Is AI SEO different from regular SEO?

Less than the name suggests. Google says what it has long advised carries over to AI Overviews and AI Mode: unique content, a good page experience, pages it can crawl and index, and structured data that matches visible text. The difference is in what you measure: mentions and citations inside AI answers, not only rankings.

Can I use AI to write SEO content?

Yes, with review. Google's guidance says generating many pages without adding value for users may violate its scaled content abuse policy, and that AI output should be fact-checked before publishing, including titles, descriptions and structured data.

Does AI SEO cover ChatGPT and Perplexity as well as Google?

Yes. Each engine retrieves pages its own way. ChatGPT search relies on OpenAI's OAI-SearchBot crawler, Perplexity on its own crawler and index, and Google's AI features on Googlebot and its normal index. Blocking any of them removes you from that engine's answers.

What should a small site do first?

Check that AI crawlers can reach your pages, ask the engines the questions your buyers ask to see whether you are named, and fix the gaps in your own content before anything else.

AI search glossary

What is AI SEO? Two meanings and what each one involves

AI SEO is an umbrella term with two common meanings: optimizing a website so AI search engines and assistants find, cite and recommend it, and using AI tools to carry out search engine optimization work.

Also called: AI search optimization, AI optimization, AIO, SEO for AI

Why it matters for AI search

The first meaning is about visibility: AI Overviews, ChatGPT search and Perplexity now answer many questions before anyone clicks, so being named in those answers is part of being found. The second meaning carries a risk: Google treats mass-produced AI pages that add no value as scaled content abuse, which can cost the rankings that AI answers also draw on.

Two meanings of AI SEO

The term is used in two ways, and it helps to know which one someone means.

Meaning	Goal	Typical work
AI search optimization	Get found, cited and recommended in AI answers	Crawler access, clear answers, entity facts, measuring mentions
SEO done with AI tools	Do keyword research, drafting and audits faster	Prompting, editing, fact-checking AI drafts

Search volume for "ai search optimization" and "ai optimization" points mostly to the first meaning. Tool vendors often use "AI SEO" for the second, or for both.

AI search optimization: what Google says

Google's May 2025 guidance for AI Overviews and AI Mode lists familiar advice: focus on unique, non-commodity content, give a good page experience, meet the technical requirements (Googlebot not blocked, HTTP 200, indexable content), use preview controls such as nosnippet and max-snippet deliberately, and keep structured data consistent with the visible page. Its documentation adds that there are no extra requirements or special schema for AI features. Google also reports that clicks from pages with AI Overviews are higher quality, with visitors spending more time on the site.

Other engines need their own access. ChatGPT search uses OAI-SearchBot; Perplexity uses PerplexityBot. A robots.txt rule meant for training bots can accidentally block the search bots too.

SEO done with AI tools

Google does not ban AI-written content. Its guidance on generative AI says to review and fact-check everything, including metadata and structured data, and warns that producing many pages without adding value can fall under scaled content abuse. A useful rule: use AI to draft and research, then add what only you know (prices, results, first-hand experience).

Where to start

Confirm crawlers can read your key pages.
Ask ChatGPT, Gemini and the others the questions your buyers ask, and note who gets named.
Fix the facts AI gets wrong about you, at the source.

AI SEO is the broad label. The narrower practices have their own pages: generative engine optimization (share of generated answers), answer engine optimization (the direct-answer format) and LLM SEO (how models learn about your brand). The thing they all try to raise is your AI visibility.

Questions

Is AI SEO different from regular SEO?: Less than the name suggests. Google says what it has long advised carries over to AI Overviews and AI Mode: unique content, a good page experience, pages it can crawl and index, and structured data that matches visible text. The difference is in what you measure: mentions and citations inside AI answers, not only rankings.
Can I use AI to write SEO content?: Yes, with review. Google's guidance says generating many pages without adding value for users may violate its scaled content abuse policy, and that AI output should be fact-checked before publishing, including titles, descriptions and structured data.
Does AI SEO cover ChatGPT and Perplexity as well as Google?: Yes. Each engine retrieves pages its own way. ChatGPT search relies on OpenAI's OAI-SearchBot crawler, Perplexity on its own crawler and index, and Google's AI features on Googlebot and its normal index. Blocking any of them removes you from that engine's answers.
What should a small site do first?: Check that AI crawlers can reach your pages, ask the engines the questions your buyers ask to see whether you are named, and fix the gaps in your own content before anything else.