ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude are establishing themselves as alternatives for daily searches on the web. As a result, traditional search engines are facing competition and this is having an impact on companies' marketing strategies. Here we explain why we believe search engine optimisation (SEO) is becoming even more important and what optimisation for language models and AI tools could look like for your company one day.
Which tool do people use for web searches?
In January 2025, it is still too early to give a well-founded answer. Last year, the euphoria surrounding the new AI tools initially skyrocketed, only to gradually subside somewhat. I will first approach this question empirically in order to then provide you with sensible recommendations for action.
When do I use AI tools? When do search engines remain my first choice?
The less prior knowledge I have on a particular topic, the more likely I am to choose a conversational AI tool like ChatGPT or Claude. This helps me to quickly get a rough overview of the various sub-areas and aspects. After the initial answers, I can refine the question in the direction that is relevant to me. The tool is a dialogue partner for me in the exploratory phase. The efficiency gain is huge.
The more detailed and specialised my questions become, the more important the fact check becomes. The AI tools without source information then temporarily take a back seat. Temporarily, because I am happy to rely on their services again later when generating output.
Where I consistently leave the AI tools to one side, for example, is when I'm asked about the opening hours of the Kornhaus library in the Breitenrain neighbourhood. I only get on my bike if the primary source confirms that it is open until 7pm today. I also head straight for the lunch menu at LeBeizli in the Vidmarhallen in Liebefeld using the search engine on the restaurant website. I don't have the humour for hallucinations here. I want facts, not nice-sounding ideas.
Which search tool makes sense and when?
For precise facts and for queries in a local search context, I use the search engine to find the primary source. There are other criteria for selecting the right tool. But first, let's take a look at the distinguishing features of some well-known searches on the web.
Google has now rolled out AI Overviews in over a hundred countries. No timetable has yet been communicated for the EU and Switzerland.
I use these three tips to select the right search tool:
Timeliness
If the question relates to current events, the tool must process real-time data. Those with training data are omitted.Primary or secondary sources
If I want the answer directly from the restaurant, library or local authority, then the search engine is the first choice. If the source of information is variable, AI tools are also helpful.Expectations and demands on the answer
AI tools are ahead of the game when it comes to approaching a topic or getting a kick of inspiration. They structure information helpfully, show me unconscious spots and enable me to quickly learn. However, when it comes to critical decisions, a reliable source is indispensable - regardless of how my search led me there.
The classic search engines therefore remain relevant. They continue to develop and incorporate AI elements. At the same time, AI tools are expanding their scope and referencing sources. The two worlds are moving towards each other.
The thing with organic traffic. And what that means for your company:
According to forecasts, a general decline in organic traffic is to be expected over the next few years. People will find certain information about your business very easily on the web without visiting your website directly. In SEO circles, the following forecasts from Gartner are often quoted with strikingly negative growth:
However, if we break down organic traffic by topic, a much more differentiated picture is likely to emerge. Purely informational content with generalised statements is indeed likely to lose traffic for many companies, while branded traffic could even increase. It will be interesting to see whether and how the metrics relating to organic traffic will be refined and differentiated. Monitoring and metrics relating to user interactions with your content in the AI tools are still up in the air.
SEO remains and also serves the LLMO
Anyone who now thinks that the mood among SEO experts is subdued is far from it: the SEO discipline is gaining in importance due to the emergence of AI tools. As far as we can tell at the moment, there are no contradictions. What has proven to be successful for search engine rankings so far should also be useful for the presence in the new AI tools.
Our recommendations for your content (as before):
Create high-quality, unique content. The information should go beyond the scope of the training data of the language models.
Emphasise your expertise. Make authors visible and include quotes from experts.
Link to internal and external sources, making studies and statistics more relevant. This is a service for your readership and promotes trust.
This is not new. All these elements are also known by the abbreviation E-E-A-T. The four letters stand for Experience - Expertise - Authoritativeness - Trust. My colleague Gianna Calchini has explained the principle and its benefits.
