With Google AI Mode now live in the UK, marketers are trying to get their heads around how to adapt their organic search strategy.

Charlie Marchant, CEO of Exposure Ninja, answers 23 questions that came off the back of her webinar session, ”Mastering GEO: Get found by AI, not just Google”.

Q&A

Algorithm

You mentioned not just making ‘Thousands of Blogs’. Would this be detrimental to appearing on LLMs? Or is it more about the content within these ie. Internal and external linking, Question focused H1s etc.? 

Publishing thousands of low-quality or thin articles just to hit volume targets can dilute your authority. AI search (and Google) is looking for clear topical expertise, not scattergun coverage. If your content is shallow, repetitive, or poorly linked together, it’s harder for an LLM to see you as the trusted source.

What works is topic depth and structure:

  • Strong internal linking so related posts form a clear content cluster.
  • Question-focused H1s and subheads to match how people phrase queries in AI and search.
  • High-quality external citations to show you’re grounded in credible sources.
Do you think the algorithm favours businesses who are paying for Google ads?

Google says its ranking algorithms (and by extension, AI Overviews and Gemini) don’t give organic preference to advertisers. 

Ads are often part of a user journey though and can have indirect benefits:

  • More eyes on your brand → more searches for your name → stronger brand signals.
  • Being visible in both paid and organic can make you look like a bigger, more authoritative player.

For LLMs, a citation is a citation — they’re not bound by “follow” vs “nofollow” rules the way Google’s link graph is.

LLMs are more interested in what is being said about you, where it’s published, and how it supports the answer they’re giving. Whether the link is follow, nofollow, or even just a plain-text mention, it can still feed into how the model understands and trusts your brand.

Content Types

Would you recommend having short summaries of blogs at the top of the page? Or does AI scan the whole page so quickly that it makes no difference?

From examples we’ve tested at Exposure Ninja, this has been really useful in securing AI Overviews in Google search. I like summaries at the top (particularly on long content pieces) provided they’re short, key takeaways and bullet point format can be great for this.

For AI, while it can technically scan your whole page instantly, it still benefits from a clear, well-structured “TL;DR” because it’s a strong relevance signal. It’s like saying to the model, “This is what this page is about, no ambiguity.”

Think of it like briefing a journalist: you wouldn’t hand them a 1,500-word essay without a headline and first-paragraph hook. Same logic applies here.

Do you advise to condense information into fewer pieces of content (or fewer pages) so it’s easier for AI to find information? Does this mean we should reduce the amount of content we publish and focus on updating existing content instead?

AI search favours clear, authoritative, well-structured sources. Spreading your expertise thin across lots of short or overlapping pages dilutes your authority and makes it harder for AI (and humans) to work out which is the “go-to” resource.

That doesn’t mean publishing less forever — it means prioritising consolidation and updating. Merge overlapping content, keep your strongest pages current, and make each one the best answer on that topic.

Can LLMs read PDFs/PowerPoints?

Yes, they can. They cannot, however, read DOCXs.

I haven’t heard anything about the value of video content on sites/PDPs etc. Have you got any insight on how the various AI searches rank/show videos in answers? Thanks!

Most AI search tools lean heavily on text because it’s easier to parse, but they can extract value from video if you make it easy for them. That means transcripts, captions, descriptive titles, and surrounding text that clearly explains what’s in the video. Without that, AI may treat it as an “invisible” element.

Where videos really perform well is when they’re hosted on platforms like YouTube (which Google owns) and embedded on your site. Google’s AI Overviews are already pulling in YouTube clips for certain queries, and as multimodal models advance, video is only going to get more prominent.

How do the engines deal with paywalled sites? Are they referenced any less than open sites?? 

LLMs say they don’t use paywalled content, but that probably isn’t 100% true. AI search engines can sometimes “see” the full content of paywalled sites if the publisher has an agreement with the engine (like many news outlets do with Google). If not, they may only see the preview text, which limits how much the AI can quote or summarise. I have a suspicion that they can see more than that…

Because open-access content is easier to crawl, verify and cite, it naturally shows up more often in AI answers — especially for general queries. Paywalled content tends to surface when it’s from a high-authority brand or there’s no equally good open-source alternative. It is much more rare for paywalled content to show up though.

Thoughts on adding unique assets such as infographics to influence AI results and ‘traditional’ rankings

LLMs aren’t “showing” infographics right now, so they’re not a direct win in AI search. Most AI models don’t surface visuals in their answers (yet), so an infographic on its own won’t get pulled into a Gemini or ChatGPT response. 

