What is AI search optimisation (AIO) in marketing?

Pawla Snippetson
Nov 20
5 min read

AIO or AI Optimisation is a term in organic search marketing that describes the process of enhancing your content to increase your chances of getting recommended in large language models like ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Claude.

It sounds complicated.

And the truth is, it actually is complicated. Not only because it adds another level of complexity for brand awareness in organic search, but also because best practices around AIO are still evolving.

This means that businesses interested in staying ahead of the curve need to champion agility and be willing to pivot their organic search strategy to include ai optimisation.

SEO vs AIO: Is there a difference?

In the past 20 years, organic search has largely been dominated by traditional SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) practice.

This has largely been implemented in two ways: technical SEO and on-page SEO.

Technical SEO deals primarily with the more advanced aspects of a website and leans heavily on web development. As the name suggests, it’s a little more technical and determines the overall “health” of your site.

It deals with things like:

Website authority scores
Backlink health
Status code errors
Page speed
Crawlers

On the other side of the coin is on-page SEO, which deals more with the content side of optimisation.

It deals with things like:

Keyword research
Meta titles and descriptions
Copy and/or editorial writing
Link building

It’s important to note that there’s a lot of overlap between the two “types” of optimisation.

You’ll likely have one person in an organisation responsible for both sides, unless you run a larger SEO team. Or you might have a role like Content Lead that works more on the on-page tasks.

There are lots of different team setups that can help manage the work.

So, how does ai search engine optimisation fit in this?

Does AI overview optimisation matter?

Firstly, yes! AI has changed organic search. This means that there’s now even more to consider when wanting to optimise your website.

Secondly, let’s look at the way a search engine like Google has changed in the past year.

As you can see from the image above, Google’s AI overview now dominates the number one spot in the search results. This overview is powered by Google’s LLM (Large Language Model) called Gemini.

You’ll find similarities in other search engines. For example, Bing’s AI overview is largely powered by GPT‑4 from OpenAI.

This means that you’re no longer just trying to optimise your website or socials for traditional search results, but all of these LLM models too. Essentially, you need to optimise AI. And unfortunately, the tactics needed are a little different, which means even more consideration of your content.

3 things you need to know about AIO

So, what tactics should you be thinking about when comforting the AIO elephant?

Below, we cover 4 important considerations before you begin implementing any plans to optimise for search LLMS.

1) Google is putting its AI search model first

We’re still at the beginning stages of AI implementation on traditional search engines. This means it’s very likely that LLMs will become even more important in the next five years.

For instance, in the UK, Google’s AI Mode launched in late July. Instead of simply adding an AI overview in traditional search, this feature works like ChatGPT, essentially becoming its own search engine.

Some people speculate that eventually this will totally replace the OG ranking page. However, only time will tell.

2) Traditional SEO still has impact

There’s a lot of fear-mongering online that traditional SEO is dead. But this simply isn’t true.

Many online users are still skeptical of the accuracy of AI overviews, not without reason; there have been more than a few cases where AI has given users the wrong answers. Hence, why many models now include these T&Cs at the bottom of their platforms.

Equally, many LLMs use the same ranking factors that traditional search uses to determine the accuracy and quality of a brand. That’s why it’s still important to look at the factors described above in technical and on-page SEO.

3) Zero-click searches are on the rise

The rise of AIO means that your marketing reporting might need to change too.

Because AI overviews are dominating the number one spot in search results now, many users, especially if it’s a simple question and answer query, will find their answer without having to even click on a link.

Nearly 60% of Google searches ended without a click in 2024

You might find that you see smaller click-through rates to your website, but this doesn’t necessarily mean you’re performing any worse - especially if your brand shows up in the AI overview.

4) Every search engine works with a different LLM

We mentioned this briefly above, but search engines like Bing and Google use different models to power their search results.

Bing > ChatGPT (OpenAI)

Google > Gemini (Google DeepMind)

Equally, some users are skipping traditional search engines entirely and using tools like Claude and Perplexity to answer their queries instead.

This might feel overwhelming when you start to consider that each of these models recommends brands and websites in different ways. For example, research suggests that ChatGPT likes brand mentions on pillar blogs, whereas Gemini likes content supported by community (which is why it ranks Reddit forums so highly now).

How to prepare your business

We understand how overwhelming these changes might feel, especially if you’ve only just gotten to grips with traditional search.

But we’re here to tell you, don’t panic, don’t stress - while these changes might feel big, there are small and manageable ways to approach the evolution of AIO.

The first is to think about skilling up your in-house SEO specialist, sending them to events like BrightonSEO, or getting them involved in networks that keep up-to-date with the changes.

Secondly, you can let us take some of that burden by helping to manage everything from AIO strategy to full implementation. We work partly as an AI search optimisation agency and a traditional search agency.

Different approaches will work for different businesses!

FAQs

What does AIO stand for in organic search?

AIO stands for AI Optimisation, it’s a phrase that describes the process of businesses improving their content to get recommended on LMM results pages.

What factors influence LLMs to trust or highlight our business?

Public data quality, authoritative mentions, structured content, and prompt phrasing influence LLM outputs. LLMs mirror online patterns, so strong visibility and credibility increase positive references.

How do I measure if my AI is truly optimised?

Track performance (accuracy, precision), efficiency (latency, cost), business impact (leads, conversion), and user satisfaction. A truly optimised AI balances technical performance with measurable business results. You can use tools like SEMrush to get performance reports.

How can AI optimisation increase business leads?

Optimised AI personalises content, predicts high-value leads, automates outreach, and analyses data trends, boosting engagement and conversion rates.

How do we ensure AI recommendations align with our brand positioning?

Use clear brand guidelines, curated datasets, human review, precise prompts, and continuous feedback loops to keep AI outputs consistent with brand values.