How to Show Up on AI Search

By Corey Hinde

The rise of AI-powered search engines and generative AI tools has fundamentally shifted the landscape of online visibility.

No longer is it just about keywords and traditional SEO; instead, it’s about providing clear, concise, and authoritative information that AI models can easily understand, synthesize, and present to users.

To ensure your business stands out in this evolving environment, consider the following strategies:

1. Be Clear and Concise on Your Website and Other Digital Assets

AI models excel at processing and summarizing information efficiently.

Therefore, clarity and conciseness are paramount.

Direct Answers: Aim to answer common questions directly and early in your content. Think of how a user might phrase a question to an AI assistant and structure your content to provide that answer promptly.
Avoid Jargon: Use plain language that is easily understood by a broad audience. AI systems, while sophisticated, benefit from straightforward communication.
Focus on Value: Every piece of content should have a clear purpose and deliver tangible value to the reader. Remove any extraneous information that could dilute your message.

2. Embrace Conversational Language

AI search engines are designed to understand natural language queries, often mimicking how people speak.

Write Naturally: Craft your content as if you were having a conversation with your target audience. This includes using long-tail keywords that reflect natural speech patterns.
Anticipate Questions: Think about follow-up questions users might ask after an initial query and address them within your content. This helps AI models provide more comprehensive answers.
Tone and Style: Maintain a consistent, helpful, and authoritative tone. AI models are increasingly adept at discerning sentiment and credibility.

3. Utilize Clear H1 and H2 Structure (and Beyond)

Heading tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) are crucial for both human readability and AI comprehension.

Hierarchical Organization: Use a logical hierarchy of headings to outline your content. Your H1 should clearly state the main topic, while H2s break it down into key sections, and H3s provide further detail.
Descriptive Headings: Make your headings descriptive and informative, giving a clear indication of the content that follows. This helps AI models understand the structure and main themes of your page.
Featured Snippet Potential: Well-structured content with clear headings is more likely to be pulled into featured snippets or AI-generated summaries, as it makes it easy for AI to extract concise answers.

4. Include TLDRs (Too Long; Didn’t Read) on Your Socials and Website

As AI summaries become more prevalent, providing your own concise summaries can be highly beneficial.

Pre-empt AI Summaries: A “TLDR” or executive summary at the beginning of your content provides a ready-made, accurate summary for AI to potentially leverage in its overviews.
Social Media Snippets: For social media, craft short, impactful summaries that capture the essence of your content and encourage click-throughs, even if the AI provides its own summary.
Key Takeaways: On your website, consider a “key takeaways” or “at a glance” section that distills the main points. This is incredibly helpful for users and AI alike.

5. Use AI Options to Research Yourself and Your Competition

Leverage AI tools to gain insights into your online presence and that of your competitors.

AI Search Simulation: Use generative AI tools (like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Copilot) to search for information about your business and industry. See how your brand is being summarized and compared to competitors.
Content Gap Analysis: AI-powered SEO tools can help identify content gaps where your competitors are ranking but you are not. This informs your content strategy.
Sentiment Analysis: Use AI tools to analyze the sentiment around your brand and your competitors based on online mentions and reviews.

6. Get Reviews Far and Wide and Across Various Options

Online reviews are a powerful form of social proof that significantly influence AI search results.

Platform Diversity: Encourage reviews on various platforms relevant to your industry (Google My Business, industry-specific review sites, social media, etc.).
Quality and Quantity: Both the number and quality of your reviews matter. Positive reviews with detailed feedback provide more valuable data for AI.
Respond to Reviews: Actively respond to reviews, both positive and negative. This demonstrates engagement and a commitment to customer satisfaction, which AI can interpret positively.
Keyword-Rich Reviews: While you can’t control what users write, naturally occurring keywords within reviews can further enhance your visibility for relevant queries.

7. Build Strong Backlinks

Backlinks remain a fundamental ranking factor for traditional search engines, and their influence extends to AI search as well.

Authority and Trust: Backlinks from high-authority, reputable websites signal to AI that your content is trustworthy and valuable.
Relevant Links: Focus on acquiring backlinks from sites that are relevant to your industry and content.
Earned Mentions: Even unlinked mentions on authoritative sites can contribute to your brand’s overall authority and recognition by AI models.

