- Google says its AI Mode has more than one billion monthly users, and ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Copilot also sit between customers and your website.
- Google's July 2026 guide is clear: optimizing for AI search is still SEO. No special structured data, no llms.txt, and no chopping text into small chunks.
- According to Google, unique content with a distinct perspective likely has the biggest impact on visibility in AI features.
- Beyond clicks, what counts are mentions in AI answers, a consistent brand presence online, and precise information that AI agents can process.
4:39In 2025, there was plenty of debate about whether SEO was dead. The opposite happened: search moved. Answers increasingly come from AI systems that summarize content, compare providers, combine sources, and shape purchase decisions before a website even loads. Google says its AI Mode alone now has more than one billion users a month.
That means companies need to be visible at many entry points. Treat AI systems as a sales channel, and you win customers that others can't reach through it. The ten strategies in this article show what matters in 2026.
We make your company the source AI answers cite
AI answers aim to satisfy users without sending them elsewhere. Visibility goes to whoever provides the source the answer is built on.
What this means for you: Visitors still matter, but so do influence and mentions. A mention in an AI answer works like a recommendation, even without a click.
What we do: Every month, we track your visibility on the major AI platforms and record mentions and citations. Where AI trusts specific sites, such as industry portals, comparison lists, or forums, we secure your presence there (barnacle SEO).
We turn your website into a reliable knowledge source
AI systems re-crawl websites constantly. Contradictory or outdated content makes it hard for them to represent your company accurately.
What this means for you: Your content is a data source, and its quality needs the same assurance as any other data source.
For every important page, we check which first-hand experience, data or explanations make it a helpful source. That includes current information, clear statements and no competing pages on the same topic.
We make your brand visible in all major AI systems
ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Claude, and Google Search's AI features now sit between customers and your website. Many users ask their questions there directly. The systems' answers often differ, and the same question can surface different providers every time.
What this means for you: Your visibility varies by system and by moment. The only meaningful metric is the share of answers that mention your brand relative to competitors (share of model).
What we do: We regularly ask the same questions across several AI systems and analyze which passages from your website get used and cited.
We structure your content for people and machines
A Microsoft study of 200,000 anonymized Bing Copilot conversations shows that AI most often, and most successfully, supports information work: gathering, organizing, and sharing information. Content that's easy to digest has the edge.
What this means for you: A clear information architecture pays off for readers and AI systems alike. You don't need special formats for AI: Google explicitly says content doesn't have to be split into small chunks and no special structured data is required.
What we do: We use clear definitions, distinct sections, tables for comparisons, and structured data where it supports rich search results.
We keep your brand consistent across the web
AI systems compare what others write about you with what you say about yourself. The more consistent the terms and context, the more confidently a system links your company to a topic.
What this means for you: Your company information should be identical and interlinked everywhere: website, business profiles, directories, press releases.
What we do: We map where and how your company is described online and align names, product names, and key messages. We advise against frequent product renaming because it makes the connection harder to draw.
We back up your claims so AI systems trust them
Links used to be what mattered most. AI systems also look at where a statement comes from and whether it can be verified. In its guide to AI search, Google names unique content with a distinct perspective and firsthand experience as the most important factor for visibility in AI features.
What this means for you: Your claims need to be consistent across the web and verifiable.
What we do: We focus on clear authorship, sources for every figure, and proprietary data. We cut filler, because it dilutes what a text says.
We make your customer data readable for personal AI assistants
AI assistants on phones and computers increasingly combine personal data such as emails and calendars with information from the web, for questions like “When does my flight leave, and how much luggage can I bring?”
What this means for you: Order confirmations, booking emails, and app data become customer touchpoints. If they aren't machine-readable, an assistant can't use them.
What we do: We bring marketing, CRM, and IT together and check whether key details such as time, location, and price are stored in structured form in emails and apps.
We align your videos with your other content
AI systems process images and video as well as text. A video is part of the overall picture a system forms of your brand.
What this means for you: When video and text contradict each other, credibility suffers. Visuals and audio must fit your brand message, both in substance and legally.
What we do: We review video titles, transcripts, and the footage itself to make sure they support the claims on your website.
We get your offers ready for AI agents to buy
AI agents book appointments and buy products on people's behalf. In 2026, Google launched the Universal Commerce Protocol, which lets customers buy directly in Google Search and Gemini. To an agent, your content is a set of instructions, and ambiguity is the biggest obstacle.
What this means for you: Think about which tasks agents could handle in your industry, such as booking an appointment or comparing prices.
What we do: We make prices, availability, terms, and restrictions unambiguous and machine-readable, so an agent can process them without errors. Learn more on our agentic commerce page.
We make your answers usable for voice and visual search
AI systems see, hear, and speak. Search increasingly happens in passing: users point their camera at a product and ask whether it works with what they already have. The query combines image, voice, and context.
What this means for you: Your content has to work without a screen, too. How does your brand sound when a synthetic voice reads it aloud?
What we do: We write short, unambiguous answers to typical questions so text-to-speech can read them out correctly. For how we build AI visibility overall, see our article on Generative Engine Optimization.
