Google Unveils AI Search Optimization Guidelines and Conversational Feed Control
Google has released an official guide for optimizing websites to be compatible with its AI search features, dubbed the 'AIO Guide'. The company states that traditional SEO best practices remain effective for AI search features as well, and recommends creating unique, valuable content for users.
The AIO Guide explicitly states that no special measures are required for AI features, but an analysis among search marketing practitioners suggests that off-page measures such as earning backlinks and expanding brand mentions will carry greater weight in the AI search era.
Additionally, Google has announced three personalization enhancements for its Discover feed. The first is a 'Preferred Sources' button that publishers can embed on their own sites, allowing readers to follow a publisher without leaving the page. The second is customizable daily audio briefings by topic in the Google News app. The third is a chat interface that allows users to directly describe what content they want to see in their Discover feed.
This conversational feature will allow users to tap on any item in the feed and enter specific instructions, such as 'Show me long-form, in-depth articles about smart home technology, but exclude product news and press releases.' The feed will adjust instantly, and requests will be remembered. This is a turning point for the Discover feed, which has been built entirely by algorithms based on cross-ecosystem activity data until now.