Over the last year, businesses and marketers have been faced with the ongoing battle of AI. Should we lean into it or shy away from it? The truth is, we must lean into it, especially since it has infiltrated our Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). How is AI changing SEO? Over the last year, we have seen a decline in website traffic of approximately 60%. According to Forbes News, roughly 60% of Google searches now end without any clicks at all, meaning users are finding their answers directly. This means that website traffic has declined significantly, and although organic traffic continues to grow, its growth rate has more than halved since the introduction of AI-powered search. 

After a lot of chatter and investigating AI in both the media and the Your Marketing Team office, we thought it was time we shared our findings on how the shifts in AI are shaping our clients’ digital strategy for 2026.  

Number 1 search spot has gone…

Google has embraced AI, and it has created its very own Large Language Model (LLM) – Google Gemini. This is the AI that you will see at the top of your SERPs; they’re calling it the AI Overview. This overview gives you the answers you need instantly. 

This change means that often user search journeys are ending before even clicking on anything. We’re learning that clicks onto a website feel like a deliberate action, and Marketers must work harder to make the user feel like the click is worth it through concise, detailed Meta descriptions and ALT text. 

The presence of AI Overview means the organic number 1 spot has been pushed down the SERPs. Unfortunately, the number 1 spot doesn’t guarantee traffic anymore.  

Even though social media and LLMs are taking over search, Google is still dominating search, which is why it developed its own LLM.  

So, how do we get cited in LLMs?

Leaning into the AI Overview is a great first step, but it does not mean we can bypass traditional SEO and jump straight into the AI Overview.  

When creating content for your website, remember you have two audiences – the user and LLMs. Now, when we create content for a website, we need to think about the following:  

• What question is it answering? 
• What will the user search for next? 
• Is this content information with facts or opinion?  
• How many backlinks does it have? 
• Has the information been cited? 
• Is this topic transactional, complex, or niche?  

Here are our 5 top tips for optimising your content so that you can appear in LLMs:

1. Use self-contained statements in your content – this should be a complete statement that doesn’t rely on outside resources – these are your own facts.
2. Use lists, tables and bullet points throughout your content. This makes it easy for the LLM to extract your content and reproduce it on its platform.
3. Add FAQs and use question-style H2s – LLMs are often used for asking questions; this is a great way to produce answers to questions, fast. Use 4 60-word direct answers.
4. LLMs cannot read images. When using infographics, mirror the content of the infographic with an informational paragraph to tell the story of what’s in the infographic in your meta description or alt text.
5. Work on getting brand mentions from other publishers. Authentic brand mentions have more value than backlinks.

What kind of content should I be producing?

LLMs are favouring all kinds of content, with a particular favour for video and audio content, which may surface more easily.  

When producing blog content, authors should consider the following:  

• Structured content that answers the initial question a user has, along with the second and third questions that might spring to mind. 
• Content should anticipate multi-turn searches; we don’t want to get left behind in the conversation, so we must anticipate what the user will ask next. 
• Understand the search intent and then think of what’s next in the conversation. 
• Draw on your experience and expertise to establish authority and trustworthiness.  

Where do we stand with keywords?

Although AI is changing SEO, traditional SEO is still important. Google’s bots crawl websites to understand the information published, and AI uses organic results to produce answers for users. Ensure you’re still ticking traditional SEO boxes with keywords, backlinks and most importantly, content.  

What does this mean for SMEs?

A good starting point for SMEs is to look at the existing content on your website. Edit your existing content to have structure and ensure your piece is answering a specific question.  

Next, businesses should look to carry out an internal digital health check. This means businesses need to look at their Bing profile and their Google Business profile. Check that all the content is up to date and relevant and make any necessary edits. It’s these profiles which Google will use to place details about you within its own LLM – Google Gemini.  

“We perform a quarterly health check for all of our clients to ensure that not only are we covering the essentials of traditional SEO, like keyword optimisation and fixing site crawl issues, but that we are also staying ahead of new trends. This includes monitoring brand mentions, keeping Google and Bing listings accurate, optimising for AI-generated search results and ensuring our content strategy aligns with how AI tools interpret information.” – Lisa McShane, Digital Marketing Consultant, Your Marketing Team 

SEO strategy for many of our clients is changing for 2026. We’re looking to optimise Google and Bing profiles whilst structuring all the content we produce for websites in an ordered fashion. We are answering questions and providing factual information which will benefit the user journey when it comes to AI. Whether it’s Google Gemini, ChatGPT or Microsoft Co-Pilot, LLMs are taking hold of the number 1 search spot and changing the way that we as people search for information online.