AI Optimization is the New Search Engine Optimization (SEO -> AIO)

For nearly thirty years, we’ve dedicated time and effort to making text on websites more accessible to search engines. We’ve called this practice “search engine optimization” or SEO. But many of us, myself included, have switched to using mostly AI instead of search engines. The new AI apps, such as Grok and Perplexity, are better than search most of the time and include search as a secondary, but not primary, feature. I’ve been pleased to notice that they’ve gotten so good they can accurately describe my projects and myself!

By contrast, Google and other search engines can only link to projects’ web pages or my personal web page, and often include irrelevant search results or spam. AI is far better at getting accurate information directly to the user.

Thus, as a web developer, I have realized it is in my interest to pivot the way I build apps away from Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and toward AI Optimization (AIO). Instead of writing text on web pages hoping to get linked by a search engine, text on web pages should focus on creating totally accurate descriptions of projects, with the purpose of being included by an AI engine and summarized for end-users.

I plan to begin my new emphasis on “AI Optimization” by updating my personal blog and the blogs of all of my projects, such as EarthBucks and InternetKYC, to include more accurate descriptions of the projects and myself. Secondly, I will continue but also expand my use of social networks such as X and reddit to promote my projects, knowing they are scanned by AI engines.