Focus on structured content and curate related topics
Both the results presented by search engines and the answers generated by AI tools are based on content that has previously been collected by crawlers. These crawlers are typically much better at dealing with structured content than with deserts of lead. Users do too, by the way: they skim texts and only dip in selectively.
The more clearly the content is structured, the easier it is for a language model to recognise, compare, classify and evaluate the features. This means that the individual offers must relate to each other. It is not enough to describe each offer in isolation, but references must be made to similar, complementary or complementary offers.
Simply linking internally with the appropriate anchor keyword is a good first step. It is even more helpful for users and the language models if you curate the related content with your in-house expertise. This reduces the risk of the language models filling the gaps based on algorithms and statistics.
From keyword to semantic similarity
In the medium term, we may become less meticulous about which keyword people search for on Google. Just think of the terms: Dental insurance, supplementary dental insurance and dental protection insurance. The right choice has a certain impact on SEO success.
However, if users send their requests to language models in natural language, the tools can provide a broad response due to the semantic similarity. Technically correct terms are no longer required. Web search in AI tools is natural and intuitive. I wonder whether the beta generation will one day be able to understand how we converted our questions into keywords at the beginning of the 21st century. And were even still so enthusiastic about the result?
The language model can appropriately capture and evaluate a high-quality and unique content page even if THE right keyword is only marginally or even implicitly included. This leads to the conclusion that keyword strategies will remain relevant for SEO, but will no longer be a success factor in the world of AI tools.
Do you need Large Language Model Optimisation (LLMO) now?
In addition to LLMO, there is also talk of Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). What both terms have in common is the objective of aligning a company's marketing strategy in such a way that the brand and offers appear or are even referenced in the responses of AI tools.
Many ideas are circulating and there are already resourceful players who have positioned themselves on the market as LLMO agencies or GEO agencies. However, many measures are based on speculation; there is currently no evidence of the effectiveness of the recommendations. We refer you to the comprehensive article by Olaf Kopp, who first explains how LLMs work and then talks to three data scientists about the optimisation options. Spoiler: there is no gold-rush atmosphere.
So are we at a loss? No. We recommend that the tried and tested off-page SEO be pursued with even more vigour so that the company is visible and recognised on the relevant platforms beyond its own website. Brand and offers must appear in relevant secondary sources, and more than just in the form of a backlink. A backlink from an important domain remains an important signal for search engines, but for the AI tools, a technical link may no longer be sufficient - at least for the time being. The narrative and qualitative statements about a brand and its offerings are coming to the fore.
Support your web presence more broadly
The measures from off-page SEO are a good starting point for diversifying the web presence. It remains to be seen which of these will also become part of LLMO strategies in the future. The list of measures will not surprise you:
Backlink maintenance and development
Entries in online directories (from international to local)
Guest posts on related platforms
Getting involved in comparisons
Social media interactions
Maintaining and building up promoters and influencers
Guest appearances in topic-relevant podcasts and online formats
Content marketing
User reviews and ratings incl. management
Forum and community engagement
Brand development and PR (brand building)
Monitoring of mentions (brand mentions)
To summarise:
Web search is expanding from search engines to AI tools. This will be reflected in monitoring and metrics. The metrics will shift significantly.
Despite all the uncertainties, some tried and tested recommendations remain. Stick to the E-E-A-T principles for content, use familiar schemes to mark up content for crawlers in a structured way and continue to invest in off-page SEO.
How can Unic support you?
At Unic, experts from the fields of SEO and data science develop innovative approaches to make the presence of brands in AI tools methodically tangible.
We currently have 2 slots available for companies:
Let us combine your industry knowledge with our expert knowledge. Together we will develop a prototype to measure the visibility of your company in the language models and also peel out which platforms are frequently cited in your industry.
Get in touch with us and be at the forefront.
Contact for your Digital Solution with Unic
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Contact for your Digital Solution
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