SEO in 2026 — how to get found when people stop Googling

The way people search for things is shifting faster than most businesses have noticed.

Three years ago, the game was simple: rank on page one of Google, get traffic. It still is, partly. But a meaningful and growing share of discovery now happens somewhere else: inside ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, or Google's own AI Overviews. People ask a question in plain language and get an answer — and if your business isn't in that answer, you're invisible.

This isn't theoretical. We've watched it happen in our own traffic and in our clients'. The volume coming from AI-generated recommendations is small but growing fast, and it tends to convert better than standard organic traffic because the people clicking already trust the source.

So what do you actually do about it?

Step one: the classic stuff still matters

Before anything else — traditional SEO fundamentals still apply. Google still drives the majority of search traffic and isn't going anywhere. If your site is slow, unindexed, has broken links, or has zero content on it, no amount of clever AI-readiness work will help.

Get the basics right first:

• Fast page load (Core Web Vitals passing in Google Search Console)
• Clean site structure with logical URL hierarchy
• Each page targeting a specific search intent
• Internal links between related pages
• An XML sitemap that search engines can crawl

None of this is new. Most businesses haven't done it properly.

Step two: build content that AI models actually cite

AI language models are trained on text. What gets cited is what's been written clearly, accurately, and authoritatively on the topic the user asked about.

This means:

Write longer, more complete answers. A 300-word page won't get cited. A 1,200-word piece that genuinely answers the question — with context, nuance, and specific details — stands a chance.

Be specific. Models cite concrete information: numbers, named techniques, real examples. "We improved our client's conversion rate by 23% after fixing checkout friction" is citable. "We help businesses grow" is not.

Structure clearly. H2s, H3s, and short paragraphs make content easy to parse. Models extract information from well-structured text more reliably than from dense blocks.

Answer related questions. The FAQ section isn't just for SEO anymore — it directly maps to the kinds of questions AI assistants get asked.

Step three: set up the structured data

This is where most businesses fall behind. Schema markup — the JSON-LD code that tells search engines and AI crawlers what your content is — significantly improves how your pages are understood.

At minimum, you want:

• Organization schema with your name, location, contact, and social profiles
• LocalBusiness if you serve clients in a specific area
• Article or BlogPosting on every post
• FAQPage on pages with frequently asked questions
• BreadcrumbList for hierarchical navigation

Google uses this to build Knowledge Panels. AI models use it to verify factual claims. It's 30 minutes of work per page type and pays dividends for months.

Step four: claim your presence in AI systems directly

Some AI platforms allow you to submit content or have verified pages. LinkedIn company pages, Google Business Profile, and Wikipedia (if you qualify) all feed into AI training data in various ways. Having complete, accurate information in these places helps.

More practically: getting your business mentioned in third-party content that AI models are likely to index — industry roundups, local directories, case study features — is a form of link building that now doubles as citation building.

What we've built into our SEO programme

Our SEO service was redesigned in 2025 specifically to handle both traditional Google ranking and AI-search visibility. We call it LLMEO — Language Model Optimisation. Every engagement includes:

• Technical audit and fixes
• Structured data implementation across the full site
• A content plan that targets both Google keywords and the conversational queries AI systems answer
• llms.txt file that tells AI crawlers what to index and how

The businesses that take this seriously now will have a significant advantage in 12 months. The ones that wait will spend that time catching up.

If your business depends on organic traffic and you haven't audited how you're showing up in AI-generated responses, that's worth spending 20 minutes on. Book a call and we'll show you exactly where you stand.