Search is expanding beyond Google. Brands need to prepare their websites and content distribution strategies to get their content indexed by these alternative engines. This marks the biggest disruption since Google began dominating search in the early 2000s. It also presents brands with a new opportunity to enhance their content visibility.
For the first time in over 20 years, consumers have a new way to access information on the internet. This disruption, initially catalyzed by ChatGPT 15 months ago, is now the fastest-growing area within AI. With the proliferation of many more large language models (LLMs), consumers will increasingly obtain information from sources other than Google. This shift offers a unique opportunity for brands. Data from our analytics platform shows an exponential increase in traffic from AI-driven LLMs over the last few months—a trend we expect to persist in the foreseeable future.
Consumers will no longer rely solely on Google to find information online. Currently, an average brand derives 34% of its traffic from organic search.
Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) now face the challenge of preserving this traffic, as the sources of the traffic diversify. This article aims to address how brands can maintain and grow their visibility in this changing landscape.
Most AI Engines use similar algorithms and strategies to index the web content. A common constraint all these engines have is that their indexing and crawl needs to be very efficient because of the cost associated with AI GPUs. We list below some of the factors that make it easy for the AI engines to index your content:
Ensure your website is technically sound so crawlers can easily access and index your content. Key factors include site speed for both mobile and desktop, mobile site stability, and user-friendly navigation. Use XML sitemaps and robots.txt files to facilitate efficient crawling. AI engines currently do not render JavaScript effectively. This limitation makes server-side rendering (SSR) crucial for ensuring that your content is accessible to these bots. SSR also enhances user experience with faster load times and stable browsing.
Produce content that is genuinely helpful to consumers. Google refers to this as “Helpful Content.” Each industry has unique types of content that add value. For example, list of things and events happening in your local market is a good content that consumers find value in for hotels. That content would be regarded highly by the AI engines. Likewise, FAQ form of content is useful for the consumers and hence is valued by the AI Engines. AI crawlers prioritize useful, high-quality content, so ensure your content is relevant, enhances the user experience, and aids decision-making.
Structured data markup or Schema markup communicates exactly what content you have on your website thus reducing the effort to understand the context of your content. A more detailed markup (what we call Advanced Schema) helps the search engines understand the depth of the content. Ensure that your website has advanced schema markup. This is important for maintaining a low crawl budget for LLM crawlers and minimizing indexing costs.
If you are a location-based business, optimize your local profiles on platforms like Google, Bing, Apple, Facebook, and Foursquare. For instance, Google and Gemini extract data from Google Business Profiles, while Bing uses Bing Maps. ChatGPT recently announced it will source data from Foursquare.
By adhering to the guidelines outlined above, you can significantly increase the chances of your content being featured on AI engines. Milestone’s Digital Experience Platform incorporates these technologies natively, making it easier for the brands to get their content indexed. Websites on our platform are seeing significant growth in traffic from AI engines. Key features of our platform include:
The results? Websites powered by Milestone consistently outperform in organic search while experiencing substantial growth in traffic from AI-driven LLMs. Contact us today if your brand needs assistance with marketing strategies to navigate these changes effectively.
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