What is AI doing to web dev & SEO?

How AI-Powered Search Engines Are Changing the Game

Search is no longer just about keywords and links. AI-powered search engines like Perplexity.ai and SearchGPT are shaking things up by delivering smarter, faster, and more personalized results. They don’t just find information—they understand it, anticipate what users need, and provide conversational answers on the spot.

For your website, this means the old SEO rules are out. To keep up, you need to focus on creating valuable content, a seamless user experience, and making your site ready for these new AI-driven tools. Let’s talk about what’s changing, and what you can do to stay ahead of the curve.

1. Make Sure Your Website Loads Quickly

• Why it matters: Slow-loading websites frustrate users, and AI-powered algorithms prioritize fast, seamless experiences.
• How it’s different: While site speed has always been a factor in ranking with search engines, AI weights this factor more strongly than its search engine counterparts. If visitors bounce because of delays, AI tools quickly devalue your site.
• What to do: Check your site’s speed, optimize images, and streamline plugins.

2. Ensure Your Site Works on Mobile

• Why it matters: Over half of web traffic comes from mobile, and AI search engines favor mobile-friendly sites.
• How it’s different: Traditional SEO checks for basic mobile responsiveness. AI-powered search engines analyze usability, navigation ease, and overall experience on smaller screens. The combination of tools like AI and voice search means that users will be looking for fast answers via on their phone or tablet during their day-to-day activities now more than ever. 
• What to do: Test your site on mobile devices and make sure everything loads and functions smoothly.

3. Create Content That Answers Real Questions

• Why it matters: AI values content that directly addresses user questions and provides meaningful, relevant answers.
• How it’s different: This is more than just keywords, it’s also context and relevance. SEO strategies had started to head this way, but AI just kicked it into high gear and made it a priority. AI-powered search engines analyze the intent behind searches, prioritizing content that solves real problems and provides depth.
• What to do: Research what your audience is searching for and create in-depth, helpful content. Consider adding an AI-powered chat bot or search feature to help guide the AI tools to feature (or maybe even prioritize) your content.

4. Use Clear, Simple Language

• Why it matters: AI understands complex text, but users prefer straightforward content that’s easy to scan and digest.
• How it’s different: Traditional SEO rewards dense content packed with keywords. AI-powered search favors natural, conversational language that aligns with how users ask questions. We taught the AI bots how to speak in natural language, so that’s what they’ll prioritize when looking for information for its human users. 
• What to do: Write content that feels natural, avoid jargon, and break text into easy-to-read sections.

5. Add Structured Data to Your Website

• Why it matters: Structured data helps AI search engines understand your content and improves your chances of appearing in rich results, like FAQs and snippets.
• How it’s different: This goes beyond Open Graph data, breadcrumbs and alt text, schema markup sitewide provides more AI-friendly data within the page code so it can quickly evaluate and (ideally) serve up your content as a response.
• What to do: Add schema markup for key areas like products, reviews, and events.

6. Optimize for Voice Search

• Why it matters: With the rise of voice assistants like Alexa and Siri, voice searches are becoming more conversational and specific.
• How it’s different: Traditional SEO tactics don’t account for voice searching or conversational syntax, focusing primarily on typed keywords or phrases. AI-powered search engines analyze natural, spoken language to understand context and intent in voice queries.
• What to do: Create content that answers “how,” “what,” and “why” questions in a conversational tone.

7. Keep Your Website Updated

• Why it matters: AI notices when content is outdated. Regular updates signal that your site is active and trustworthy.
• How it’s different: Traditional SEO focuses on building evergreen pages. AI-powered search engines actively compare the freshness of your content with competitors to rank relevance. 
• What to do: Refresh old content with new insights, update blogs regularly, and keep your site’s information current.

The Bottom Line

AI-powered search engines account for context, not just content, which means they’re also reshaping how people search and engage with content. This shift is a chance to move beyond outdated SEO practices and build websites that truly connect with your audience. By focusing on user experience, high-quality content, and optimizing for the latest AI trends, you can position your site for long-term success in this new landscape.

Change is happening fast, but there’s no need to feel overwhelmed. By taking small, intentional steps to align your website with these evolving search trends, you can stay ahead and ensure your site remains relevant, discoverable, and impactful. Now is the perfect time to embrace these changes and prepare your website for the future of search.

Not Sure How to Get Started?

Reach out to Jollity support, and our team of experts can help address any (or all) of the steps outlined here. Let’s get your website in top shape, so it’s ready to stand out amongst competitors as the AI search engine tools grow.