Adaption from SEO to optimising for chatbots
The game has changed. Traditional search engine optimisation is being disrupted by AI-powered search experiences, and the brands that adapt fastest will win.
A fantastic new article from Vercel's engineering team reveals just how dramatic this shift has become. "ChatGPT now refers around 10% of new Vercel signups. That's up from 4.8% the previous month, and 1% six months ago." Meanwhile, other companies like Tally are seeing even more dramatic results, with AI search becoming their biggest acquisition channel entirely.
The core insight? "LLMs tend to favor content that explains things clearly, deeply, and with structure." This isn't about gaming the system with keyword stuffing anymore. It's about becoming the definitive source for a concept.
Don't abandon traditional SEO. Leverage the foundational concepts and add depth and breadth. Image source: Vercel
What Actually Works Now
Vercel's recommended approach centres on five key principles:
Find frontier concepts where you can become the first or clearest explanation. Monitor emerging discussions across Twitter, Reddit, and GitHub for gaps your expertise can fill.
Go deep, not wide. "Generic summaries are often skipped. LLMs prefer substance and infer authority from depth." Include original data, code examples, and insights competitors can't easily replicate.
Structure for machines. Use semantic HTML, clean heading hierarchies, and Schema.org markup. Most AI crawlers don't execute JavaScript, so ensure your content is served as static HTML.
Earn authentic citations across high-signal platforms like Reddit, GitHub, and Stack Overflow. Organic mentions carry more weight than paid links. Our friends at LEOPRD (a Time Under Tension Collective member) and Theory Crew (our PR company) are experts at helping build organic mentions.
Keep it fresh. Models re-crawl regularly, and stale content loses relevance in both retrieval systems and training data.
The bottom line? "You're not just optimising for humans. You're also optimising for models that decide what humans see." Traditional SEO fundamentals still matter, but the future belongs to brands that can own concepts with clarity and depth.