By Sarah Knott.

How to Optimize Your SEO Strategy for AI Search

The rise of AI and its potential to replace search engines has completely reshaped the world of SEO. From buzzwords like “zero-click search” to the emerging concept of “AI SEO,” also known as “GEO” (Generative Engine Optimization), marketers everywhere are asking the same question: how do we optimize for AI-driven search?

As traffic patterns shift and traditional ranking signals evolve, understanding how AI influences search visibility has never been more important. The SEO experts at Darwill are here to debunk myths and break down what you should be focusing on to stay ahead.

LLMs and AI Search Engines

When we talk about AI for SEO, we’re really talking about two types of AI technologies:

LLMs (Large Language Models) — like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude.
AI Search Engines — such as Google’s AI Overviews and Bing Copilot.

Understanding which one your audience interacts with most helps you build smarter strategies. Some questions to ask are:

1. Are your consumers more casual or more factual?

2. Is your service essential for everyday or recreational use?

3. Is your audience passive or reactive?

Reactive audiences (like those in healthcare or home services) use LLMs to get quick, conversational answers.
Passive audiences (like shoppers or travelers) use AI search engines to research and compare before they act.

What are LLMs?

LLMs are what commonly come to mind when you think of AI—ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude are popular examples. LLMs are pre-trained on large datasets to generate responses to user prompts. For these models, when you ask a question, they will pull from a backlog of data.

Because their data often stops at a “cutoff date” (for example, at the time of this blog posting, ChatGPT’s dataset cutoff was on March 14, 2023), they don’t always have the latest information.

For some of these LLMs, if they do not know the answer, they will run a quick search online to discover what they need to know, but this doesn’t mean that every answer will be accurate. Because of the historical data, it’s essential to understand that optimizing for LLMs will not see immediate results. This makes optimizing for LLMs a long-term visibility strategy, not an instant traffic booster.

How to Optimize for ChatGPT and Other LLMs

When it comes to how to optimize for LLMs, you should consider two key areas:

Optimizing for historical data (what LLMs already know)
Optimizing for the search engines they reference (like Bing and Google)

1. Optimize for Historical Data

Since LLMs rely on pre-trained data, they often reference content that’s already been published for some time. That means your goal is to create evergreen, question-based content that continues to be relevant long after it’s posted.

Here’s how:

Use long-tail keywords and FAQs. These mirror how real users phrase their questions in AI chats.
Target niche, low-competition topics. ChatGPT doesn’t always cite sources, so aiming for low-volume, low-difficulty keywords has a higher chance of being cited directly.
Research what people are asking. Tools like Ahrefs, SEMRush, or even Google’s “People Also Ask” section are great places to uncover real user questions worth answering.

2. Optimize for Referenced Search Engines

When optimizing for the search engines that LLMs pull their datasets from, this comes down to traditional SEO practices and keyword research. It’s important to keep in mind that you shouldn’t solely optimize for Google. ChatGPT sources a large portion of its live data from Bing, so appearing in Bing’s index can directly boost your visibility in ChatGPT results.

The Link Between ChatGPT and Bing

Microsoft’s $13 billion investment in OpenAI cemented a strong partnership between ChatGPT and Bing. Today, ChatGPT pulls information from Bing for nearly 46% of its queries — meaning Bing visibility directly impacts how your brand appears in AI-generated answers.

It’s not just through the eyes of ChatGPT that Bing optimization is important. Bing now uses the GPT engine to aid their own search algorithm. Seeing where you rank with Bing Webmaster Tools can provide valuable insight into how visible your content is on ChatGPT. Like Google Analytics and Search Console tools, Bing Webmaster Tools is completely free to use and can provide valuable insights into:

Who is viewing your website
How they discovered it
How they are interacting with the site

This data can help you make decisions about what kind of content to feature and how to format your site to increase conversions.

What are AI Search Engines?

AI search engines are more fact-focused and meant to fill the traditional role of Google, unlike LLMs, which are more conversational. They’re designed for proactive search results to summarize and display relevant results in seconds — often without requiring a click. This makes them especially useful for industries like retail, food service, and travel, where users want fast, straightforward information.

What is a Zero-Click Search?

Zero-click search is a search that ends without a click. For AI-powered search platforms such as ChatGPT and Claude, this means that the user asks a question, gets an answer, and then moves on. Since engines don’t always link sources, this is incredibly common behavior.

However, this term also applies to traditional search engines. Google’s own AI Overview function has increased this number significantly. In June 2025, AI Overviews were present on approximately 13.14% of all Google searches. Moreso, in 2024, 58.5% of Google searches in the United States ended without a click.

That means more than half of searchers are getting answers without ever visiting a site. So, how do you compete?

How Do I Optimize for Zero-Click Searches?

Accounting for zero-click searches is tricky. After all, how do you persuade someone to click on your site when it’s not even a competition? Two important things to consider are intent and meta tags.

Optimizing for Zero-Click Searches

Prioritize intent over rankings. Focus your content on answering specific questions, not stuffing keywords. When performing content research for your site, focus on long-tail keywords and low competition questions. Blog posts and FAQ sections that address niche topics often perform best.
Craft compelling meta descriptions. Your meta title and description—or the information that displays on Google when your page shows up in searches—should tease the value of your page, not give away the full answer. It’s important to entice users to click to learn more to find the answer they need.

How Do I Optimize for AI Search?

Optimizing for SEO and optimizing for AI may seem like two opposite tasks, but they aren’t too different. Regardless of how the scope of SEO and GEO is changing, the same SEO best practices still matter. In addition to keyword optimization and marketing research, the following are essential in GEO:

Accessibility

Accessibility markers, such as alt text and readability, are important. Not only do they make your site easier for crawlers to read, but they also lend your site credibility.

Header Hierarchy

Header hierarchies—or the order of H1s and H2s coded onto your site—have also gained a boost in relevancy. These allow crawlers and bots to better understand the organization of a page. Doing so can help it understand the content within, which can tell AI models how to properly relay the information.

Schema Markup

Schema has always been important when optimizing for Google. It’s a snippet of code that tells the search engine exactly what your business does. From price range to GPS location coordinates, it helps the algorithm understand your business in more detail. It helps AI confidently recommend your site to users after reading the quick schema overview.

FAQ Pages and Sections

This is a great way to target long-tailed keywords or questions. For your business, this could answer a lot of simple questions, such as your hours, where you are located, or what types of products and services you provide.

Use the Right Tools

As AI becomes more and more relevant in the world of search engines, there will be plenty of new tools that pop up. Having a wide range of tools under your belt can help you better understand user behavior and make changes that can better increase engagement and leads.

Stay equipped with:

Google Analytics – for tracking AI Overview traffic
Bing Webmaster Tools – for Bing performance and ChatGPT visibility
Ahrefs’ AI Insights Tool – for Perplexity, Copilot, and ChatGPT performance

These tools can reveal how users find your brand through AI-driven results.

What’s Next for SEO and AI?

As the world continues to change, optimizing for AI search is crucial, but not worth panicking over. The world is evolving quickly under the eyes of AI, and it’s important to learn and adapt so your business doesn’t get left behind. Keep your audience at the center, focus on quality content, and use data to guide your decisions.

At Darwill, our digital marketing team helps businesses stay ahead of evolving search trends through data-driven SEO and AI strategies.

If you’re ready to optimize your SEO for the age of AI, reach out to our team — we’ll help you turn visibility into measurable growth.