If your goal is purely AI visibility, I wouldn’t invest heavily in standalone infographics. If your goal is PR, link building, and social sharing, then they can still be worth it if you have a very good design and something interesting to share.

Review Sites

With reviews, can they just be added to the site as testimonials? Or do we need to have a plug-in to an independent review site?

Yes, they can be added to your website as testimonials if you don’t want to use a paid plugin. AI can associate your website/business with review profiles on separate third party websites — it understands they are related to your business provided all your business info is accurate.

The reviews you mention AI looking at, is this just Google, or other places too? Does Gemini/Google AI mode draw on Google reviews? How important are Google reviews still?

Very important! These [Google Reviews] are especially important on Google search, Google AI Mode and Gemini.

The example I showed from the data study by Hall were ChatGPT and Perplexity, but they break down lots of other examples as well. 

Gemini (and Google’s AI mode) absolutely draws on Google reviews, but it’s not limited to them. It can pull in signals from other trusted platforms — Yelp, Trustpilot, Tripadvisor, G2, etc — plus what people say about you in news articles, forums, and social media.

AI Mode does use Google My Business profiles all the time though, so Google reviews tend to be very prominent there.

Social Media

How do LLMs deal with things like r/BadAdvice on Reddit? Where the site as a whole is trustworthy, but that specific channel is bad?

Think of an LLM like someone scanning a whole library for useful information. The library might be world-class overall, but that doesn’t mean every single shelf is worth quoting. Models don’t just take the “Reddit” stamp at face value — they look at the content itself, the patterns in language, and signals from their training and reinforcement to decide whether a piece of information is actually helpful or trustworthy.

If the model has seen that r/BadAdvice is, well, full of bad advice, it can learn to treat that as entertainment rather than a credible source. It can flag content as low-quality based on language, tone, and whether it aligns with known facts from higher-trust sources.

The short version is: LLMs can separate “site reputation” from “page reputation.” Just because the parent domain is good doesn’t mean every sub-community gets cited or referenced. 

Does it matter to LLMs if your videos are Public, Private or Unlisted on YouTube?

Yes, it does. If a video is Public, it can be indexed by Google, linked to, and potentially picked up in training data or AI search results. Unlisted videos can still be accessed if someone has the link, but they’re effectively invisible to search engines and won’t usually make it into AI training or surfacing. Private means only you (and people you specifically invite) can see it, so we believe AIs cannot access them.

If you want LLMs (and humans) to find, understand, and reference your video content, it needs to be public and well-optimised.

How important is social media content in optimising for AI? Especially LinkedIn.

I’ve not seen social media content coming up in LLM answers before. We do, however, know that it does influence how AIs speak about your business. 

Most AI tools don’t pull fresh answers straight from social feeds, but they do pick up on patterns in how you and your brand are talked about across the web. LinkedIn is especially powerful because posts can rank in Google, attract links, and get cited by journalists or industry blogs — all of which feed the authority signals AI looks for.

How do you manage the idea that you present yourself differently on different social sites because you have different audience segments on those platforms?

In terms of AI search, what you want to avoid is “confusing the AI” by using different descriptions about what your website actually does. You want the business bios on your social profiles to be consistent for AI, the same way you would want them to be for your brand. 

For example, if you describe your business as “a boutique digital marketing agency specialising in SEO and PPC” on LinkedIn, but then call yourself “a social media consultancy” on Instagram, that mixed messaging can confuse both people and AI. 

The nuance and tone can change depending on the platform: LinkedIn might use more professional phrasing, Instagram might be more playful. However, the core description of what you do should stay consistent everywhere. That way, both humans and AI build a clear, unified picture of your brand.

Strategy

We are building a new website on WordPress and want to put Gen Engine Optimisation on our priority list for building our site. Any tips?

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is about making sure AI search tools — from Google’s AI Overviews to ChatGPT and Perplexity — can clearly understand, trust, and surface your content. The good news is, a lot of the GEO foundations overlap with classic SEO, so you’re not starting from scratch.

Here’s where to focus when you’re building in WordPress:

1. Get your site structure right from day one

  • Logical hierarchy (clear categories, subcategories, internal linking) so AI can map your expertise.
  • Topic clusters around key themes rather than scattered posts.

2. Clarity up top

  • Each page needs a clear, plain-English intro that states the main point and context — AI loves clean summaries.

3. Structured data

  • Use schema markup (FAQs, HowTo, Product, etc.) to give AI machine-readable signals about your content.

