Gone are the days when simply stuffing your site with keywords would get you to the top of Google. With the rise of large language models (LLMs) like Gemini, Copilot and ChatGPT, not to mention Google’s AI Overviews, the game has changed. Buyers are now equipped with way more than just short-tail keywords. They’re asking complex questions, and expecting nuanced, comprehensive answers. If you’ve not yet figured it out, your website needs to be ready for this shift.
So, how do you make sure your business is discoverable when your buyers are out there researching potential solutions with the help of their AI brothers and sisters? Let’s dive in.
Focus on comprehensive, high-quality content that answers questions.
It’ s a central theme at Inflowing to not think about selling in the first instance, but rather delivering value. Well, that’s more critical than ever nowadays. AI models are designed to understand context and provide thorough answers. If your content merely scratches the surface, it won’t cut it. Think about the common questions your prospective customers ask, the problems they’re trying to solve, and the symptoms they’re experiencing. Then, create content that directly addresses these points in detail.
- Go deep, not just wide. Instead of writing 10 shallow blog posts, create one in-depth guide that covers every facet of a topic. This demonstrates expertise and gives AI something substantial to pull from.
- Anticipate follow-up questions. If someone is researching a particular problem, what are the next logical questions they’d ask? Build those answers directly into your content.
- Think beyond keywords. While keyword research is still important for understanding user intent, your content shouldn’t sound like it was written for a robot. Write naturally, for humans, and let the AI figure out the relevance.
Structure your content for clarity and AI digestibility
Putting to one side whether digestibility is a word, or one I just made up, even the smartest AI needs a little help. Just like humans, AI models appreciate well-organised content that’s easy to read and understand.
- Use clear headings and subheadings. This helps both AI and human readers quickly grasp the structure of your content and find the information they need.
- Employ bullet points and numbered lists. These formats break up text and make complex information more digestible. They also make it easier for AI to extract key takeaways.
- Utilise schema markup. This is a more technical point, but it’s crucial. Schema markup helps search engines understand the context of your content, which can be invaluable for AI-powered overviews. Think of it as providing direct answers to specific questions within your code.
Embrace diverse content formats beyond text
While text is foundational, AI also processes and understands other forms of media.
How it looks in practice:
- Video content: Webinars, product demos, and explainer videos can be incredibly powerful. Not only do they engage your audience, but AI can now increasingly understand the spoken content within videos. I mean, YouTue is owned by Google after all, so that’s a huge database of training data for their AI products.
- Infographics and visuals: Visuals help illustrate complex points and can be interpreted by AI to add to its understanding of your content.
- Audio content: As voice search and AI assistants become more prevalent, having audio content such as podcasts can give you an edge.
Don’t forget the human touch
While we’re talking about AI, let’s not forget that at the end of the day, you’re still selling to people. AI will help them find you, but your human connection will close the deal.
- Authenticity matters. AI can detect genuine expertise and helpfulness. Don’t try to trick the system, focus on truly providing value.
- Build a community. Engaged customers and prospects are a goldmine. Their interactions, questions, and discussions can provide valuable insights for AI and signal that your content is truly helpful.
- Feedback loops are vital. Just like how feedback from sales helps marketing refine their strategy, pay attention to how users are interacting with your AI-optimised content. Are they staying on the page? Are they clicking through to other resources? This data will help you continually refine your AEO strategy.
The shift to AEO isn’t about abandoning SEO altogether, but rather evolving our understanding of it. It’s about creating content that truly serves your audience, whether they’re asking a question directly to an AI or typing it into a search bar. It’s about being helpful, being comprehensive, and being ready for the future of search.
Why the fuss about AI Overviews and LLMs?
Let’s cut to the chase. Google’s AI Overviews and LLMs like Gemini and ChatGPT are more than just shiny new toys. They’re fundamentally changing how people get information. Instead of just a list of blue links, users are now seeing synthesised answers directly in search results. This means if your content isn’t optimised for these AI systems, you might as well be shouting into the void.
For B2B businesses, this is a massive deal. Your buyers are smart. They’re not just looking for a product; they’re looking for solutions to their problems. And they’re using every tool at their disposal to find those solutions. If an AI overview can summarise your unique selling proposition and how you solve a specific problem, you’re already leaps and bounds ahead of the competition.
