AIO

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OVERVIEW SERVICES = AIO

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AIO in search stands for AI Overviews, a feature by Google that uses artificial intelligence to generate summarized answers at the top of search results. It was formerly known as SGE (Search Generative Experience) and is now integrated into the main search interface.

Here’s a breakdown of what AIO is, how it works, and why it matters:

What Is AIO (AI Overviews)?

AI Overviews are automatically generated responses that appear at the top of Google search results when users ask complex or multi-part questions. Instead of just listing blue links, Google gives a natural language summary sourced from multiple webpages.

Example:

❓ Search: What’s the best marketing strategy for a new ecommerce brand?

🧠 AIO Answer: The best strategy includes SEO, email marketing, and paid social campaigns. Building a strong brand presence on platforms like Instagram and using customer reviews can increase conversion rates...

🔗 Sources: [Website 1] [Website 2] [Website 3]

How Does AIO Work?

  1. Crawls authoritative sites for relevant info

  2. Summarizes key points using generative AI

  3. Includes source links (sometimes)

  4. May show images, product cards, or videos

How to Optimize for AIO (AI Overviews)

✅ Do:

  • Answer specific questions clearly (1-3 sentence format)

  • Use FAQ, list, or step-by-step format

  • Add structured data/schema markup

  • Include images with ALT text

  • Ensure trustworthiness with backlinks, reviews, author bios

Avoid:

  • Long-winded or vague content

  • Keyword stuffing

  • Poor-quality backlinks or generic AI content

Bonus Tip: AIO Isn’t the End of SEO

While AIO reduces some clicks, it also:

  • Drives visibility for brands mentioned in the AI answer

  • Can boost credibility if your site is cited

  • Still requires classic SEO to be found and ranked

What is AI SEO?

AI SEO is the practice of optimizing your online presence and website so that it appears in AI-driven search results like Google’s AI Overviews or ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity responses. Since the niche is relatively new, you may also see AI SEO referred to as AIO (AI Optimization), GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), and LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization), among other terms. Across Squarespace, you’ll see us using AIO.

This isn’t exclusive to showing up in text responses from AI search engines and chatbots. It can also refer to showing up in the sources listed alongside AI search results or in dynamic search results like shopping suggestions. 

“AI is changing how people discover your brand and products and where you can make yourself visible. ”

Why is AI optimization important?

AI chatbots are becoming increasingly popular, with ChatGPT reporting 37.5 million search-like prompts per day. While Google still holds the largest share of the online search market by a large margin, the company is adding AI Overviews to the traditional search experience and AI Mode as a conversational, chatbot-style search alternative. Both significantly change the search results page or search experience.

And when it comes to making buying decisions for products and services, prospective customers are increasingly turning to generative AI results to guide their choices. In some cases, visitors from AI search results are shown to convert into customers or subscribers at higher rates than traditional search visitors.

In short: AI is changing how people discover your brand and products and where you can make yourself visible. Learning how AIO works and adapting your website as it evolves will give you a distinct advantage over your competitors. This urgency will only increase in the coming years. Getting ahead on AIO is not just about maintaining or growing sales, but is also a important opportunity to reach new audiences as well.

AIO vs. traditional SEO

Like search engines, AI companies use web crawlers to index and search content online. They “read” your website to categorize its content and any products. But unlike traditional search, AI search doesn’t always respond with the same results, even if you make similar searches. And AI search platforms can prioritize different sources for responses than traditional search results.

The good news is that right now, many tactics that are successful in SEO can also work for AIO. These tactics include: 

  • Having valuable, unique informational content on your website related to your business or area of focus

  • Maintaining strong technical SEO and clean sitemap files

  • Using content tags and headings to make it easy for crawlers to understand your site

  • Promoting your business in credible online news and review sites

  • Listing your business for local searches with Google Business Profile

  • Making sure your site allows crawlers so that your content can be referenced

  • Including structured data on your product pages

As the web adapts to AI search, Squarespace is focused on ensuring the platform has everything you need to stay ahead on both SEO and AIO. Squarespace already has numerous tools to address the points above, so content creation, page and image tagging, structured product data, and web crawler access is easy.