In 2020, in my post “Can you fool Google?”, I wrote about why it's important to get along with Google. Back then the question was simple: how do you get onto Google's first page?
Today the question has changed. People type whole questions into the search bar, not keywords. Google shows a short AI-generated answer above the results. Assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity search the web and give the answer together with its sources. Sometimes the user gets the answer without visiting a single site.
That means being in first place isn't enough anymore. You need to be the source of the answer.
The foundation that hasn't changed
The good news: AI assistants also take their information from somewhere — from indexed, fast and clear websites. In other words, classic SEO isn't dead; a new layer has been added on top of it. The foundation is the same as ever:
- pages are visible to search engines and get indexed;
- the site is fast and easy to use on a phone;
- every page has a clear title and description;
- there is a sitemap, and it has been submitted to search engines;
- the site runs on HTTPS.
Without these, neither Google nor AI will find you.
The content AI quotes
An assistant looks for an answer to a question. So your page has to answer a question too:
- Answer the question directly. Make the heading a question and the first paragraph a short, precise answer. The detailed explanation can come after.
- Be specific. Steps, lists, examples. Not “there are many factors”, but “these are the three factors”.
- Show the author. Who wrote it, and why should you trust them? Google weighs this as experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust (E-E-A-T). An author page, real experience and real examples count here.
- Add your own experience. Repeating what's already everywhere is something AI can do itself. Your value is your own observations and the lessons from your own mistakes.
- Keep it current. Fix outdated information and show the date of the update. The note “this post was written in 2020” above the old posts on this blog exists for exactly that reason.
The technical side: the language machines understand
- Structured data (schema.org). Writing the article, author, company, FAQ and breadcrumb trail in a format machines read helps search engines understand the page correctly.
- A sitemap and robots.txt. Say openly what should be indexed.
- Speed. A slow site tires both the user and the bot.
- Your stance on bots. Some sites block AI bots with robots.txt. That's your call, but if you block them, your chances of showing up in those assistants' answers drop too.
4 free tools to get seen
- Google Search Console — shows how the site appears in Google, which queries find it and what errors it has. The sitemap is submitted here.
- Bing Webmaster Tools — for Bing search and the services that rely on its index, such as Microsoft Copilot. You can import the site from Search Console in a few clicks.
- IndexNow — tells Bing, Yandex and other search engines that support the protocol about a new or updated page right away. On this site, the moment a new post goes out, the notice goes out automatically.
- Yandex Webmaster — does the same job for Yandex users.
What not to do
- Generating hundreds of empty articles with AI. Google treats mass-produced content with no value as spam and pushes such sites down.
- Keyword stuffing. It stopped working long ago.
- Fake reviews and made-up expertise. Once trust is lost, it's very hard to win back.
A short checklist
- Search Console and Bing Webmaster are connected and the sitemap is submitted.
- Every key page answers one question clearly.
- The author and their experience are visible.
- There is structured data.
- The site is fast on a phone.
- Old posts get checked and updated.
The form of search is changing, but not its essence: people ask questions, and whoever gives the best answer wins. It's just that now the answer is sometimes read by a machine rather than a person.
If you don't know why your site doesn't show up in search, write to me and we'll take a look together.