The old ways are dying slowly, but surely
Remember when you could just churn out a load of blog posts with your target keywords plastered everywhere and call it a day? Yeah, those days are on their way out. AI is too sophisticated for that. It’s looking for genuine understanding and value, not just keyword density. This means the “easy” way of content marketing is becoming less effective for generating qualified leads.
This isn’t to say content marketing is dead – far from it. But its purpose is shifting. It’s going from getting eyeballs to providing the kind of deep, insightful content that AI can interpret and present as authoritative answers.
Beyond the buzzwords: practical steps for your website
So, enough with the philosophy, let’s get down to brass tacks. What can you, the industrious webmaster or digital marketer, actually do to get your website AEO-ready?
Content audits: use what you’ve got
Before you start creating a mountain of new content, take a good hard look at what you already have. You’d be surprised how many valuable assets are gathering dust on a shared drive somewhere. That “useful guide to product X” from three years ago? Hello, conversion content!
An audit helps you:
- Identify gaps: Where are you not adequately answering your buyers’ questions?
- Repurpose existing content: Can that old whitepaper be broken down into a series of blog posts or a new infographic?
- Update and refresh: Outdated information is a no-go for AI. Ensure everything is current and accurate.
- Spot opportunities for “conversion content”: Think about what content can move someone from just Browse to actually getting in touch. Think higher intent stuff.
Master the art of the helpful answer
AI wants to be helpful. It wants to give users the best possible answer to their query. So, your website needs to be the ultimate source of those answers.
Address specific challenges. This is huge in B2B. Don’t just talk generally about your services. Talk about specific, time-sensitive, or industry-specific challenges your audience faces. We see this first-hand with our campaigns. When you speak directly to a pain point, you get engagement and meaningful conversations.
Don’t sell, solve. It sounds counter-intuitive, but the more you focus on delivering value and solving problems for your users, the more you will ultimately sell.
Calls-to-Action (CTAs) are still your best friend (aw)
Getting traffic to your site is great, but it’s only half the battle. You need those visitors to do something. This is where your call-to-actions come in.
Make them clear and relevant. A CTA should guide the user to the next logical step in their journey. If they’ve just read a comprehensive guide on a problem, maybe the CTA is to download a template or sign up for a webinar that offers a solution.
Offer genuine value for subscriptions. People aren’t going to give up their details for nothing. Your conversion content – whether it’s a whitepaper, an exclusive webinar, or a toolkit – needs to be genuinely high-quality and inspiring, educating, or helping them. If it’s crap, then realistically you’ll get nothing from it.
The power of web tracking and marketing automation
This is where the magic really happens for B2B lead generation. Getting leads is one thing, but knowing what to do with them is another. Most “marketing qualified leads” aren’t sales-ready right off the bat. They need a bit more nurturing.
- Connect the dots. Marketing automation systems with web tracking functionality, or integrated into web tracking tools, tie together what people do on your site whether they fill in a form or not. This is invaluable for spotting buying signals.
- Nurture, don’t just jump in. If you know a lead has viewed a guide and then returned to a specific product page three times, that’s a very different lead than someone who just checked out a single blog post. Automated nurture programmes allow you to control their journey through the funnel and ensure they’re super engaged and receptive by the time they reach your sales team. This means happy marketing and happy sales teams skipping off into the sunset together.
- Measure what matters. Automated nurture programmes also make reporting a dream. You can easily see the success of individual activities and entire campaigns, helping you attribute value and refine your strategy. No more “smushing numbers together in as positive a way as possible” for reporting.
Final thoughts: it’s a marathon, not a sprint
Look, AEO, like any other area of marketing, is definitely a marathon, not a sprint. You’re not going to flip a switch and suddenly be drowning in AI-qualified leads. It takes time to develop persona, conduct keyword research, and plan and generate content. But by focusing on genuine value, clear content, and leveraging the right tech, you can get a powerful, energetic start to your race even if it gets painful 10km in. Don’t let this be another blog post you read, think ‘cool’, then go back to the status quo. Have a go at something new and let us know how you get on.
If you would like help executing an AEO strategy, an inbound strategy, or a more specific campaign, we can help! Just get in touch, we love to chat.