Google Says AI Optimization Is Just SEO

Google’s guidance for generative AI features in Google Search treats optimization as search experience optimization, meaning traditional SEO practices still apply. AI Overviews and AI Mode rely on search results, and “fan-out” queries use real human searches, so content quality and accessibility remain central. Recommended actions include creating original, helpful, people-first content with a unique point of view, structuring pages for humans, using quality media, and ensuring crawlability and visibility even with JavaScript disabled. Semantic HTML should be consistent for people and AI agents, duplicate content should be minimized, and user experience should be emphasized across devices. For ecommerce, detailed product feeds should be submitted to Merchant Center. Several myths are addressed, including no need for LLMs.txt, no need for Markdown-only pages, no requirement for chunking, and no need for “AI-friendly” writing, while inauthentic mentions can be treated as spam.

"From Google Search's perspective, optimizing for generative AI search is optimizing for the search experience, and thus still SEO. The guidelines list traditional SEO tactics, mainly: Create original, helpful, people-first content with a unique point of view. Structure content and pages for humans, not AI agents. Use quality, helpful images and videos. Ensure pages are crawlable by Google's bots. I use Search Console's URL Inspection tool to confirm crawlability. Use the same semantic HTML structure for people and AI agents. Minimize duplicate content. Make sure content is visible with JavaScript disabled. Emphasize user experience from multiple devices. Ensure ecommerce product feeds are detailed and submitted to Merchant Center."

"The guidelines start with confirming that traditional SEO remains as relevant as ever because (i) AI answers rely on search results and (ii) "fan-out" queries use actual human searches. To Google, there's no difference between "optimizing for AI" and "SEO," stating: From Google Search's perspective, optimizing for generative AI search is optimizing for the search experience, and thus still SEO."

"Google's guidelines address common myths for generative AI optimization, stating: LLMs.txt is not needed. Markdown pages are not needed. "Chunking" content (i.e., breaking it into short paragraphs for AI retrieval) is not required. Writing in an "AI-friendly" way is not required. "Seeking inauthentic mentions" may flag your site as spam (like traditional SEO). AI systems do evaluate brand and product mentions across the web, but, like Google, can tell real mentions from fake ones."

Read at Practical Ecommerce