Open AI’s Chat GPT & Search GPT aren’t just another search engine. In fact, these AI tools reflect a shift in how people are discovering information. This evolution is vital for businesses to understand, as it directly impacts website visibility and brand presence. By optimising your content for these new AI tools, you can appear in their generative answers and significantly broaden your online reach.
For years, search has been about targeting keywords and being featured in a list of 10 blue links on the search engine results page. Search GPT is a completely different game, it analyses up to 12 results from its underlying search index to generate a single direct answer. Open AI have publically said this index is based on Bing, however across the search marketing industry, we have seen that it also takes information from Google’s search index.
Search marketing has expanded, moving from a directory of links to a direct dialogue with an intelligent system. Open AI’s Chat GPT & Search GPT tools combined are an AI-powered search engine that understands queries and keywords with a new level of depth. Rather than simply matching keywords, it interprets user intent to generate conversational and actionable answers.
A major departure from the traditional search engine results page is the switch from a list of links to an ad-free direct answer. Users of Chat GPT and other AI tools, such as Perplexity, Claude and Gemini are actively trying to trying to bypass the traditional ‘click and learn’ process, where they navigate various links to find information. Instead, they’re looking for an immediate answer to their query.
At the heart of this change to search marketing, is Generative Engine Optimisation, also called GEO. GEO has a goal to get your brand, website, content and expertise cited directly in the long form AI generated response that AI tools present to users. Search marketing success is now about being the trusted source that powers these new search experiences.
A recent study by OpenAI and Harvard on millions of ChatGPT conversations revealed a number of shifts in how people are finding information online, including:
People are moving away from Google for research and writing. The use of generative AI for these tasks has doubled, showing a clear shift in user intent.
The vast majority of usage isn’t for programming. It’s for research, decision-making, and general knowledge- the kinds of queries you’d typically see in Google.
Search GPT’s conversational nature makes it a perfect fit for complex, personal, or multi-part questions that would have been difficult to phrase in a traditional search bar.
Essentially, users want direct answers, not just links. They want a conversation, not a click-through journey. With AI search tools, they are getting what they need instantly, which can lead to fewer clicks to websites.
The primary implication is a potential drop in website traffic for purely informational queries. When SearchGPT provides a complete, well-cited answer, a user might never click a link to your site. This doesn’t mean your content is failing; it means its value is being recognised with a new search algorithm and presented in a new way.
The role of your business’s website content is shifting. It must be an authoritative source that SearchGPT pulls from. Your visibility now depends on being cited and recommended, not just on being ranked. When users turn to AI search tools, their journey starts with an AI-generated answer, not a list of links. Your goal is to be the primary source that the AI digests and synthesises into that direct response.
At Atomic Leap, we’ve found that the traffic our clients receive from AI tools like ChatGPT and SearchGPT is generally of higher quality and converts more effectively. This is because these AI systems act as a pre-qualifying filter, conducting in-depth research and presenting users with a curated, trustworthy summary. By the time a user clicks through to your website, they’ve already had their initial questions answered and have a strong, informed interest in what you offer, leading to more valuable visits and a higher likelihood of conversion. This shifts the focus from attracting a large volume of generic traffic to targeting a smaller number of high-intent, pre-qualified leads. You can explore our agency’s positive digital marketing results for yourself.
While these implications are large, they pose an opportunity:
Search Engine Land’s analysis of Search GPT shows that it consistently favours pulling information from long-form, authoritative content, rather than brand-specific product pages. Search GPT’s AI algorithm doesn’t seem to trust promotional claims and instead will try to find a detailed and complete content that it can use to synthesise an answer from. To be featured, content needs to feature in-depth answers that provide a balanced argument that AI tools can cite.
Since Search GPT doesn’t display ads, you could say all its results are organic. As such, the goal for your business’ search marketing strategy is not necessarily to get a click to your website any more, but to have your brand accurately mentioned and positively framed as an expert in the AI generated response.
For local businesses, positive online reviews are amplified. Search GPT’s response to local searches pull from sources that reflect credibility, and relies heavily on data from places like Google Maps. So having a strong presence on these platforms, alongside a number of authentic and positive reviews could be the difference between being featured in AI local search results.
The shift to AI search isn’t a threat; it’s a significant opportunity for organic visibility. At Atomic Leap, we’ve developed an internal framework to ensure our clients thrive in this new landscape, focusing on what we call AI Visibility. While we can’t reveal our entire framework, you can get a head start by using out free AI SEO Audit tool. Here’s a look at the tactics we’ll use to adapt your search marketing strategy:
We’ll move beyond simple keywords to address the real information need behind every query. Our approach focuses on creating content with concise, verifiable facts, using inline citations to demonstrate credibility. We also create content with enough depth to satisfy multi-turn, conversational queries.
We’ll make your content machine-readable for AI. This involves using schema markup (like FAQPage or HowTo), natural-language headings that ask the question directly, and logical formatting like lists and tables. This way, AI can easily extract, cite, and act on your content.
If a crawl bot can’t access your website or page’s content, it can’t rank or be used by AI. We’ll audit your site to fix crawl errors, JavaScript issues, and make sure it meets serach enigne technical standards like Core Web Vitals and mobile-first indexing. Your website’s technical health is the foundation of AI search tools visibility.
AI systems, just like humans, look for credible sources. We’ll strengthen your brand’s EEAT (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) by securing highly relevant backlinks and digital PR partnerships. We will also work to ensure your brand has a strong, consistent presence in knowledge graphs, so AI can confidently ground facts to you.
The AI landscape is evolving rapidly. We will continuously monitor your brand’s AI citation rates in platforms like Perplexity and Copilot, in addition to Search GPT. We’ll also track other key performance indicators like semantic similarity and informational gain scores to measure the value of our optimisations. This data will allow us to continually refine our strategy and keep you ahead of the curve.
This new era of search marketing is not a threat; it’s a new opportunity for organic visibility. We are actively testing and refining these strategies to make sure your business remains a leader in a world where search is becoming a conversation.