September 01, 2026
AI-powered search is changing the way people find information online. From asking ChatGPT a question to using Google’s AI Overviews, people are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to find answers, research products and discover businesses.
For businesses, this means it is important to consider how your website can appear in these new search experiences. However, this doesn’t mean traditional search engine optimisation should be forgotten. In fact, when it comes to optimising your website, forgetting Google Search could be a costly mistake.
Google remains a key way for potential customers to discover businesses online. While the way search results are presented is evolving, the fundamentals of being visible in search have not disappeared.
Google’s own guidance confirms that the SEO principles it has long recommended remain relevant to its AI search experiences. Google’s AI features rely on content from its Search index, meaning a website still needs to be accessible, useful and easy for search engines to understand.
One of the best things you can do for your website is provide genuinely useful content for your audience. This means answering the questions your customers are asking, explaining your services clearly and demonstrating your expertise. Google recommends creating helpful, reliable and people-first content rather than writing purely to try to improve rankings. This approach can benefit your visibility across traditional search and newer AI-powered experiences.
Technical SEO still matters too. Your website needs to be crawlable and indexable, with clear page titles, relevant content, descriptive links and a good user experience. These fundamentals help Google understand your website and determine where it may be relevant in search results. It’s also worth remembering that SEO is not a one-off task. Search behaviour, technology and Google’s systems are constantly evolving, so regularly reviewing and improving your website is important.
AI search is undoubtedly changing digital marketing, and businesses should be thinking about how their websites can perform in this evolving landscape. But AI and Google Search shouldn’t be viewed as competing priorities. By creating a technically sound website with useful, original content and a strong user experience, you can build a solid foundation for visibility across both traditional and AI-powered search.