If you’re writing content solely for SEO, you might be missing the real opportunity: getting featured in AI snippets.
That’s where attention is shifting. Tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude are now giving people answers directly, often pulling from blog content like yours. The problem? Most blogs weren’t written with AI search in mind.
And that’s a missed opportunity.
In this post, I’ll walk you through how to optimize your SEO content so that it not only ranks on Google but also gets pulled into AI-generated snippets. The goal is to help your content show up more often, in more places, for more of the right people.
What is GEO, and why should you care?
GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization. It’s a shift in how we think about content visibility. AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity no longer just crawl pages or rank them based on links and keywords. They summarize, interpret, and extract meaning and context to generate answers on the fly.
So what changes for you? Traffic. If you rely on blog traffic to generate leads or revenue, the rise of generative AI will impact your SEO efforts. Users are increasingly getting their answers from AI tools without ever clicking through to a website. That means less organic traffic and fewer eyeballs on your actual page — even if your content was the source.
But not all hope is lost. You can still win in this new environment. You just need to change how you approach content. Instead of writing to rank, you need to write to be cited. Instead of just chasing clicks, you need to create content that gets quoted in AI snippets.
Why SEO still matters in the age of AI
Generative AI is getting all the attention right now, but traditional search engines like Google and Bing still drive the majority of discovery online. Most people still start there when looking for answers, products, or recommendations. What’s changed is how those engines now influence AI tools.
ChatGPT, for example, pulls heavily from Bing’s index. If your content ranks in the top 3 on Google, you’ve got about a 45% shot at being cited by ChatGPT, according to our internal tests. For Bing and Perplexity, that likelihood jumps to around 65%. These tools don’t generate content from thin air — they build on the strongest pages already out there.
So SEO still matters — a lot. But we have to adjust how we think about it. Ranking is still the foundation, but being referenced by name, cited in trusted places, and answering real, specific questions is now just as important.
Write like you’re answering a real question
Most blogs were built to chase keywords, not conversations. But that approach is losing its edge. AI tools like ChatGPT aren’t just scanning for phrases anymore — they’re scanning for answers that sound like they came from a real person who knows their stuff.
This means your SEO strategy has to change. Instead of writing broad listicles like “Top CRM Tools in 2024,” focus on questions your buyers are actually asking. Think “What’s the best CRM for a startup sales team with under 10 reps?” Such phrases, known as “long-tail keywords”, matter more now.
AI tools are better at parsing specificity, not just volume. A helpful, targeted post is more likely to show up than a generic roundup — especially if it feels like it was written by someone who actually works in the space.
So write for the question behind the keyword. That’s how you land in search snippets and get remembered.
Match your content format to the AI engine
Different AI tools favor different content structures. If you want your blog to show up across platforms, you need to know what each one looks for. Here’s what we’re seeing based on our research and conversations with industry experts.
Google and Gemini prefer content with structured data and schema markup. If your content is clean, organized, and uses FAQ or How-To schema, you’re in a good spot.
ChatGPT pulls heavily from Bing. It leans toward content that’s widely mentioned in high-authority places. Think citations in trusted blogs, newsletters, media sites.
Perplexity favors research-heavy pages that are well-cited. Think of it like Wikipedia with better design. If you’re writing something technical or data-backed, this is your moment.
Claude likes clear instructions. If your blog has step-by-step guides, process breakdowns, or how-tos, you’re more likely to show up there.
Understanding this lets you shape content to hit multiple surfaces.
| Tool | Prioritizes |
| Schema markup, fast indexing | |
| ChatGPT | Brand mentions, trusted citations |
| Perplexity | Research-heavy, link-dense posts |
| Claude | Task-based, instructional content |
Don’t just rank — get mentioned
Links still matter, but mentions are quietly becoming one of the biggest signals in the AI era. When AI tools surface answers, they don’t always rely on the old SEO checklist. Instead, they prioritize information that’s been cited often, talked about, or referenced in trusted places.
So if someone shares your framework in a newsletter, if your research gets quoted in another blog, or if your insights show up in a podcast transcript — you’re building the kind of credibility that AI models notice. These mentions build relevance in ways that backlinks used to. And sometimes they carry even more weight.
This means shifting your strategy from just writing to rank to writing to be remembered. Create content that’s good enough for others to cite. Give people reasons to link back to you naturally — not because you asked, but because your post is the one they trust to explain something clearly.
Run branded campaigns outside of search — OOH, influencer marketing, and event sponsorships — to build up your name. Brand-building now plays a role in how high you get ranked.
Mentions make you quotable. And quotable content travels.
As AI tools become the layer between your audience and the web, they’ll favor content they’ve seen referenced over and over again. Your job isn’t just to be visible anymore — it’s to be unmissable.
Update fast, publish often
Speed matters more than people realize. Google still crawls and indexes content faster than any of the AI engines, which gives it a critical edge. If you’re writing time-sensitive content — like product reviews, breaking news, or competitive playbooks — you want that content live and discoverable as quickly as possible.
This doesn’t just apply to news. Updating evergreen posts with fresh stats or new insights can trigger re-indexing and improve your chances of getting pulled into AI summaries. Perplexity is improving in this area, but it still lags behind Google. ChatGPT is the slowest to update its knowledge, so if you’re aiming for visibility there, your content has to be widely cited elsewhere.
The easiest way to stay on top of this is to build an editorial calendar. It helps you keep track of what you’re publishing, when to update old posts, and how your publishing cadence aligns with key business goals. We wrote a full piece on how to build one on our blog — it’s a solid starting point if you don’t already have one.
Being first to publish helps. But being consistently useful and strategically visible is what gets you remembered — and referenced.
Track mentions, not just rankings
For years, most of us have lived inside Google Search Console and keyword trackers. But AI search is changing the rules. It’s no longer just about which keywords you rank for — it’s about how often your content is cited by AI tools.
Platforms like Otterly and Peec are starting to help surface which pages are being picked up in AI responses. These tools are still early, but they’re a glimpse into what the future of visibility looks like.
Mentions are the new metric. Just like backlinks once told us who the authority was, AI will start treating citations and repeated references the same way. If your brand or article keeps showing up in answers, that’s the new form of digital trust.
It’s time to layer this into your reporting. Track rankings, yes, but also track where and how your content is mentioned across channels — especially in tools your buyers are using to get answers.
Final word
If you’re a founder or marketer writing content to get found, SEO still matters. But the way people find you is changing.
You’re not just fighting for Google rankings anymore. You’re fighting for position in the minds of large language models. And the way you win is by being useful, referenced, and remembered.
Write clearly. Be specific. Target real questions. And make sure your answer is the best one online. That’s how you show up everywhere — including the AI snippets that are shaping the next wave of discovery.
At Column, we help founders create SEO content that gets seen by the right people and pulled into the right conversations — whether that’s through organic rankings or AI snippets. If you want high-quality blog content that does both, we’d love to talk.
Learn more about our SEO content writing services today.
Mo is the founder and CEO of Column Content, a thought leadership content agency that helps leaders get seen. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
