The Circle Guide to Optimizing Websites for AI Search
The emergence of AI search and chatbots has changed how people navigate the internet. As web designers, it’s crucial to understand how this shift impacts the websites you build, their visibility, and their ability to capture visitors’ attention.
Read ahead to learn about optimizing websites for AI, and see how Circle members are adapting to the change.
Defining AI SEO and AIO
AI optimization, also known as AIO or AI SEO, refers to the strategies used to help a website get understood and surfaced in search results or citations on platforms like Google, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. At its core, it is the practice of making a website visible in AI chat responses or AI overview summaries.
While AI-powered search becomes more common, traditional SEO remains essential for site discoverability. AIO builds on many of the same best practices and works best when used alongside SEO strategies to maximize visibility.
Unlike traditional search engine rankings, AI search results can vary significantly from one query to the next. By cultivating a trustworthy, reliable brand and ensuring client sites are easily "crawlable" for AI Large Language Models (LLMs), you and your clients can achieve more consistent visibility in AI query results.
How AI search works
While similar to traditional SEO, AIO differs in several ways. AI search works by crawling sites to understand their content and the topics they might be relevant to. However, instead of simply matching results to a keyword, AI attempts to return a custom, nuanced response to the query, taking into account the user's intent and specific circumstances.
Here are the primary types of AI search results:
Direct answers: AI delivers a concise response summarizing information from multiple sources, with the source websites cited
Featured sources: AI tools explicitly cite websites and prominently feature them in the response or search results
Conversational recommendations: AI chatbots provide personalized suggestions, such as recommended businesses or products, often in a conversational format
Preparing sites for AI search engines
Optimizing websites for AI search engines involves a multi-faceted approach. Here are six ways Circle members are doing this.
1. Let AI crawl your website
Ensure your site's structure and technical elements are friendly to AI crawlers, allowing them to access and understand your content.
“I’d also recommend that folks make sure they have not turned off AI crawling on their Squarespace site; that will definitely make things tougher!”
2. Clearly structure site pages
AI search platforms can better comprehend your site when content is properly tagged, organized with clear headings, and structured logically.
“Keep things simple and focused. Every page should have one clear purpose, and the navigation should make it easy for both users and search engines to find key pages.”
3. Keep your website updated
Regularly refresh your website content. This includes:
Starting and maintaining a blog with fresh, relevant articles
Linking your social media accounts to your website
Staying abreast of the latest design and SEO and AIO trends and implementing them on your sites
“With AI search, we see a focus on content that answers a question—FAQ is particularly powerful.”
4. Build out your brand
Niche down into a specific web design area. This specialization makes your site more likely to be surfaced by AIO tools when a person searches within that niche.
“The clearer and more valuable your content is, the more likely it is to be surfaced in AI-generated results or recommendations.”
5. Encourage third-party mentions
Quality backlinks and mentions from reputable sources enhance your site's authority and trustworthiness in the eyes of AI.
“Backlinks pass domain authority from one website to another, and the more authority a site has, the higher it ranks in search engines.”
6. Share helpful, unique content
Create original, valuable content that answers user questions and demonstrates expertise. This type of content is highly favored by AI models.
“I am starting to suggest that clients put even more focus on providing structure and clarity to their content. This could look like adding a short bullet-point summary to highlight key points, or including an FAQ, as AI likes content that directly answers specific questions.”
Squarespace offers built-in tools for content creation, page and image tagging, structured product data, and web crawler access to help you manage SEO and AIO. Learn more about how to use these features.
Design for an AI-driven future
Armed with AIO knowledge and your Squarespace toolkit, you’re not just building beautiful websites. You’re equipping clients for long-term success in an AI-driven world. This powerful skillset elevates your services, sets you apart from the competition, and positions you as a forward-thinking leader in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
For more AIO and SEO best practices, read our complete interviews with Circle members:
Visit Squarespace’s official AIO hub for the latest on SEO and AIO.
Want more?
Check out Squarespace Circle, Squarespace’s program for professional designers and web design agencies. Along with exclusive content, discounts, and other perks, Circle brings professionals together from across the globe to exchange advice while connecting with new clients and collaborators.
