense of the content when related to a direct question.
We are still relatively new to the world of AEO and AI but we’ll be returning to this subject no doubt, again soon!
If you want to know more about how to get your website AI ready, then just get in touch with us at Beanebytes Web Design.