TL;DR
In 2025, “ranking in AI” means being selected as a source (linked/cited) or recommended by assistants. The following 20 strategies synthesise Google’s AI features guidance, Helpful Content principles, structured-data best practices, and platform-specific behaviours for ChatGPT/Atlas and Perplexity. Implement these to increase your chance of being the page an assistant safely cites.
The 20 strategies (with why they work)
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Target complex, multi-step questions your buyers genuinely ask (not generic head terms). AIO is designed for summaries when they add value, not every query.
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Write answer-first pages. Open with a concise verdict + scope, then show steps, thresholds, and trade-offs. Mirrors AIO’s snapshot + links and Perplexity’s citation style.
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State verifiable facts: numbers, version support, compatibility, limits. Assistants need checkable claims to ground summaries.
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Cite primary sources (official specs, standards, laws). This strengthens reliability signals and gives readers audit trails.
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Use descriptive headings that echo users’ wording. Search Essentials emphasises writing in the words people use.
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Publish comparison tables for decision pages. Compact, scannable facts are easy to quote and link.
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Ship troubleshooters with version specificity and safety/rollback instructions. Procedural clarity is highly quotable and aligns with helpfulness.
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Add Organization schema and relevant page-type schema (FAQ, Product) that matches visible text. Structured data helps Google understand content and entities.
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Fix crawl/index basics: sitemaps, internal links, canonical tags. Eligibility is still classic Search. Use the SEO Starter Guide as a checklist.
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Demonstrate authorship & maintenance: author bios, “updated on” stamps, and change logs. Maps to people-first reliability cues.
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Optimise Core Web Vitals (esp. INP). Google recommends achieving good CWV; INP replaced FID in March 2024. Faster interaction supports usefulness.
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Use conversation maps, not keyword dumps. Branch queries by constraints (budget, compliance, team size) and cover them comprehensively.
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Cluster and interlink related pages (hub → spokes). AI features can explore related subtopics; make discovery easy.
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Create a public “assumptions & limits” section on key pages. Transparency reduces hallucination risk when assistants summarise.
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Add selective FAQs to resolve genuine follow-ups (avoid duplicate/low-value Q&As; respect structured-data policies).
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Monitor AIO presence and citations for priority queries. Treat it as a set of sources, not a strict rank; log markets/devices/variants.
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Join AIO logs to Search Console (Web) for impact. Google notes AIO/AI Mode clicks are included in Web totals; annotate releases.
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Make pages skimmable for Atlas (executive summary, tables, clear headings). Atlas is a browsing assistant; structure aids extraction.
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Optimise for Perplexity’s citation culture: embed quotable claims and primary references; try Deep Research on your topics to benchmark inclusion.
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Review and iterate monthly: compare your pages to cited competitors; add missing thresholds, examples, or tables; improve CWV where lagging.
A repeatable workflow (45 days)
Phase 1 — Discovery (Days 1–10)
- Pull GSC Performance (Web) queries; tag complex decision/troubleshooting intents.
- Interview support/sales for constraints users mention (industry, compliance, team size).
Phase 2 — Production (Days 11–30)
- Publish 10 answer-first pages (5 decision guides, 3 troubleshooters, 2 policy explainers).
- Implement Organization + page-type schema; validate with Search Central examples.
- Add author bios and maintenance notes.
- Fix INP/LCP/CLS on target pages.
Phase 3 — Measurement (Days 31–45)
- Track AIO presence/citations 2–3× per market and device weekly.
- Join to GSC clicks/CTR; annotate changes; export query/page deltas.
- Run Perplexity Deep Research on your top topics and record whether your URLs are cited.
Example page anatomy (copy this)
- H1: “How to choose an endpoint security stack for a 50-person team with Mac/Windows laptops”
- Executive answer: 3–5 sentences with the decision and caveats.
- Decision thresholds: “If >20% offline users, prefer agent with bandwidth controls…”
- Comparison table: Criteria = SSO support, offline, EDR depth, SOC integration, cost model.
- Limits & exceptions: “Not for regulated workloads requiring …”
- References: Vendor docs, regulatory standards.
- Authorship & change log.
This structure is quotable and linkable, maximising your odds in AIO and answer engines.
Pitfalls to avoid
- Believing in “AIO tags.” Google confirms no special markup for inclusion.
- Thin content without evidence. Violates helpful-content expectations.
- Neglecting performance. Poor INP impairs interaction and perceived quality.
- Over-focusing on head terms. AIO often appears on multi-part, long-tail questions.
Bottom line
AI-powered search rewards pages that teach clearly, prove claims, and load fast. Follow these 20 strategies to become the safe citation assistants want—and the useful page humans choose to open. Then measure it properly through AIO presence/citations and GSC Web outcomes, and iterate each month.
References (Harvard style)
Google (2025a) AI features and your website. Available at: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features (Accessed 26 Oct 2025).
Google (2025b) Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content. Available at: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content (Accessed 26 Oct 2025).
Google (n.d.) Introduction to structured data. Available at: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/intro-structured-data (Accessed 26 Oct 2025).
Google (2025c) Find information in faster & easier ways with AI Overviews in Google Search. Available at: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/14901683 (Accessed 26 Oct 2025).
Google (n.d.) SEO Starter Guide. Available at: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide (Accessed 26 Oct 2025).
OpenAI (2025) Introducing ChatGPT Atlas. Available at: https://openai.com/index/introducing-chatgpt-atlas/ (Accessed 26 Oct 2025).
Perplexity (2025) Introducing Perplexity Deep Research. Available at: https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/blog/introducing-perplexity-deep-research (Accessed 26 Oct 2025).
web.dev (2024) INP is officially a Core Web Vital. Available at: https://web.dev/blog/inp-cwv-launch (Accessed 26 Oct 2025).