Google. That’s all we cared about for so many years. Rank top, or at least on the first page, and you’re golden.

If you didn’t show up, you had no chance. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) was a huge factor in winning that all-important click.

But the game has changed. SEO still matters, but it’s 2026 and user behaviours are rapidly evolving. Need an answer fast? Just ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and other AI tools for direct answers.

Even Google has its own AI Overviews now, which often appear above the traditional search results.

And this is not a tiny side trend.

One recent study of more than 55,000 Google searches found that AI Overviews appeared for 13.7% of trending queries overall, rising to 64.7% for question-style searches.

Another 2026 study found AI Overviews appearing for 51.5% of representative real-user queries.

In other words, AI-generated answers are no longer just something people use inside chatbot apps. They are becoming part of the search experience itself.

While it’s great for the consumer, it creates a new problem for website owners.

Can AI actually find, understand and recommend your website?

While traditional search was built around links - a user searched for something and Google showed a list of relevant results - AI search works differently.

Instead of simply showing links, AI tools often generate an answer first. They summarise information, compare options, explain topics and sometimes recommend specific brands, tools, products or websites.

So your website may no longer be competing only for rankings, it’s now competing to become part of the answer.

If the AI systems find your website difficult to understand, you may simply be left out.

Research from Pew found that when users saw an AI summary in Google, they clicked a traditional search result in only 8% of visits, compared with 15% of visits when no AI summary appeared.

That does not mean website traffic disappears overnight. But it does mean the click is becoming harder to win.

So the question is changing. It is no longer only: “Can we rank?”

It is also: “Can we be included in the answer?”

Common problems include:

In the old version of search, you could still win clicks with a decent title tag and a strong ranking. In the new version of search, AI needs to quickly understand what your page says, who it helps, and whether it is worth citing.

And that’s where Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) comes in.

Here is one simple improvement you can make today:

Turn vague headings into question-based headings.

Instead of: “Benefits”
Use: “What are the benefits of AEO for website owners?”

Instead of: “Our Process”
Use: “How does our AEO audit process work?”

Instead of: “Pricing”
Use: “How much does AEO software cost?”

You get the idea.

Question-based headings make your content easier for humans to scan, but they also give AI systems a clearer signal about what the section is answering.

The next step is just as important: place a short, direct answer immediately underneath the heading.

Think of it as giving the AI the answer first, then the supporting detail afterwards.

Choose one important page on your website and ask yourself:

If the answer is “no” to most of those, your page may not be AI-ready yet.

This is not all doom and gloom and SEO is not dead. But it is changing, fast.

The next challenge for website owners is not just ranking in search results, but being found, understood and trusted by AI systems.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll break down the simple changes that can make your website easier for AI systems to find, understand and cite.

Because the websites that do well in 2026 won’t just be the ones that rank well. They’ll be the ones AI tools can actually understand and talk about.

That’s it for this week!

Grant & team

Arcboar.com