A few years ago, I wondered what could ever replace Google Search.
It felt dominant.
Fast-forward to 2025.
We’re already searching differently.
Bing / Copilot.
Perplexity.
Claude.
ChatGPT.
Looking at my own behaviour: I often start with one of these instead of Google Search. The change is real.
Google is still well-positioned. Gemini is strong.
Google has added AI Overviews to the top of many SERPs.
If you’re in Europe, take this seriously:
Prepare your website for Google’s AI Overview rollout.
Direct traffic will drop. There will be a rise in zero click search results, which means a fall in visits; CTR (click thru rate) will fall. This also entails a change in how you measure: You’ll need to measure success differently. Again, not a surprise to many of us who’ve seen Google Search evolve.
Here’s what you need to focus on:
1. Your site must be machine-readable
Avoid hiding content behind JavaScript.
Make sure navigation and core content are accessible to bots.
2. Build clean, fast sites
Simple structure. Fast load times. Optimized media.
3. Use good structured data
This was always a best practice — now it’s essential.
AI bots use structured data to understand your content and its relationships.
- Revisit your current schema — what more can you add?
4. Review your robots.txt
Who do you want to access your content?
Search engines? LLMs? Agents?
You can now fine-tune this. Think about how your content is used and who benefits.
5. For documentation-heavy sites: add llms.txt
This file helps LLMs find and understand the content you want them to read.
It’s also useful for feeding structured content to tools like Claude.
We’ve entered the answer engine era.
Make sure AI understands your content — better than your competitors’.
Make sure your website answers real questions your users have.
Create strong, useful content:
- In-language
- In-region
- With local relevance
- That adds real value
Search has changed.
Let’s make sure our websites keep up.
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