Why AI search actually means a return to the fundamentals of copywriting

There are no two ways about it, people are now relying on AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity more when finding the answers they need – whether that’s someone asking for meal suggestions or specifiers looking for product recommendations. Even a standard Google search will now almost always lead with an AI generated overview.

For a brand to feature in these search results, its online content needs to be structured and written in a way that is useful to AI search tools. Ideally it needs to align with the questions people are asking and provide the answers directly and succinctly, with clear signposts that allow AI tools to find and extract the information it needs.

In other words, good copywriting has never been more important. Copy needs to be relevant to customer’s needs and written in a way that is easy to understand with no waffle or technobabble. One of the most striking things about this is that AI search tools do not necessarily like AI written copy. The vague, generic content that AI often produces is not valuable for generating answers and therefore AI search tools will actually skip over this type of content it in favour of copy that actually has some substance.

The bottom line is that writing with GEO in mind is a win-win. You’ll be producing content that is more likely to see your brand featured in AI search results, and your communications will be clear and useful to all the human customers reading it.

Find out more about the role of PR in the age of AI search here.

If you want support in producing content that strikes a chord with your audience, contact our team.