How To Win Brand Visibility in AI Search: AIOs, LLMs & The New SEO Landscape

HOW TO WIN BRAND
VISIBILITY IN AI
SEARCH
AIOs, LLMs, and the new SEO landscape

TOM CAPPER
Sr
. Search Scientist
@THCapper
tom.capper@moz.com

ON THE
AGENDA:
@tcapper
.co.uk
● How the SERP has changed in 2025
● The future of Google search
● Tactics for Google search going
forward
● AI search engines & key challenges
● Tactics for AI search right now
● The cost of missing the AI boat

SPOILER: TOP OF FUNNEL HAS
CHANGED FOREVER.
@tcapper
.co.uk

MADDIE RAYFIELD
Enterprise Account Executive
KANAAR BELL
Enterprise Account Executive
BREAKOUT SESSION

@tcapper
.co.uk
POLL:
HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK
AIOS HAVE GONE UP IN
PREVALENCE THIS YEAR?

GOOGLE SEARCH &
THE GREAT
DECOUPLING

FOR MANY SITES, THE CLICKS
ARE THE CONVERSION.
And these sites are important to the web, and to
society.
@tcapper
.co.uk

CLICKS IMPRESSIONS MOZCAST AIO
COUNT

THE GREAT DECOUPLING IS
ABOUT CHANGES ON THE SERP.
@tcapper
.co.uk

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM IS
POSITION 1.
@tcapper
.co.uk

Percent
share
of
top
10
ORGANIC SHARE OF TOP10 HA5 BAREL
Y MOVED.
75
%
250/0
0%
7 5 5 5
5
3 4 3 2 1
januar
y
1
4
4

RANI11 HA5 SEEN MUCH MORE MOVEMENT.
çgo/,
49
4
1
januar
y
jul
y
0
1
0
7 8 g
7
1
1
5 4
4 * 1 1 1 * 1 y
z
0
%
oz * GglztSTAT

@tcapper
.co.uk
BUT THE PICTURE IS EVEN WORSE
THAN THIS.

REMINDER: THE SEARCH INTENT
FUNNEL.

THE MOZ SEARCH INTENT MODEL.
ĘRt STAT

AI OVERVIEWS HAVE OVERT
AI£EN ORGANIC
FOR INFORMATIONAL SERPS.
50%
4
2
januar
y
3
6
25
%
2
3
2
4
0%
3 3
3
4
z 2 z
2
3 4
* ° qo9
‘
1 1 1 1
1
ąt° GglztSTAT

s^
’
%
*
s
%0
of
ra
%05
iSHANOW
9

@tcapper
.co.uk
THIS HAS MAINLY BEEN A STORY
OF AIOS EXPANDING INTO NEW
AREAS.

IN jANUARY, LAW, HEALTH, & SCIENCE
WERE PEAI1 AI0 (!)
january
75%
50%
25%
c o g 1 1 2 3 3 3 4 4
7
1
3
i
1
9
43
39
27

THEY STILL ARE (!)
januar
y
M July
75%
%
AI0
prevalenCe
by
vertical
50%
25%
o
0 1 1 1 2
7
26
1
4
1
1
Â
4
1
2
1
3
30
27
Z
2
I
)
Z8
1
9
34

AND PREVIOUSLY “SAFE” VERTICALS HAVE
ALSO CAUGHT UP
.
januar
y
M July
75%
2
7
5
3

INTENTS SHOW A SIMILAR STORY
.
januar
y
jul
y
5
0
43%
23O
/
50
/
a
120
/
o 10%
Information
al
Commercia
l
Transactiona
l
Navigation
al GgetSTAT

@tcapper
.co.uk
SOME THINGS ARE
STABLE.

LOCAL P
A
CISS ARE HOLDING STEADY
.
y o/,
49
4
1
januar
y
jul
y
0
1
0
1
1
7 7 8 g
7 5 4
4
2 1 1
1
2 1 2 3
0
%
oz * GglztSTAT

SAME WITH ORGANIC P1
RANI1ING5
ON COMMERCIAL SERPS.
50%
4
4
2
january
july
omme
25
% 2
1
Å 1
4
1
2 9
0%
ğ 6
2 '
4 4 3 3 3 3
3 1 0 0
2
j
ęos.9'°
i
s
'
a
s
*
'
w

TOP OF FUNNEL SEO IS
GOING FROM BAD TO
WORSE.
@tcapper
.co.uk

AND WE HAVEN’T EVEN TALKED
ABOUT EU MARKETS YET
.
@tcapper
.co.uk

AI OVERVIEW PREVALENCE BY MARlśET
.
januar
y
M July
Z
S
18
%
IE-
en
ûB
en
US-
en GglztSTAT

IRISH SERPS HAVE CAUGHT UP
AT BREAISNECIS SPEED.
januar
y
M July
Z
S
210
/
o
21
%
18
%
IE-
en
ûB
en
US-
en GglztSTAT

THE FUTURE OF AI &
GOOGLE SEARCH

@tcapper
.co.uk
THE ELEPHANT IN THE
GOOGLE SERP: AI MODE.

