Well, it’s official, AI and LLMs have completely taken over the internet and fundamentally changed how people get the information they need online. It seems like you can’t get two clicks deep anywhere online without running into a new AI-based feature, search result, or piece of content. With this revelation, however, comes a whole new way for websites to gain visibility online (once you figure out how to do so, of course).
Gone are the days of optimizing a website with a well-researched blend of long and short-tail keywords in the hopes of landing in that coveted #1 position on Google’s SERP, ahead of your competitors.
Today, organic content ranks lower on all of the major search engines, ahead of AI summaries. That is, if people even care to use search engines anymore, in favour of simply asking ChatGPT, Gemini, or Grok to answer their questions instead.
All of this is new, but one thing is certain: it’s not going away, and it should be a consideration for anyone running a website in 2025.
In this article, we’ll go over all of the ways artificial intelligence (AI)/large language models (LLMs) surface results and how people are accessing them. From built-in AI tools to directly within the LLMs themselves, this guide will break it all down and offer some suggestions for ecommerce brands to optimize their online stores to increase their chances of being referenced in LLM responses.
Google Search Results - Organic Search vs AI Overview
Google is the king of SEO. Other search engines have always been around, but most marketers will tell you that if you aren’t ranking high on Google, your website might as well be dead. We’ve always been tailoring our content to please the Google gods, but now we have a new beast to slay: the Google AI Overview.
Here’s everything you need to know about Google AI Overviews VS organic search.
Google’s Traditional Organic Search Results
Traditional organic search results are the familiar “10 blue links” on Google’s results page, often accompanied by snippets, images, maps, or shopping results. These listings are ranked by Google’s algorithm based on relevance and authority using factors like keyword relevance, quality content, backlinks, and user signals. For ecommerce brands, this usually means product pages, category pages, or blog posts showing up in the normal results below any ads or AI features.
Succeeding in organic SEO hasn’t changed. Even Google AI-organized search results will often pull from high-ranking organic content, so it’s important to continue to employ all the best practices and techniques you’re used to. This includes:
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Optimizing Content and Keywords: Do thorough keyword research and create high-quality, relevant content on your pages. Ensure your product descriptions, blog posts, and landing pages address what your customers are searching for.
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Technical SEO: Make sure your site is crawlable and fast. Use tools like Google Search Console to fix crawl errors and submit sitemaps.
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E-E-A-T: Demonstrate Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Show credentials or customer testimonials, earn backlinks from reputable sites, and keep content updated.
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User Experience (UX): Improve click-through and engagement by writing helpful and relevant meta titles/descriptions for pages, using clean design, and reducing bounce rates.
Good, well-researched and organized content not only increases your chances of beating out the competition in the top positions of the SERP but also makes it easier for AI to find and parse your content, increasing your chances of showing up in the AI overview.
Google’s New AI-Organized Search Results (AI Overviews)
Google’s AI Overview is a generative AI summary that appears at the top of the search results page for some queries. Introduced in 2024 as part of Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), this AI-organized result answers search queries, often in bulleted list form, followed by citations or links to sources.
Simply put, Google’s AI scans its index and Knowledge Graph to answer the query directly, pulling snippets from various websites and showing those sources as reference links. While marketers and internet users alike have complained about this “AI optimization” responding to questions with incorrect answers, and pushing actual helpful results down the page, it’s clear that this feature is here to stay, and so is the concept of AI search engine optimization.
Here’s how to get featured in AI overviews:
Directly Answer Common Questions
Identify questions your customers ask, such as “How do I choose the right winter boots?” or “What’s the difference between organic cotton and regular cotton?” Craft your content to answer those queries clearly and up front. Provide a brief, 1 – 2 sentence answer or definition at the top of your page or section. This is similar to aiming for Google’s Featured Snippet.
Structure Your Content for AI
Use a clean, logical format that an AI can easily parse. This means using headings phrased as questions or topics, bulleted lists for steps or tips, and short paragraphs for clarity. Google’s AI Overview tends to favour well-structured content that is easy to break into pieces without losing meaning, so it can quickly pull what it needs and leave what it doesn’t.
When writing, use clear, straightforward language. When trying to rank in regular search results, we sometimes get a bit wordy to include as much information and as many relevant keywords as possible. Google AI prefers we write like we’re talking directly to the singular customer who made the query.
Next, leverage schema markup to implement structured data like FAQ, HowTo, or product schemas where appropriate. This helps Google understand the context of your content and can signal to AI that your page already has an FAQ or Q&A format.
Don’t Neglect Your Existing Content
You probably already have a goldmine of good content that can easily be optimized for AI/LLMs. Google’s AI Overview often sources from pages that are already doing well in traditional search.
Review your top-performing content and ensure it includes clear Q&A sections or summaries. Updating an older blog post with a summary paragraph, adding a relevant FAQ, or improving its structure could make it a candidate for AI summarization and take it from organic position #1 to the very top of the page.
LLM-Based Tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Llama, etc.)
