GOOGLE CLARIFIES POSITION ON AI SEARCH OPTIMISATION

IS TRADITIONAL SEO STILL RELEVANT FOR GENERATIVE AI SEARCH?

According to Google, the answer is yes.

In its newly published AI Search Optimisation Guide, the company states that:

“generative AI features on Google Search are rooted in our core Search ranking and quality systems”,

reinforcing that AI Overviews and AI Mode continue to rely on many of the same systems that power traditional search.

Google’s position is clear:

“from Google Search’s perspective, optimizing for generative AI search is optimizing for the search experience, and thus still SEO.”

The guidance arrives at a significant moment for the search industry, with businesses, agencies, and publishers all attempting to understand how AI will reshape online visibility over the coming years.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Businesses do not need to create entirely separate AI-focused websites, content structures, or technical frameworks to be considered for AI-generated search results.

Marketing teams across all industries that are most likely to succeed are those that can demonstrate:

• Original insights and perspectives
• Helpful, people-first content
• Accessible and easy to understand content
• High quality images and video
• Strong technical SEO foundations
• A clear technical structure
• Optimised local business and ecommerce details

AN INDUSTRY SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS

Google’s statement arrives at a significant moment for the search industry.

The rapid growth of AI-powered discovery tools including ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google’s own AI Overviews has sparked widespread debate about the future of search engine optimisation.

At the same time, website owners and hosting providers have reported substantial increases in AI crawler and bot activity across their websites and servers.

For some organisations, this increase in crawler activity has resulted in higher server loads and infrastructure demands. More broadly, it highlights the extent to which AI platforms are actively consuming and assessing content across the web.

The result has been growing uncertainty about how businesses should prepare for an increasingly AI-driven search environment.

GOOGLE CHALLENGES COMMON AI OPTIMISATION CLAIMS

As part of its new guidance, Google also addressed several tactics that have gained traction within the SEO industry.

Among the approaches Google says are unnecessary for visibility within AI-powered search are:

• Creating LLMS.txt files
• Rewriting content specifically for AI systems
• Artificially breaking content into smaller “chunks”
• Seeking large volumes of AI-generated mentions
• Implementing AI-specific schema or markup

Instead, Google advises businesses to continue focusing on the principles that have long supported organic visibility, including high-quality content, technical website performance, accessibility, and demonstrating expertise.

The guidance suggests that many of the fundamentals underpinning successful SEO remain equally important within AI-generated search experiences.

GROWING PRESSURE FROM PUBLISHERS

Google’s clarification has also led to further scrutiny of AI-powered search, which has resulted in plans to test new controls that would allow website owners and publishers to opt out of having their content used within certain AI-powered search experiences.

The move follows ongoing discussions between Google, publishers, and regulators regarding how content is sourced, attributed, and surfaced within AI-generated search results.

Under proposals agreed with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), publishers whose content appears within AI-generated search experiences must receive clearer attribution and links back to their websites. The changes are designed to provide greater transparency and give content creators more control over how their content is used within AI-powered search.

For the wider search industry, the development highlights how quickly the relationship between search engines, AI platforms, and content publishers is evolving.

The new functionality will be trialled in the UK before being rolled out more widely.

BEYOND YOUR WEBSITE: THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF DIGITAL REPUTATION

While Google’s guidance reinforces the importance of strong website content and technical SEO, AI-powered search tools are increasingly drawing information from a broader range of sources across the web. This can include forums, review platforms, industry publications, videos, and social media discussions where brands, products, and services are being talked about.

Platforms such as Reddit have become particularly influential in recent years, with users actively seeking authentic recommendations and peer-to-peer advice. In response, search engines have increasingly surfaced user-generated content, while AI-powered search experiences are often able to summarise and reference discussions taking place across multiple sources.

As a result, visibility is becoming about more than just what a business publishes on its own website.

Brand reputation, online reviews, media coverage, industry mentions, and wider digital conversations can all influence how organisations are represented online.

THE EVOLUTION OF SEO

Perhaps the most significant takeaway from Google’s announcement is that SEO itself is evolving rather than being replaced.

The fundamentals remain largely unchanged, but the environments in which businesses need to compete are expanding rapidly.

Today, organisations are competing for visibility not only within traditional search results, but also within AI Overviews, conversational search experiences, AI assistants, and recommendation engines.

At the same time, competitors are investing more heavily in content creation, authority building, digital PR, and brand visibility to strengthen their presence across both traditional and AI-powered search environments.

This shift is one of the key reasons we have recently expanded our SEO packages.

While Google’s guidance confirms that businesses do not need separate GEO or AEO strategies, the reality is that maintaining visibility now requires optimisation across a wider range of channels, platforms, and search experiences than ever before.

As AI-powered discovery continues to mature, organisations that invest in both strong SEO foundations and broader digital authority will be best positioned to maintain visibility, protect market share, and close the gap on competitors already gaining traction across AI-powered search experiences.

The objective isn’t to chase the latest acronym or trend. It’s to ensure businesses continue to build the authority, expertise, and visibility needed to compete effectively as search evolves.