AI search is changing how users discover companies, tools, and services.
Instead of browsing through multiple search results, users now rely on AI...
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I’ve just launched a new project, and even with poor SEO (no backlinks and a brand-new site), I’m already seeing some traffic purely from AI recommendations. Bing Webmaster Tools has released a new feature that lets you track Copilot citations to your site.
The rules of the game are definitely changing.
Ah yes, i’ve seen that indeed. 🙌
The GEO vs SEO distinction is real and I'm seeing it play out firsthand. I run a multilingual financial data site across 12 languages with thousands of pages, and the signals that matter for AI citations are completely different from what moves the needle in traditional search.
Specifically, structured data has been the biggest lever. We use JSON-LD with FinancialProduct, InvestmentFund, and Corporation schemas — and Bing Copilot just gave us our first ever AI citation this month. Meanwhile, Google hasn't indexed most of our pages despite having rich schema on all of them. The two engines seem to weight structured data very differently for AI features.
One thing I'd add to your list: consistency of data across your pages matters enormously. AI systems seem to treat sites with internally consistent data as more trustworthy. If your About page says you cover 8,000 stocks but your sitemap only has 5,000, that inconsistency probably hurts your AI credibility more than it would hurt your traditional SEO.
The "entity clarity" point is underrated. Most developer sites describe what they do in vague terms. The sites that get cited tend to have extremely specific, unambiguous descriptions of their scope and purpose.
Do backlinks still matter then?
Yes, but less in the traditional sense. It’s more about how your brand shows up across sources than just volume.
Feels like SEO with a new label to be honest.
Partly true, but the outcome is different. With SEO you aim to rank, with this you aim to be included in an answer. That changes how you structure content.
Interesting take. But how do you even measure something like AI visibility?
Good question. You can’t measure it directly yet, so we look at the signals AI relies on. Things like structure, clarity and consistency. It’s more about increasing the probability of being mentioned than tracking exact mentions.
So basically just write better content?
Better helps, but it’s not enough. If the structure is unclear, AI still struggles. That’s where most sites go wrong.
Do small sites even stand a chance here?
Actually yes. Smaller sites are often cleaner and more focused. That makes them easier for AI to understand.