8. Emphasize Credentials and Personal Leader Information

Establishing expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-A-T, or increasingly, E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) is crucial for AI search.

Author Bios: Include detailed author bios on your content, highlighting relevant experience, qualifications, and achievements.
About Us Page: Clearly articulate your company’s mission, values, and the expertise of your leadership team.
Industry Recognition: Showcase awards, certifications, and affiliations that validate your credibility within your field.
Thought Leadership: Encourage your business leaders to participate in industry discussions, publish articles, and speak at events to build their personal brand and enhance your company’s perceived authority.

9. Cultivate Social Proof

Beyond reviews, a broader sense of social proof influences how AI models perceive your brand.

Testimonials and Case Studies: Feature compelling testimonials and detailed case studies on your website to demonstrate real-world success and customer satisfaction. For example a new Car Rentals Business – competing with established brands that people trust will require lots of early social proof and reviews.
User-Generated Content: Encourage and showcase content created by your customers, such as photos, videos, and social media posts.
Community Engagement: Actively participate in online communities and discussions related to your industry. This demonstrates relevance and engagement.
Media Mentions: Mentions in news articles, podcasts, or other media outlets, even without a direct link, contribute to brand recognition and authority that AI models can detect.

By strategically implementing these tactics, businesses can significantly improve their chances of appearing prominently and effectively in the evolving landscape of AI-powered search, ensuring their valuable information reaches the right audience at the right time.

Now – if YOU want to use this information for your own business, you can simply ask an AI option like ChatGPT or Gemini, something like this:

“for this business, https://beelplumbing.com.au/, please identify a hit list of top priority tasks, medium priority tasks, and low priority tasks to complete for that business, using the 9 areas in this article (insert here) as a guide, to help us show up on AI searches”

Here is what WE got as a reply from Gemini:

Top Priority Tasks

These tasks will have the most immediate impact on improving Beel Plumbing’s visibility and understanding by AI search engines, leveraging their existing strengths.

Implement TLDRs (Too Long; Didn’t Read) or Key Takeaways: Add concise summaries or “key takeaways” at the beginning of important service pages, the homepage, and any future blog posts. This will help AI models quickly grasp the essence of the content for summaries and direct answers.
Optimize H1/H2 Structure for Content: While navigation is clear, ensure that the content within service pages, the “About Us” section, and future blog posts utilizes clear, descriptive, and hierarchically structured H1, H2, and H3 headings. This improves both human readability and AI comprehension of content segments.
Enhance Conversational Language and Direct Answers: Review existing content (especially on service pages and potential FAQ sections) to ensure it directly answers common customer questions in a conversational tone. Think about how a user might phrase a query to an AI assistant (e.g., “How do I fix a leaky tap in Mornington Peninsula?”) and structure answers accordingly.

Medium Priority Tasks

These tasks require more content development, strategic planning, or ongoing effort but will significantly contribute to long-term AI search visibility.

Develop an AI-Optimized Blog Strategy: Fully leverage the “Blog” section by consistently publishing articles that are clear, concise, use conversational language, incorporate TLDRs, and follow a strong heading structure. Focus on topics relevant to common plumbing issues and local services.
Diversify Review Platforms: While Google reviews are excellent, explore and encourage reviews on other relevant platforms specific to the plumbing industry or local services (if applicable beyond Google My Business). This broadens social proof and reach.
Conduct AI-Specific Competitor and Self-Research: Actively use AI generative tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot) to search for Beel Plumbing, its services, and its competitors. Analyze how information is summarized by AI, identify content gaps, and understand how the business compares in AI-generated results.
Strengthen Social Proof Beyond Reviews: Incorporate more explicit social proof elements, such as detailed case studies demonstrating successful projects, testimonials with customer photos/videos (with consent), or mentions of community involvement and local sponsorships.

Low Priority Tasks

These are ongoing best practices that are important for overall SEO and credibility, indirectly supporting AI search understanding.

Backlink Strategy Enhancement: Continuously work on acquiring high-quality, relevant backlinks from authoritative websites within the plumbing industry or local Australian directories. This boosts overall domain authority and trustworthiness, which AI models consider.
Regular Content Audit and Refresh: Periodically review all website content to ensure it remains accurate, up-to-date, clear, concise, and optimized for both human users and AI understanding. Remove outdated information and refresh content to reflect current best practices.

This could give you a solid starting point.

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