Beyond the search engines, users are increasingly turning to LLM chatbots and AI assistants to answer questions. ChatGPT is the prime example. It’s an AI developed by OpenAI that can answer just about anything in a conversational way. Google’s Gemini and xAI’s Grok are other AI models that provide advanced question-answering capabilities similar to ChatGPT.
These tools don’t present a list of blue links at all; instead, they generate a single answer or a short discussion. Some, like ChatGPT and Bing’s AI (Copilot) mode, will cite sources or include references, while others might just give a synthesized answer. Basically, the AI itself becomes the search engine, combing through its training data or live web results to produce an answer for the user.
One major difference is where these tools get their information. ChatGPT, with web browsing enabled and tools like Perplexity AI or Gemini’s Deep Research mode, will pull content from the web in real time. They might pull from sites like Wikipedia, news articles, forums, and yes, potentially your website’s content, to compile an answer.
Unlike Google Search, these AI tools might not always show a visible link to your site. Sometimes they mention your brand or use your content in a summary. That’s why it’s important to not only rank on search engines but also to build content and a reputation that LLMs recognize and trust.
How to Increase Your Chances of Being Cited or Mentioned by AI Tools
Just as you can increase your chances of appearing in Google’s AI overview, the same principle applies to these LLMs. Dubbed “LLM optimization,” here are a few ways to ensure that these tools see your website and content as a legitimate source:
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Ensure Crawlability and Freshness: LLMs with web access pull data from live, up-to-date sources. Keep your site open to indexing and update your content regularly. If you publish blog posts like holiday gift guides or trend reports, an AI browsing today might include the info because it’s fresh.
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Prioritize Clarity and Helpfulness: Just like with Google’s AI Overview, chat-based AI loves content that is clear, neutral, and informative. Write in a way that answers questions directly and helpfully, rather than just marketing speak. Avoid overly salesy language as AI models tend to interpret that as less trustworthy.
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Build a Good Reputation: AI models aren’t just performing really fast Google searches; they also crawl forums and social media. That means that mentions anywhere online, like Medium, Reddit, Facebook, etc., are also really valuable to AI systems as they synthesize responses. Being talked about positively on these platforms can indirectly boost your credibility in the eyes of AI technologies. For example, if your ecommerce brand’s products are frequently recommended in Reddit threads, an AI might pick up those references when relevant.
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Monitor Emerging LLM Channels: Keep an eye on new AI platforms like Google Gemini, Deepseek and Grok as they roll out. Gemini integrates with Google’s own products, so ensuring your content is aligned with Google’s quality guidelines, which you likely do for SEO already, will prepare you for Gemini’s influence. Grok might have unique sources or preferences, but the core idea remains: clear, authoritative content wins.
It’s important to note that while these tools are new and constantly improving, having a good SEO strategy will already get you most of the way there in terms of LLM optimization. That means refining content for clarity, building your brand’s presence on relevant online platforms, and structuring information in a way that both machines and people can easily digest.
LLM Optimization vs Traditional SEO - What’s the Difference?
While we mentioned above that LLM optimization builds on SEO rather than replacing it, there are still a few differences in optimization strategies between “ranking” on Google and in an LLM.
Generally, traditional SEO’s goal is to rank #1 on the SERP and attract clicks from humans. LLM optimization aims to be recognized as a trusted source by AI, with your information included or cited in AI-generated answers.
Classic SEO often revolves around keywords, backlinks, and meta tags to signal relevance. Those still matter, but LLMs care more about clarity, structure, and factual accuracy. LLM optimization involves crafting content that AI can easily interpret, including the use of explicit questions and answers, a clean structure, and the incorporation of known entities like brand names, product specifications, or industry terms.
Keyword density matters less compared to whether your content directly satisfies an information need. Backlinks and authority count too, but not in isolation. They contribute to the AI’s trust in your digital reputation.
Traditional SEO considers user behaviour (click-through rates, bounce rates, etc.) as indirect signals of content quality. AI, on the other hand, isn’t tracking user clicks on your site. Instead, it’s parsing your content directly to decide if it can extract a useful answer. That means writing in a very extractable way can be more beneficial for LLM visibility than, say, writing clickbait titles.
Finally, SEO covers all types of queries (informational, navigational, transactional) while LLMs excel at informational queries (“who/what/where/how/why”), For ecommerce, this means LLM optimization focuses on content that educates or guides like FAQs, buying guides, and tutorials, whereas your SEO might focus on targeting product pages for transactional keywords.
In essence, SEO helps your product page rank for “buy running shoes online,” whereas LLM optimization might get your blog post featured when someone asks, “What are the best running shoes for marathons?” Both lead the customer to your brand, just in different ways.
Conclusion
AI and ecommerce intersect in some fun ways. From AI helping shoppers find answers instantly to chatbots giving personalized recommendations, your job is to ensure that when AI tools and search engines sift through the internet, your brand’s content is what they find. Keep creating helpful, human-centred content that machines can easily read, and you’ll be well-positioned no matter how the rules change.
Need help navigating changes to SEO and AI-driven search? We at Blue Badger specialize in ecommerce SEO and can help your brand stay relevant no matter where people are searching for you. Contact us today to learn more.
