Google SEO is about ranking a page in a list of links. Getting named by ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Perplexity or Google AI Mode (AI Overviews) is about being part of the answer itself. The two overlap more than they differ, but the differences decide where to spend your time.
AI answers | ||
|---|---|---|
The result | A ranked list of pages | One answer that names a few brands and cites a few pages |
What you win | A position, then a click | A mention, often without a click |
Who you compete with | Every page on the results page | The handful of brands the answer names |
What you measure | Rank, clicks, impressions | Visibility score, position in the answer, citations, share of voice |
Google matches searches, often short ones. People ask AI platforms full questions: "Which CRM works best for a five-person sales team that uses Gmail?". Track the prompts your customers ask, not only the keywords.
On Google, links from other sites build a page's authority. In AI answers, what matters is whether the pages the AI platform reads mention you. A mention on a G2 category page or a Reddit thread that keeps getting cited can matter more than dozens of links nobody reads.
Speed and clean markup still matter: a page that can't be crawled can't be read. But once it's read, an AI platform needs plain facts it can repeat: what you do, for whom, at what price, compared with whom.
Google ranks your page. AI answers often lean on third-party pages: reviews, comparisons, forums, press. Much of the work is getting onto pages you don't own.
On Google, position one takes most of the clicks. An AI answer names several brands at once, so being named at all is the first goal, and being named first is the next.
Content that fully answers the question, with specifics
Experience and expertise people can see: authors, data, examples
Clear positioning: your category and audience stated plainly
A healthy site that search engines and AI crawlers can read
Keyword targeting in titles and headings
Link building for page authority
Page speed and Core Web Vitals
Being mentioned on the pages AI platforms cite
Answering the prompt directly, in the words people use
Consistent facts about your brand across the web
Showing up in public discussions (Reddit, forums, YouTube) that get cited
AI answers | |
|---|---|
Keywords and the Google tab of Competitors | Prompts and Competitors |
Site health (Lighthouse and technical checks) | Sources (the pages AI cites) |
Your Google demand and Website analytics | Fan-outs (what AI searched) and AI traffic |
Explorer connects the two: it turns your Search Console searches and ranking keywords into prompts worth tracking, and shows what your competitors win in AI answers and in Google.
Assuming Google success carries over. Check the answers for your prompts; a top-ranked page doesn't guarantee a mention
Dropping SEO for AI. Google AI Mode (AI Overviews) and the AI platforms that search the web still read what ranks
One strategy for both. Keep the shared foundation, then work each channel's gaps
Email [email protected] and I'll help.
