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  5. How SEO is changing and what it means for your website

How SEO is changing and what it means for your website

8 minute read• Last updated: 20 April 2026

If you’ve used a search engine in the last year or so, you’ll be very aware that today’s search results pages (SERPs) look extremely different to what you’d expect to see pre-pandemic, or even 2023 for that matter.

The past 12 months has seen big changes in not only the way users see search results, but the way those search results are ranked too.

In this article, VisitScotland’s SEO Manager Abigail Shaw breaks down exactly what is changing, where you might need to adapt your approach to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and tactics to optimise being featured in AI Overviews (AIOs) and Generative AI chatbot responses.

New to SEO? Learn where to get started with our Search Engine Optimisation Guide.

In this article:

  • Keyword-stuffed content doesn’t beat ‘Helpful’ content
  • SERP features, AI and the rise of the ‘zero-click' searches
  • Adapting websites for generative AI search
  • My key takeaways

Keyword-stuffed content doesn’t beat ‘Helpful’ content

VisitScotland’s SEO Manager Abigail Shaw

VisitScotland’s SEO Manager Abigail Shaw

Unlike the common SEO approach of the 2010s, well-ranking content is now about more than highly specific keyword targeting. Yes, keywords do (and probably always will) have a key part to play in the content creation process. However, Google’s evolving algorithms now place a lot of importance on trust and authenticity.

Review your strategy using E-E-A-T

E-E-A-T, which stands for Experience – Expertise – Authenticity – Trustworthiness, is a set of quality guidelines Google introduced to encourage ‘helpful, reliable, people-first content’.

Whilst E-E-A-T itself won’t determine the rankings of your content, it should be your baseline for evaluating if your content is valuable to people, over bots.

There isn't a one-size fits all approach to how this applies to your website, and we’ve had to spend some time at VisitScotland experimenting with what works best for us.

  • Injecting real-lived experiences has been a key part to evolving our content and SEO strategy for visitscotland.com.
  • For smaller sites, it may be building on brand trustworthiness – showcase why you are the best in your field.
  • If you review all your content through the E-E-A-T lens, you should be able to identify which strategies work best for you.

SERP features, AI and the rise of the ‘zero-click' searches

  • SERP features

    What is a SERP feature? In short, it’s anything on a Search Engine Results Page (SERP) that isn’t the standard blue link. Previously these links were front and centre, but now there are a variety of features on results pages that can divert a user’s attention – some of which your business can take advantage of by having a Google Business Profile.

    Check out Backlinko’s guide to SERP features, if you want to learn more about all the features Google currently uses.

  • Zero-click searches

    SEO isn’t just about how you rank, but also how people interact with search results in general. Much of this comes down to the way Google, and other search engines, use SERP features to influence user behaviour.

    A recent State of Search report by Datos suggests that up to 26% of searches in the EU and UK ended with no clicks at all. This is called ‘zero-click’ behaviour and generally stems from a user finding their answers within the Search Results Page – whether that be due to an AI Overview (AIO), or a local pack (where location-specific results related to a query are displayed).

  • AI’s growth and the AI overview

    AI has grown exponentially over the last few years, and Google are no strangers to the concept – they have been using AI to improve the search experience as far back as 2001. However Generative AI, like ChatGPT, presents new competition and a new opportunity for them.

    AIO is one of the biggest drivers behind zero-click searches in 2025. If you haven’t come across it in your own Googling, it’s a summary at the top of SERPs which collates answers from some of the many websites available in Google’s index – if your site is ranking, it could be contributing to these summaries.

  • Challenges and opportunities of AIO

    AIOs come with positives and negatives, the biggest negative being a decreased click-through-rate on your informational keywords, and the positives being a potentially increased visibility of your message and content.

    Many keyword tools now offer the ability to track your presence in AIO, and we recommend investing some time experimenting with these if you are seeing decreased organic traffic – particularly since April 2024, when it first rolled out.

Adapting websites for generative AI search

There isn’t large or significant adaption required for websites that already employ E-E-A-T and technical SEO principles. Modern SEO and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) heavily overlap. However, AI search introduces new prioritisation of tactics, new ways of measuring success, and new sources of authority that aren’t part of SEO.

It is also worth noting that given the recency of this change to search behaviour, there is no one set of ‘best practice rules’ to follow. Much of it is in the hypothesis and testing stage.

