- Optimise for AI Citations, Not Just Rankings
Treat ChatGPT/Perplexity/AI Overviews as channels. Build “citation-worthy” pages: crisp definitions, comparisons, FAQs, and first-party stats; keep them fresh and entity-rich so models prefer you. Track citations monthly. - Ship a “Local AI” Stack for Every Service Client
Lock down Google Business Profile, reviews velocity, and 3P directory presence; publish bite-size informational content that AIOs lift into answers. This wins zero-click discovery for local intent. - Institute AI Editorial Governance
Scale drafts with AI, but mandate human editing, sourcing, and bylines. Bake a “unique value” section (data, demo, POV) into every brief to avoid “scaled, low-value” pitfalls. - Move to a Freshness Cadence
Quarterly refreshes for cornerstone content; monthly micro-updates for active topics. Freshness correlates with AI selection—don’t let great pages go stale. - Instrument AI Visibility
Add dashboards for: AIO triggers by query bucket, brand mentions in AI answers, and traffic/conversions from AI panels. Prioritise queries where AIO fires and you’re absent. - Structure Everything for Machines
Use schema, tables, bullets, and short answer blocks; expose clean APIs/feeds for your data so agents (and MCP-style integrations) can fetch verifiable facts about your brand. - Create First-Party Research Assets
LLMs love citing unique data. Run polls, extract product telemetry, or mine CRM for insights; publish as simple charts + 400-word explainers. This earns links and AI citations. - Adopt GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) in Briefs
For every topic, define: the question a user will ask an AI, the 2-sentence answer, the supporting bullets, and the evidence/source. Write for synthesis first, then expand. - Re-platform Keyword Research to “Jobs to Be Done”
Map conversational intents (“Which X for Y?”) and produce modular content that slots into AI answers (comparisons, decision trees, checklists). - AI-Augmented Media Ops
Use AI to repurpose articles into short videos, carousels, and email snippets—but keep human quality control. Distribution breadth boosts the chance of being cited in multi-source AI answers.
The 10 Best AI Strategies a Digital Marketing Consultant Should Adopt in 2026
