TL;DR (Overview)
Is blogging really dead? I’ve been hearing more and more people say this and the answer is – absolutely not! In my opinion, Blogging is having a resurgence in the age of AI!
And If you’ve been wondering how to show up in AI search results (like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google’s new AI Overviews), the answer isn’t complicated – it’s blogging.
In this post, you’ll learn:
- Why consistent blog content helps you appear in AI search results
- How to optimize your blog posts for AI discovery and SEO
- The specific structure AI search tools prefer when pulling content
- How to get started using my free Plug + Play AI Blog Prompts (get FREE access here)
Download Your FREE Cheat Sheet
The Plug-and-Play Blog Writing Prompts That Took My Traffic from 3K to 50K Impressions
This free cheat sheet will help grow your reach and visibility faster with AI prompts that will help you write each blog post faster and optimize it for SEO (Search Engine Optimization – think Google) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization – think AI Search).
Why Blogging Still Matters in the Age of AI
More and more people are using AI Search, even those who were skeptical just a couple of years ago. And with AI search becoming a part of everyday life, long-form blog content has never been more powerful.
AI search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews don’t pull content from indexed, high-quality, keyword-optimized blog content. Think about it, where does the content that appears in your AI Overview come from? Yes, there are other places they can pull from, like news articles, online forums, etc. But for a small business owner, creating consistent blog content is where you will have the opportunity to make an appearance!
And it’s not just about pumping out as many blog posts as possible, you need to be strategic. When you blog strategically, you’re not only creating content for your audience, you’re also training AI tools to recognize your site as a trusted source.
If you’re an introverted entrepreneur and you want to grow your audience online, this is great news for you! You can create helpful content that will truly benefit your clients and share it through your Blog. Eventually, you will help more and more people as your blog grows!
How AI Search Works (in Simple Terms)
When someone asks ChatGPT or Google AI (Gemini) a question, these tools scan and summarize data from websites across the World Wide Web.
These AI tools prefer sites that:
- Use clear headings and structure
- Include FAQ-style questions
- Include numbered or bulleted lists
- Offer helpful, up-to-date information
- Use semantic keywords (related phrases, not just exact matches)
Additionally, I recommend using schema markup if you do implement everything I just listed above.
“Schema markup (also called structured data) is a type of code you add to your website to help search engines understand your content better.” – Source: Semrush
What to include in your blog posts to appear in AI Search
So, if your blog includes a mix of educational content, schema markup, and FAQs, it becomes easier for AI to surface your posts in search responses. If you think about using AI Search, what do the results that appear look like? They’re usually a short summarized answer, or a bulleted/numbered list. This is what you want to recreate in your blog post. AI Tools provide clear, easy to read and understand answers.
Not only do you want to make sure you’re writing original and valuable content; you want to make sure it’s structured to appear in AI results.
This is also why traditional SEO is still so relevant! You will still be using the foundations of SEO but just tweaking it to match what AI Tools are now servicing to their users.
For an example, just look over this exact blog post you’re reading right now. I have implemented these strategies to optimize this very post for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization).
Step-by-Step: How to Optimize Your Blog for AI Search
1. Choose AI-friendly keywords
Start with search intent–based keywords like:
- “how to grow your business with blogging”
- “blogging for SEO”
- “AI search optimization”
- “how to get found in AI search results”
Use these keywords naturally in your:
- Blog title
- H2/H3 headers
- Throughout the copy (especially in the first 100 words)
- Page title
- Meta description
- Image alt text
The difference between traditional SEO keywords and AI-friendly keywords
I mentioned SEO earlier, so I want to mention the difference between SEO keywords and AI-friendly keywords. Traditional SEO keywords are the exact words or phrases people type into search engines like Google. Whereas AI-friendly keywords are the concepts and phrases that help AI search tools (like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google’s AI Overviews) understand and recommend your content.
AI-friendly keywords are similar to long-tail keywords, they’re more descriptive. But also think of conversations using your keywords. With AI, the tools can provide answers based on conversations you’re having with it. And think about voice search, people are using this in a conversational way as well.
2. You’ll need a clear structure and key pieces of content
Be sure to include the following on each blog post:
- H2 + H3 headers to make your content scannable and easy to read (for AI tools and readers)
- Numbered lists or bullet points
- Include TL;DR sections to summarize the content
- FAQs at the end of the post
All of these are going to make it easy for AI to understand and serve your content! AI pulls snippets of content that fully answer a search query in a concise way. That’s why all of these things will give you more opportunity to appear in AI Search.
3. Add schema markup
Schema helps Google and AI tools understand your content structure. If you have a WordPress blog you can easily add this schema by embedding a custom html code block.
The schema basically helps these tools understand the words on your blog. It also improves the way your post appears in
How Schema Helps Your SEO and AI Visibility
| Purpose | What It Does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Helps Search Engines Understand Context | It tells search engines what type of content is on the page (article, product, FAQ, recipe, etc.). | “This is a blog post” or “This is a FAQ section.” |
| 2. Improves How Your Page Appears in Search | It enables rich results — enhanced snippets with star ratings, FAQs, or thumbnails. | FAQ dropdowns, how-to steps, author info |
| 3. Boosts Click-Through Rate (CTR) | Rich results are more eye-catching → people are more likely to click. | Your blog listing looks detailed and trustworthy |
| 4. Supports AI Search (like SGE & ChatGPT) | Structured data helps AI tools pull accurate answers from your site. | Your blog gets referenced in AI summaries |
| 5. Strengthens Your E-E-A-T Signals | It identifies authorship, reviews, and topics to build credibility. | “Written by Harj G, SEO Strategist” adds authority |
4. Post consistently
AI and Google both reward consistency. It’s best practice to choose a schedule that will realistically work for you. For example, don’t post 4 times one week and then not again for 3 months. If you can only post once a week/bi-weekly or monthly – then do that.
I personally blog twice a week and I’ve seen really great results. Blogging is a long-term strategy and takes time but the more often you blog the more content AI and Search Engines have to pull from.
If you want to consistently blog, I have found a way to make it super easy! It’s taken me a long time but I have nailed down AI prompts to help me write each blog post. They help me with ideas but also to optimize for SEO and AEO. Grab my FREE Plug + Play AI Blog Prompts here!
TL;DR (Recap)
If you want your business to be found in AI search results, here’s the formula:
- Create consistent blog content that answers real questions.
- Use AI-friendly keywords and structure with H2s, TL;DRs, and FAQs
- Add schema markup to help AI understand your post.
- Link internally between related posts to show topical authority.
FAQs
Q: Is AI search replacing Google SEO?
No, it’s not – SEO is still the foundation you need! AI search builds on SEO, it still relies on well-structured blog content to generate answers.
Q: How long does it take to show up in AI results?
Like traditional SEO, it can take months to appear in AI search results. The key is creating and publishing consistently and optimizing your posts for both humans and AI.
Q: Do I need to change how I write?
You don’t need to write for AI. Continue to write for humans and use proper formatting. Use bullet points, numbered lists, TL’DR summaries and FAQ sections to help AI understand your content.
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Grab my FREE Cheat Sheet: The Plug-and-Play Blog Writing Prompts That Took My Traffic from 3K to 50K Impressions and start easily writing SEO and AEO optimized blog posts.
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