4. Authority signals baked in

  • Showcase authorship with bios, credentials, and links to credible sources.
  • Include trust elements like reviews, testimonials, and case studies.

5. Media that AI can parse

  • Add transcripts for videos, alt text for images, and captions for charts. Don’t let key info hide in visuals alone.

6. Super speed and great UX

  • Fast, mobile-friendly pages still matter — if AI users click through and bounce, that’s a negative trust signal.
Which would you say are the key strategies to focus on if you’re not a for-profit brand? E.g. a research project trying to communicate with the public?

Content and making it easy for AI to understand, trust, and quote you.

  1. Plain-English summaries alongside your detailed research so AI can quickly grasp your key points. The not-for-profit sector can do a lot of fantastic research and blog guides.
  2. Clear structure and schema so your content is machine-readable.
  3. Credible citations and sponsorships — give AI confidence you’re an authoritative source. Get links and mentions from those who support your not-for-profit.
  4. Impact first — lead with why the public should care before diving into the details.

Tools

You mentioned Profound is an enterprise platform and perhaps unaffordable for some companies. Can you suggest or recommend other platforms to assist with analysing AI Search performance?

Profound is an AI search tracking tool predominantly targeted at enterprise and large companies. It has an advanced tool stack, which does mean it’s pricey.

Peec AI has a more mid-market offering. It also includes the great citation/source analysis tool. 

Semrush has its “AI Toolkit” which is a more cost-effective option. The analytics in here currently aren’t as advanced as other AI-specific tools out there, but if you’re a small business or just looking to get started with AI search tracking, this is a good starting point.

How do you know which keywords to track for GEO, with there being so many variations of queries people could use in LLMs?

In AI search, people ask questions in endless variations, but they’re still asking the same sorts of questions they do in Google (usually just in a longer way). 

You still start with traditional SEO keyword research — it gives you the proven high-volume and high-value queries in your space. But then you expand for GEO by mapping topic clusters and the intent behind them.

Here’s the process I recommend:

  • Run your SEO keyword research first — Use tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, or Moz to get your baseline list.
  • Group into 5–10 core topic areas — These are the areas you want to dominate in AI search.
  • Layer in real-world questions — Pull from customer FAQs, sales calls, Reddit, Quora, People Also Ask, and AI prompt experiments.
  • Group by intent — Are they learning, comparing, or buying? Track queries across the whole journey.
  • Pick representative queries for tracking — Choose a few per cluster so you can monitor AI visibility — even if the exact wording shifts.
  • Review and refresh quarterly.
Is there any way to get visibility of what specific prompts are driving traffic to your site?

Not with full accuracy, but tools I mentioned like Profound can show you guesstimates of this.

Can you remind me/us of the tools to check AI sentiment please?

Profound was the specific one I referenced. Semrush has a similar thing.

Misc.

Can ChatGPT be trained to analyse and present information in a way that highlights a competitor’s weaknesses?

You can absolutely train or prompt your own conversations in ChatGPT to analyse competitor content, product features, reviews, or marketing, and then highlight gaps or weaknesses. Pretty much like a research assistant.

However, your conversations in ChatGPT won’t be used to “train it” to highlight your competitors’ weaknesses to other users. It will continue to use all the signals it usually does (citations, review sites etc) to determine how it talks about your competitors.

Do you think AI overviews/searches will eventually be dominated by sponsored/paid content? Or do you think it will always be geared towards PR, SEO, Visibility, etc.

It’s almost inevitable that AI search will have sponsored answers — Google’s already testing ads in AI Overviews and AI Mode, and other platforms are exploring monetisation models. Paid slots will likely be labelled (just like PPC ads now), and they’ll give brands guaranteed visibility for certain queries.

But… the bulk of AI answers will still be built on trust and authority signals — PR coverage, strong SEO foundations, consistent brand mentions, and high-quality content. If an AI fills its answers with nothing but ads, user trust tanks fast, so they have to balance monetisation with credibility.

Think of it like Google today: ads take prime positions, but organic results are still the backbone. The smart play is to build your authority so you earn citations naturally, then layer in paid when you need to guarantee a spot for strategic queries.

Conclusion

There’s a lot to get to grips with when it comes to AI search! With such a new technology you can’t expect to have it figured out from Day 1, but hopefully these questions and the answers to them have given you the confidence to get going.

While AI is busy upending organic search, email continues to calmly deliver ROI of 43:1. Get your lead generation campaigns set up in Mail+, then you’ll have more time to try the tools listed above, and earn your spot at the top of AI Mode.