Search now happens in two places: Google's results, and the answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI features. I set sites up for both. For BabyJunctions, what moved search traffic was long-tail articles that each answer one specific question, plus structured data that tells search engines what each page is, and BabyJunctions has been cited in AI answers.
On this site the same work means structured data describing who I am and what I do, an llms.txt file that tells AI tools what the site covers, and letting AI crawlers read the site instead of blocking them. I treat SEO and answer engine optimisation as one job, because the page that answers one precise question well tends to serve both. These posts cover what I have seen work.