AI MODE IS THE RIGHT
GOOGLE ANSWER TO
CHATGPT.

BUT CAN IT REALLY REPLACE
SEARCH?

CHATGPT HAS NOT REPLACED
GOOGLE; IT’S A DIFFERENT USE
CASE.

Data via Aleyda Solis /
Similarweb
AI MODE IS SURELY AN
EXPERIMENT.

IT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE AI
MODE IS A SUITABLE
REPLACEMENT FOR SEARCH.
@tcapper
.co.uk

MODE IS A SUITABLE
REPLACEMENT FOR SEARCH.*
@tcapper
.co.uk

MODE IS A SUITABLE
REPLACEMENT FOR SEARCH.*
*But Google is a lot less sane than it used to be.
@tcapper
.co.uk

FINAL RAY OF HOPE: AIOS MAY
NOT ALWAYS BE IN POSITION 1.
@tcapper
.co.uk

[AMTRAK ROUTES] :
AIO IN P6
BENEATH
ORGANIC.
And for some reason
in Spanish?
@tcapper
.co.uk

[STARBUCKS FOOD
MENU] : AIO IN
P3 BENEATH
IMAGES.
@tcapper
.co.uk

RANK 2+ AIOS ARE GETTING MORE
COMMON.

ANECDOTALLY, LOWER POSITION
AIOS ARE FAR MORE COMMON ON
SEARCH LABS.
@tcapper
.co.uk

PERHAPS “WEB GUIDES” ARE THE
FUTURE.

TACTICS FOR GOOGLE
SEARCH GOING
FORWARD

RESIST
CHANGE:
OPTIMISE FOR
CLICKS
EMBRACE
CHANGE:
OPTIMISE FOR
IMPRESSIONS

RESIST
CHANGE:
OPTIMISE FOR
CLICKS
@tcapper
.co.uk
STEP 1:
DIVERSIFY
YOUR
CHANNELS.

EMAIL & YOUTUBE REMAIN
STRONG TOP OF FUNNEL
CHANNELS.
(Which can be monetised, unlike AIOs.)
@tcapper
.co.uk

RESIST
CHANGE:
OPTIMISE FOR
CLICKS
@tcapper
.co.uk
STEP 2:
WORK THE
BOTTOM OF
FUNNEL.

ORGANIC P1 RANISINGS ON COMMERCIAL SERPS.
50%
4
4
2
january
july
omme
25
% 2
1
1
4 I
1
2
I °I 5 4
4
3 3 3
3
9
1
o
o
1
i
s
'
a
s
*
s
*
'
w

ECOM IS THE NEW AFFILIATE.
@tcapper
.co.uk

BUT AI IS COMING FOR
COMMERCIAL SEARCH, TOO.
@tcapper
.co.uk

RESIST
CHANGE:
OPTIMISE FOR
CLICKS
@tcapper
.co.uk
STEP 3:
DO KEYWORD
RESEARCH
FOR FEATURE-
LESS
KEYWORDS.

YOU CAN FIND TOFU
KEYWORDS WITHOUT
DOMINANT FEATURES.

BUT HOW LONG WILL THESE
LAST?
@tcapper
.co.uk

EMBRACE
CHANGE:
OPTIMISE FOR
IMPRESSIONS
@tcapper
.co.uk
STEP 1:
STILL DIVERSIFY,
BUT NOW YOU’RE
DOING IT TO BUILD
BRAND AUTHORITY,
NOT CLICKS.

EMBRACE
CHANGE:
OPTIMISE FOR
IMPRESSIONS
@tcapper
.co.uk
STEP 2:
EXPAND OFF-
SITE & PR
EFFORTS.
If SEO is about impressions,
these tactics go up in
priority.

