In some ways, ChatGPT is the new Google. It’s not quite there yet, but people are increasingly reliant on “Chat” as a digital personal assistant and some people have it follow them anywhere.
Now, with the advent of Agentic Commerce and Instant Checkout, you can even buy through ChatGPT. Naturally, eCommerce merchants are eager to get their products to show up at outputs through answer engines, just as they are to have good organic rankings in Google’s search results, or through other search engines.
Here’s your primer on how to get your website or some of your products to be featured as outputs through ChatGPT or other AI tools or answer engines.
- Make your focus on quality copy, period. There is nothing else that is going to get you to the proverbial “tops” of ChatGPT’s “search results.” Square with that, and if it means you need to hire a subject matter expert as a writer, so be it. Good copy that answers questions is what shows up through AI engines, for better or for worse.
- Don’t get hung up on technical issues unless they are crippling your website. Technical SEO used to be a big thing, and technical answer engine optimization, or AEO exists, but don’t get lost in the weeds. There are way more important things in AEO, or rather, there is one more important thing, and it has already been covered.
- Forget what you’ve heard about backlinks and domain authority. It is possible to get featured as an output through ChatGPT with zero backlinks to your domain. Read that again. Now, while it is not necessarily easy, it illustrates the point that links are not what digital marketers have always said they are. The quality and accuracy of content are way more important. The same goes for domain authority, by the way. They can influence an SEO strategy, but they aren’t that big of a deal.
- Find the questions users are searching for. You can use software for this, like SEMRush or Ahrefs, but the easy way is to just go into Google and take a closer look at the People Also Ask section. That will show you what people are asking for and it can help you refine your AEO strategy and approach too.
- Answer the questions, more than one, if you can. This is 95% of answer engine optimization, right here. Once you have found the questions to which people want answers, start answering them succinctly and accurately, and get that information published on your website so AI platforms can find it.
- Provide author attribution and a citation chain if possible. Provide author attribution to show the answer engine that the publisher is a subject matter expert with authority, and if there are any applicable sources for your claims, then provide links to these, or at least citations.
- Be persistent. AEO, like traditional search engine optimization, takes a lot of time and a big commitment in terms of effort. Be consistent with your publication and don’t give up. Eventually you’ll get featured.
- Work with a provider of answer engine optimization services. One way some eCommerce merchants are helping to shorten the learning curve is by working with experienced providers of answer engine optimization services. Some digital marketing experts, especially those familiar with SEO, are also adroit at earning results through answer engines, and can leverage their experience to the benefit of your business. Reach out to one today to learn more if you have any questions.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re going to do this on your own or form a partnership with a provider of answer engine optimization services, there’s no reason to delay. This market will only get more competitive and more saturated with time, so get started optimizing your website and content as soon as possible.
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