Content strategy: Why it matters more than ever in AI search

Online searches aren’t the same as they used to be. Just a few short years ago, getting a search engine to grab and rank your copy was fairly simple. Sprinkle a few high-volume, low competition keywords in the right places. Come up with a catchy user-and SEO-friendly title. And craft a creative meta description. Your content would most likely place high in the search returns.

Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), things have changed. Large language models (LLMs) — AI models that analyze content — make today’s online searches and rankings smarter. So, it takes more to make your online information stand out. That means you need a well-structured, targeted content strategy that caters to the way AI “thinks.”

The writing world is swirling with conversation about how best to craft content that maximizes the new potential of AI-driven search. Here’s what our experts say.

Why content strategy should cater to AI-driven search

Search engine optimization (SEO) has long been the gold standard for getting your content noticed online. AI-driven search (like Google’s AI Overviews) takes SEO to the next level. LLMs don’t simply scan content to pick out specific keywords or key phrases to deliver answers to search requests. They cast a wide net and interpret everything they catch. These models look at how your words and sentences relate to one another. Does the content flow easily? Does it focus on a single idea? Is it clear and direct? Does it focus on what the user wants to know?

According to Stella Hart, a content strategist at WG Content, it’s a search method that separates the wheat from the chaff.

“We’re finding that with AI-driven search, you still need to optimize your content for SEO best practices. But that’s not enough,” she says. “For an AI-driven search to capture your content, it must be useful and accurate. It needs to be something that people really want to read.”

That’s where designing clear, strategic content experiences comes in. Your strategy drives how you create well-structured content that gives the expert, trustworthy brand message you want. As a result, LLMs can easily discover and rank your content high in cultivated search answers.

What AI search really analyzes

When LLMs crawl content, they look for several factors that make information clear and easy to follow, Stella says. Content that ranks high or ends up in a narrative summary has these characteristics:

• Clear headings: Structure your content with defined H1-H2 prioritization.
• Context cues: Include words that help LLMs search for the most important details. Phrases like “the first step” or “the most important thing” help point these models in the right direction.
• Defined topic: Get to the point with your content as quickly as possible. Like a regular reader, LLMs aren’t interested in long content that buries the lead.
• Focused paragraphs: Tackle one point per paragraph. Keep each one short and use bulleted lists for easier scannability.
• Logical structure: Make your content easy to digest. LLMs see components like tables, bullet lists and FAQs as hallmarks of high-quality copy.

A well-defined strategy built around these factors basically spoon-feeds your content to LLMs, Stella says. It’s your best tool to help these models “understand” your content and weave it into an AI-generated response to a query.

“Strong content strategy leads to greater visibility during search. If you think about the Google search experience now, it’s prioritizing AI results,” she says. “We know that users rarely go to the second page of Google for results. So, if you’re not at the top spot, you’re really losing out. Content strategy helps your online presence cut through the noise in a competitive landscape.”

What healthcare marketers need to know about AI search

As a healthcare marketer, advertising your expertise and services to patients can be tricky. You’re in a highly regulated field with countless government protections for patient privacy. So, how do you reach patients and build trust with them so they can benefit from what your hospital or health system offers?

Stella recommends embracing the new AI-driven search landscape.

“There’s so much opportunity right now in an AI-empowered landscape for markets to make progress toward personalizing a patient’s experience with their content,” she says.

Successfully seizing those opportunities is a two-step process. First, Stella recommends using AI to your benefit. Ask a tool like ChatGPT what questions patients may ask about your content topic. Second, use that insight to create content that serves up clear, direct answers that an AI-driven search will recognize and rank.

“Foundationally, good writing, the best content and effective strategy come down to knowing your audience. If you understand your patients’ intent, you can create content that’s been supercharged by AI in a more sophisticated way,” she says. “If you don’t, you’re missing a big piece of the puzzle. Chances are pretty good that competitors who are more attuned will step in and gobble up your market share.”

How a strong content strategy gets you noticed

In today’s AI-driven world, content strategy’s goal is clear. It keeps your content organized. It ensures you publish and maintain on-brand information. And it tailors your content to meet the needs of your audience, including users who increasingly rely on AI-powered tools and assistants.

Stella says the best content strategies share several characteristics:

• Clear information
• Intentionally placed keywords
• Metadata that follows SEO best practices
• Plain language
• Well-structured headings and logical hierarchy

But if you want to capture the highest search rank possible, Stella suggests going a step further. Level up with H-E-E-A-T — Health Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. It’s a content strategy approach that ensures LLMs see your content as relevant and leading-edge.

“H-E-E-A-T is the magic bullet for content that’s going to perform well within an AI-driven search,” she says. “It demonstrates accuracy, in-depth knowledge and a strong brand reputation. Your content becomes like thought leadership — it can be very powerful.”

Having a H-E-E-A-T-empowered content strategy requires:

• Conversational tone and voice
• Long-tail keywords
• Ongoing content audits and refreshes
• Plain language
• Structured data

“This strategy ensures that your content is accessible and will be discoverable by LLMs,” she says. “Your audience will be more likely to find you, visit your site, convert and fell satisfied with their experience.”

WG Content creates content strategies that get you noticed

Are you looking for a way to make your content stand out in an AI-empowered cyber world? Our expert content strategists are here for you. They take a thoughtful approach to integrating AI into content that has a clear structure and purpose. With their skills, they build strategies that turn your copy into the cream that rises to the top of the crop. We stay on top of best practices, so we’re ready for AI search. That means you can be, too. If you’re ready to optimize your content for the AI-driven era, reach out to talk with us.

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