How to rank in AI search results?

Though it has existed for much longer, for many people in the general population, AI arrived with ChatGPT in November 2022. And ever since, the interest and usage of AI platforms have witnessed remarkable growth. From image generators to generative AI, using artificial intelligence has become much more mainstream and there is a rise in open AI platforms like DeepSeek and Google Gemini.

In 2023, researchers at Grand View Research estimated that the global artificial intelligence market size was 196.63 billion USD. This is expected to continue growing at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 36.6% until 2030.

If you’ve used open AI platforms, you’ll notice they now reference websites and you may even see ChatGPT as a referral source in Google Analytics. To stay competitive in an increasingly AI-driven world, your business needs to appear in AI results—and this blog will help you do just that.

How Does AI Chat Work?

An AI chatbot is like a smart assistant a user can talk to by typing or speaking—but these are no paperclip Microsoft Office Assistants. The chatbot follows a set process to understand what you’re saying and to produce the best possible response to it.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how it works:

• The user starts a conversation through a website, messaging service or app.

• The chatbot tries to understand your message using technology called Natural Language Processing or NLP. This analyses the words in your message to determine intent. This works even if you don’t use correct language or grammar.

• The chatbot searches its database for pre-programmed responses that may be relevant. If it finds an answer, it will reply. For example, if you ask, ‘Who won the Super Bowl in 2018?’ the chatbot will search its database and reply with something along the lines of ‘In 2018, the Eagles beat the Patriots 41 to 33.”

• If the chatbot doesn’t have the answer in its pre-programmed responses, it will search the internet for the information. This is how chatbots like ChatGPT or Google Assistant work. For example, if you ask, ‘Who won the football match last night?’ the chatbot will search online before replying.

When Do AI Chatbots Turn to the Internet?

Depending on their design, AI chatbots will turn to the internet in specific situations—typically, when there is no pre-programmed response. If the chatbot is basic, it might return a default reply like ‘Sorry, I don’t have an answer for that’ instead. However, advanced AI platforms will access the internet to fulfill the query request.

Here are some examples of when this will happen:

• When real-time information is needed

If the search query is related to something happening now or very recently like news, weather, stock prices, sports scores or other time-sensitive data, the chatbot will search the internet to give a response.

• With complex or niche topics:

If the query is complex or niche and hasn’t been covered in the training data, the chatbot will go to the Internet to find authoritative sources that have the answer.

• When external detail is needed:

Some AI systems like Google Assistant will search the internet to find detailed information beyond the information they already have stored. For example, if you ask how to bake a cake, there may be a simple recipe stored along the lines of ‘you need eggs, flour and sugar’ but in this situation, an advanced AI bot will pull a recipe from the internet for you.

• When they use APIs to pull information:

Some chatbots are connected to APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). This means they can fetch data like flight schedules, hotel bookings or translations.

• When they are designed to:

Some chatbots like Microsoft Copilot (Bing AI) are designed to use the internet for any search query.

• To get citations or references:

Chatbots may search the internet to back up their responses with links, references and citations.

How AI Chatbots Use Search Engines

How AI chatbots use search engines is very structured. The chatbot takes the user’s question and converts it into a search query. It will crawl and index websites to find the most relevant information.

The chatbot will use NLP to understand the user’s query and match it with relevant web content. For example, if you ask, ‘latest iPhone model?’ it might rephrase this to ‘newest iPhone release 2025’ and send it to a search engine. NLP uses context, semantics and intent to analyse what you’re really trying to find out.

When the search engine returns results, the AI model will extract the most relevant information. Websites that use structured data (e.g., schema markup) are more likely to be understood by AI chatbots because they can quickly identify the type of content they are ‘reading’ and how relevant it is to the user’s query. Examples of this include FAQs, How-Tos and product reviews. Chatbots will also prioritise information that comes from more trustworthy and authoritative websites. This is similar to how search engines rank their results.

How to Optimise Your Content For AI Search

When organisations know how AI searches work, they can optimise their website to rank better. Here are some key areas to focus on:

Content

The depth and quality of your content matter when it comes to AI. This is because AI chatbots aim to provide accurate, detailed and reliable responses. The more depth there is, the more useful the answers are. The better the structure of the content, the easier it is to process and understand. The better the quality, the more trustworthy and credible the content is deemed to be.

If your goal is to have AI chatbots reference your website when answering user queries, you should focus on:

• Comprehensiveness: Cover the topic in detail rather than being vague or giving short explanations.
• Clear structure: Use headings (H1, H2, H3), bullet points and have a logical flow to the article. Implement schema markup like How-To or FAQs to help AI chatbots understand the context of your content.
• Credibility: Use statistics, expert insights and reliable, authoritative sources.
• Relevant keywords: Use relevant keywords while ensuring the natural flow of language that matches the user queries. Long-tail keywords are more powerful here.

Authority Building

AI chatbots prefer to pull information from credible sources so they want to use websites with high-quality content, backlinks and a strong reputation.

In this context, authority means how trustworthy and reliable your website is. AI models prioritise this so they’ll look for trusted sources (government websites, news sites, educational and expert blogs), well-cited pages (content with backlinks from other reputable websites) and valuable content.

The stronger your website authority, the more likely you are to be referenced in AI chatbot results.

How to Build Website Authority

As mentioned, high-quality content is crucial. It should be well-structured, reliable and comprehensive. You should avoid clickbait titles or misinformation as this will make you rank lower.

Website backlinks (links that direct users from other websites to yours) act as a vote of confidence. This is especially true if a high-authority website links to yours. Backlinks are tricky but you can get them by:

1. Publishing original research, expert guides or case studies. Make something that others will want to cite.
2. Write guest posts on high-authority websites.
3. Reaching out to industry blogs for collaborations or mentions.

Your site should also be reviewed for its engagement because this increases its authority for rankings. Reduce the bounce rate (how quickly people leave your site) by making sure it loads quickly and is easy to navigate. Also, encourage comments, shares and discussions to get people talking about your content.

Stay Up-To-Date

If your website provides real-time information like weather or news, it’s critical to keep this updated. If your information is accurate, timely and relevant, AI chatbots will be more likely to pull information from your site.

Speak to Epic New Media

As AI chatbots continue to shape the way people find information, the way your content is recognised, referenced and ranked by AI will be crucial to the success of your organisation. From high-quality content create to authority building and strategic SEO, the Epic New Media tam specialises in optimising your website for AI-driven search. If you’re ready to get your brand noticed by AI chatbots, contact us to boost your visibility.