EMBRACE
CHANGE:
OPTIMISE FOR
IMPRESSIONS
@tcapper
.co.uk
STEP 3:
DO SOME
GEO.
Speaking of which…

AI MODE IS STILL BASED
ON GOOGLE SEARCH.

A CRUCIAL DISTINCTION FOR
GEO: IN MODEL VS. OUT OF
MODEL RESPONSES.
@tcapper
.co.uk

GEO IS MOSTLY ABOUT
INFLUENCING THESE
EXTERNAL REFERENCES &
HOW THEY ARE DIGESTED.
@tcapper
.co.uk

CRITICAL DISTINCTION
#2: MENTION VS.
CITATION

KEY CHALLENGES IN AI
SEARCH:
@tcapper
.co.uk
1. Keywords cannot be the same as in
SEO
2. What is a ranking?
3. Mentions (brand), not domain names

MOST SEOS ARE FAMILIAR WITH
KEYWORD RESEARCH.
@tcapper
.co.uk

MOST SEOS ARE FAMILIAR WITH
KEYWORD RESEARCH.
Less so, prompt research.
@tcapper
.co.uk

YOU CAN USE
CHATGPT LIKE
THIS, BUT YOU
PROBABLY DON’T.
@tcapper
.co.uk

@tcapper
.co.uk
AI SEARCH IS DOMINATED BY
THE VERY, VERY LONG-
TAIL.

@tcapper
.co.uk
OUR OWN
“QUERY FAN OUT”
— HITTING A
RANGE OF
INTENTS PER
TOPIC.

HOW DOES DELL RANK
HERE?
(Note that ChatGPT is sycophantic about all 3 brands)

@tcapper
.co.uk
DO YOU PREFER TO BE
MENTIONED FIRST, MOST, BEST,
BIGGEST?

PRESENCE, DEPTH, & BRAND TERM
DETAILS.

CITATIONS ARE CRITICAL T
ACTICAL
INFORMATION — NOT A GOAL.
@tcapper
.co.uk

FOR NOW, THE KEY METRIC IN AI
SEARCH IS BRAND VISIBILITY.
@tcapper
.co.uk

MOST BRANDS
DO NOT HAVE A
1:1
RELATIONSHIP
WITH DOMAINS.
@tcapper
.co.uk

TACTICS FOR AI
SEARCH RIGHT NOW

IF YOU EMBRACE SEO AS
IMPRESSION-FIRST, THERE IS A
LOT OF TACTICAL OVERLAP WITH
GEO.
@tcapper
.co.uk

THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE IS
MINDSET.
@tcapper
.co.uk

‘OLDSCHOOL’
SEO
● Clicks
● Domain Authority
● Rankings
@tcapper
.co.uk
● Impressions
● Brand
Authority
● Visibility
GEO
ANALOGUES
→
MINDSET
SHIFT

1. On-site content (relevance +
flywheel)
@tcapper
.co.uk
1. Off-site content (barnacle
SEO)
TACTIC PRIORITY
LIST
2020–2024 SEO VS. 2026+ GEO (&
SEO)

flywheel)
2. Digital PR (small sites)
@tcapper
.co.uk
SEO)
2. Digital PR (mentions)
TACTIC PRIORITY
LIST
2020–2024 SEO VS. 2026+ GEO (&
SEO)

flywheel)
2. Digital PR (small sites)
3. Crawling / equity optimisation
(enterprise sites)
@tcapper
.co.uk
SEO)
2. Digital PR (mentions)
3. Technical hygiene (semantic
HTML + agentic-friendly)
TACTIC PRIORITY
LIST
2020–2024 SEO VS. 2026+ GEO (&
SEO)

THE COST OF
MISSING THE AI
BOAT

GENERATIVE AI HALLUCINATES & IS
VULNERABLE TO SPAM.
@tcapper
.co.uk

IF YOU’RE NOT TRACKING
YOUR PRESENCE, YOU HAVE
NO IDEA HOW YOU’RE
REPRESENTED.
@tcapper
.co.uk

YOUR COMPETITORS WILL
PLAY THE GAME EVEN IF YOU
DON’T.
@tcapper
.co.uk

MEET THE MOMENT AND
GET AHEAD NOW.
@tcapper
.co.uk

FOR NOW, SEO REMAINS
CRITICAL.

@tcapper
.co.uk
BUT IT’S TIME TO
START MEASURING
GEO.
Have the data and know what works
before it’s too late.

How To Win Brand Visibility in AI Search: AIOs, LLMs & The New SEO Landscape

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