Ever since the first release of GPT-3, when OpenAI enchanted all of us, we have come a long way. AI agents—powered by advanced language models and predictive algorithms are the latest and the newest trend. More users are using voice assistants & search engines such as Perplexity or ChatGPT Search. Every time new systems become popular, it’s a chance for you and your organization to benefit from that. The question is how to do it this time?
Why Are Users Switching to AI-enabled Search Engines?
The key to everything is to first understand the underlying factors behind the massive switch to AI-enabled search engines.
The Evolution of Search Algorithms
Ever since the early days of search engines, users have craved better results, faster response times, and more personalized experiences. This demand has driven the continuous evolution of search technology, with AI playing an important role in meeting these expectations.
Story time
Little bit of history: in 2010s, Google introduced their Hummingbird update. It had an enhanced understanding of natural language queries, improved interpretation of conversational searches, and better aligned with user intent. As you’d expect the introduction of machine learning algorithms significantly improved the accuracy of search results. In 2015 Google launched RankBrain, a machine learning-based algorithm for processing search results. In 2019, the American company’s BERT update further enhanced natural language understanding in search queries. BERT uses advanced NLP techniques to better understand the context and nuances of search queries. In 2023, we have seen the latest move. The Mountain View giant has introduced gen AI in their search engine with “AI Overviews”. In 2025, Google has upgraded AI Overviews by enabling Gemini 2.0 to generate answers. Crucially, the feature does not require sign-ins. The company also launched an “AI Mode” which could take some organic traffic away from sites.
What about Google’s competitors? Microsoft’s Bing has introduced an AI Search mode and integrated Copilot. DuckDuckGo has introduced “DuckAssist” that creates AI-generated summaries. China’s Baidu is developing its Ernie AI model for enhanced multimodal search. Yandex has launched Neuro, a hybrid AI search system, and introduced Yazeka for the Turkish market.
Building Your Site
Design Hierarchies
There is a simple rule to keep in mind: the “three-click rule”. Your users must be able to find everything they need in 3 clicks or fewer. Moreover, every page should be a logical next step. Orphan sites, or pages without any internal links, are terrible for your site. Breadcrumb navigation loved by your users doubles as a roadmap for AI.
Implementation Guide:
- Use Screaming Frog (or a service of your choice) to audit page depth.
- Restructure pages requiring >3 clicks to surface key content.
- Embed breadcrumb markup with BreadcrumbList schema.
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "BreadcrumbList",
"itemListElement":
[
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"position": 1,
"item":
{
"@id": "https://yoursite.com/drinks",
"name": "Drinks"
}
},
{
"@type": "ListItem",
"position": 2,
"item":
{
"@id": "https://example.com/drinks/red-drink",
"name": "Red Drink"
}
}
]
}
Semantic HTML
Semantic HTML helps AI but also your users with impaired vision. Tags like article and section were new 15 years ago or so. Paired with ARIA labels, they make your site more comprehensible and easily parsed.
Optimize for Speed
Sites are getting larger and larger. in February 2025, the median site size was 2678.0 KB on desktop, and 2409.8 KB on mobile. Out of that, images accounted for 1033.3KB on desktop, and 897.2KB on mobile. See if you can’t convert your images to newer formats such as WebP or AVIF. You may retain quality and decrease the size of your site.
Furthermore, you may also cache your site on the edge, close to your users.
Content Optimization
Structure Content Properly
Adopt the H1 + 5 H2s + 3 H3s framework:
- H1: Answer search intent directly (“How to Outsmart AI Search in 2025”).
- H2s: Explore different areas of the topic
- H3s: Dive into the specifics
Refresh Content Quarterly
It could be labour-intensive, but Google’s 2024 leak confirmed it—refreshed content jumps rankings 70% faster than new posts.
Technical SEO: Speaking AI’s Native Tongue
Enhance Crawl Efficiency
Although it happens less often, if your site is a “bare” SPA, serve clean HTML/CSS to AI agents via sites such as Prerender.io. Alternatively, use other services or your framework’s native solutions.
Adopt Ethical AI Practices
Create an AI.txt file to manage crawler permissions. Similarly to robots.txt, the file lets AI crawlers know what to do. Furthermore, audit content for bias using Hugging Face’s Fairness Indicators.
Continuous Optimization
Conduct Monthly Audits
Regularly, check Core Web Vitals (LCP <2.5s, CLS <0.1). At work, I usually do that every morning.
Publish Regularly
Aim for 2-6 posts a week. Bloggers who do that, are 50% more likely to report “strong results”.
Conclusion: Thriving in the AI-Curated Future
Do not be mistaken. I am not trying to convince you to create bare sites and optimize them only for AI agents. Optimizing the sites for agents AND for users is mostly the same set of actions. By making your site better for humans, you make it better for agents.