Where there’s overlap between SEO and GEO

  • Using crawler bots to read and index information

    Both necessitate having a clear and crawlable website structure that can be retrieved in results quickly.

  • Trust, expertise and authority

    Both traditional SEO and GEO systems put importance on authorship, domain-level authority and in-depth information.

  • Content quality is what matters most

    Both use a range of content quality-based signals to determine suitability. So accurate and relevant content must underpin any additional tactics.

What's new

  • AI favours formats it can lift and re-use

    There is more of a requirement to semantically markup content or use short-extractable statement formats (much more rigid than classic SEO formatting).

  • Off-site authority signals are more important

    Earned media (eg digital PR) and authoritative list placements are upweighted. Where a brand is frequently mentioned alongside a specific topic, AI models begin to associate the domain with authority in that space.

  • The importance of content freshness

    Although valuable to SEO, it is much more critical for AI. In competitive spaces (such as travel) the recency of information provided can often be a tiebreaker.

  • Clicks aren’t the goal

    Around 60% of searches are now ‘zero-click’ as users get their information within the generative or search engine results, without needing to click through to a website. AI means a focus on visibility success metrics, over traffic volumes.

Optimising for AI

Once you have a solid understanding of the basics of SEO, take a look at these key tactics for optimising your website for AI – they can increase your visiblity to potential customers viewing Google's AI Overview or using AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Microsoft's Copilot. 

  • AI Overviews on Google search results

    The Google Gemini-powered AI Overviews (AIOs) that feature within a Google search results page are much more integrated with traditional search metrics and authority signals, than other AI Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT.

    Tactics to implement include:

    • question-first headings eg ‘what are xyz’ and ‘how to abc’ (structure)
    • short paragraphs and bullets where possible (structure)
    • author profiles and linking out to authoritative websites to build on E-E-A-T signals (authority)
    • using entity SEO tactics to build topical consistency and correlations (authority)
    • simple, clear HTML semantics eg H1-H2 hierarchy, alt text on images (technical)
    • monitoring and improving Core Web Vitals (technical)
    • implement schema on site (technical)

  • Generative AI chatbots

    The most used LLMs/AI tools are generally Google Gemini, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot. Gemini is most unique of the three in the way it reads and prioritises content – it being part of the same Google ecosystem as AIO. So, the following key tactics primarily apply to the latter two.

    • use ‘immediate answer’ formats, ie concise definitions, one sentence answers to questions, clear start and end points to a topic (structure)
    • make use of comparison tables if applicable (structure)
    • seek to be featured in third-party authoritative lists eg ‘Best XYZ of 2026’ (authority)
    • prioritise earned media coverage through PR, to build brand authority and ensure third-party placements of your messaging (authority)
    • collate online reviews and feature social proof on site (authority)
    • employ simple, clear HTML semantics eg H1-H2 hierarchy, alt text on images (technical)

My key takeaways

  • If your organic traffic is down, that’s normal

    We’re at a point in time where users don’t always have to click through to your website to become aware of your brand or your message. A lot of new privacy laws mean many users aren’t even trackable anymore. Focus less on organic traffic as an SEO success metric, and more on the visibility indicators – how do you rank for target keywords? How often is your business appearing in SERP features?

  • Prioritise humans over robots

    A lot of outdated SEO techniques will have you squeezing in any and every keyword you possibly can, but that’s not what SEO is anymore. Having quality content pages, that meet user needs, aligned with E-E-A-T, is what matters most – thread keywords where they fit most naturally in headings and copy

  • Make sure you have the key SEO principles covered first

    There’s no real use in spending a lot of time reviewing your content for E-E-A-T and optimising for AIO if you don’t have the basics like keyword targeting and site structure to give your site a foundation to build on. You might find the basics are enough to see big site improvements. Again, our Search Engine Optimisation Guide article can help with that.

  • Consider SEO as part of a cross-discipline strategy

    To create well optimised content, you can’t rely on keywords alone. Photography, video, and interactive elements also need to form part of your wider content approach. Having well-optimised and diverse media, across platforms, will not only improve general content quality, but can also improve your chances at ranking in Google Images, or in YouTube search.

  • AI is growing, but SEO isn’t ‘dead’

    With shifting user behaviours and lots of AI-excitement, it can seem as though Google is becoming a thing of the past with ChatGPT ready to take over – this is not really the case. Search engines are changing, and the ways in which users search is too, but SEO isn’t dying. If you’re creating content online, investing time in search optimisation is vital.

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