AI Search: How Does It Work and What Implications Does It Have on SEO?

Artificial intelligence has developed rapidly lately and has integrated into multiple spheres. Today, it entered the world of online search and seems to be taking it over. First, in 2022, we’ve seen the launch of Perplexity—a free AI-powered answer engine that provides instant answers to nearly any question. Next year, we’ll see the launch of Arc Search—an AI-enabled mobile browser. And finally, the giant in web search—Google, has integrated AI Overviews and is currently introducing its innovative AI Mode.

The growing tendency for AI search is already changing the way users behave and, respectively, the way we need to do search engine optimization. In this article, we’ll study how the new search works and how AI and SEO can work together for your growth.

Comparing Traditional vs. AI-Powered Search

Traditional web browsing has been around for a long time and has changed a lot over the last decades to create more intuitive experiences. Nevertheless, it still hides quite a lot of work. Whenever you need to look up something on Google, you need to look at multiple pages and open numerous links to pinpoint exactly what you are looking for. Then, you need to work around plenty of ads, pop-ups, and spam along the way. And even after you handle it all, there is no guarantee that you’ll find what you need.

Artificial intelligence creates a smoother process and saves your time. For example, an AI summarizer in Google generates a detailed response to your question made of the most relevant information found on different websites and instantly gives you links to sources. And you will not need to look for the answer manually.

Let’s see what other things differentiate AI and traditional search:

How Does AI Search Work?

As you already know, search engines powered by artificial intelligence are empowered with advanced NLP technologies. This helps them understand users’ natural language and match results based on context and intent rather than on basic keyword matching.

Here is how it works, stage by stage:

• Advanced NLP analyzes the query. It can review the grammatical structure, syntax, word choice, and other factors. This is important for detecting the intent.
• The algorithm browses through its database to rank information by relevance, semantic similarity, authority, etc.
• The system selects the most suitable results that match a user’s intent and organizes the data into a detailed answer.

The process that spins around in-depth query analysis and matching to a user’s intent allows AI to provide more personalized and accurate results. At the same time, unlike Google, it gives you the answer instantly, without making you look at multiple links.

Needless to say, this innovation sounds to be much more convenient for users. Not to mention, it constantly evolves. Is there more? Yes! Thanks to advanced NLP technologies, AI can also handle more complex, multi-part questions better than traditional engines, which can take your browsing to the next level.

What Does This Mean for Search Behavior and SEO?

Though it may seem like a change that will take a while to fully unfold, the truth is that artificial intelligence already creates shifts in search behavior.

AI gives users a faster and easier way to browse the web. Furthermore, it provides more tailored results that hit the target of user intent. Given these facts, it is no wonder that more and more people are starting to use artificial intelligence more actively. According to Medium, ChatGPT grew to be a primary search engine for 8% of people in the US (compared to 1% before) in several months. And this trend continues.

Source: Freepik

Alt: A person with a laptop using ChatGPT

Also, by offering a more conversational experience, AI changes the way people interact with search engines–how they formulate their queries. Respectively, it also creates shifts in the specific types of content that are trending.

So, why does it matter so much for SEO? First and foremost, it matters because the rise of AI-powered engines drives more users away from traditional search engines, decreasing the amount of organic traffic. On the one hand, this means that it will be harder to compete for users’ attention. 

Businesses now need to rethink their strategies and prepare for the era of artificial intelligence. They have to target and optimize content better, predict and stick to behavior trends, and provide greater personalization and relevance than ever. The rise of artificial intelligence affects other fields of marketing too, including social media marketing, which makes it an even more important topic for businesses.

On the other hand, the rise of artificial intelligence also broadens the horizons for businesses. Along with the growing popularity of AI-powered search, the popularity of AI-powered tools for SEO is also growing.

There are tools that allow you to make the most out of AI in digital marketing. They feature such capabilities as:

• Advanced keyword research (considering the changes in user queries);
• Trend prediction;
• Smart content optimization suggestions;
• And more.

Leveraging such tools in your strategy can help you adapt to the new world faster. It may feel daunting at first, looking for the perfect software. However, trusted review and comparison sites like Top 10 SEO Software can help you explore the available options and select the right tools that will help you use AI in digital marketing to the maximum.

The Future of SEO: How to Adjust Your Strategy to Thrive in the AI Era

As you now know, the role of AI in SEO is already quite prominent. We expect it to grow even bigger over the years.

Here are a few tips that can help you adapt to this change starting now:

Focus on Relevance and Search Intent in the First Place

Now that AI can understand users’ intent more accurately, ignoring search intent becomes one of the biggest mistakes a business can make.

In order to thrive in the new world, you need to target your audience with more precision and delve deeper into their needs. After this, focus on crafting content that relates to them and matches their intents.

Leverage Long-Tail, Question-Based Keywords and Provide Snappy Answers

If you type a few different queries into Google or ChatGPT and analyze AI results, you can notice that community platforms and Q&A sites appear there quite often. While this might positively affect Reddit or Quora traffic, you can also use this to your benefit.

The reason why this happens is that people communicate with artificial intelligence more naturally and often use full sentences and, primarily, questions to find the needed information. You can adjust your strategy to this by targeting long-tail, question-based keywords and providing quick and detailed answers that can be featured in results.

Embrace Quality and Keep NLP in Mind

In 2025 and beyond, your website content needs to be high-quality and, at the same time, friendly to AI-powered engines. First of all, when creating your copy, focus on unique and authoritative advice that holds true value. Basically, this is the same approach that we’ve taken to traditional SEO in the past years. So, it will stay with us.

However, apart from bringing quality and value, you should also keep in mind NLP. This means adjusting your writing style and tone of voice to artificial intelligence. Make it more conversational and simple. Provide brief but accurate answers. And be sure to structure your articles with different-level headings and subheadings, keeping them clear and descriptive. This will help an AI summarizer understand your copy better and retrieve information from it easily.

Leverage Artificial Intelligence in Your Strategy

In order to understand how AI algorithms work and boost your chances of being featured in such results, you can also leverage this technology in your strategy. For example, you can use ChatGPT for SEO to make well-organized content briefs. Also, you can leverage advanced keyword research and optimization tools to gain valuable and effective insights.

SEO Is Not Dead—It’s Evolving

Now that organic traffic declines and AI SEO dictates its own rules, it can be easy to think that traditional optimization is becoming outdated. But that’s quite far from being true.

What do we have instead? Ranking well in Google is still a good thing for your online visibility. Furthermore, it could help you get featured in AI results. So traditional optimization is not dead, it’s just evolving and keeping up with the times.

Now that you know about all the changes that artificial intelligence brings to the table, you need to rethink your approach to optimization and marketing. Striving to be among the top three positions in SERPs may not be the main goal now. Instead, you need to embrace user intent and create hyper-targeted content that perfectly matches it. A focus on quality, multimodal content, and natural language is also paramount.

Use the insights we shared with you in this guide and take advantage of AI in SEO to gain a competitive edge in the future of web browsing!