Beyond SEO: How to Dominate AI Search by outsourcing Optimization to a Virtual Assistant

You’ve been hearing all the buzzwords lately—GEO, AEO, LLMO. And maybe your marketing brain is quietly freaking out: “Wait, is SEO… dead? Are we in a whole new world again?”

Take a deep breath. I got you. Let’s talk about what’s really going on—no jargon fluff, no doomsday talk. Just an honest, practical look at the new landscape we’re in. The landscape of AI Search. 

No Special Requirements for AI Features

If your site is already following the basics of SEO, clean architecture, indexable pages, relevant content, and solid on-page optimisation, you don’t need to do any major overhauls or acrobatic SEO moves to stay visible. You don’t need to revamp well performing pages just for the sake of AI search. 

What does need updating is how we interpret the performance metrics.

Take CTR (Click-Through Rate) for example. In the past a low CTR despite high impressions would point to issues with meta titles or descriptions — and rightly so we’d tweak them to get more clicks.

While you should still optimise those elements, don’t be surprised if impressions go up but clicks remain low. Why? Because in Google’s AI Overviews or Gemini AI mode many informational queries are answered directly in the SERP. Users get the key insight from your content without needing to click through — the so called "zero-click content" era.

That doesn’t mean your content is underperforming — quite the opposite. If your page is being cited or extracted by Google’s AI, it’s a sign of trust. And as John Mueller from Google Search Central said: your site doesn’t need special treatment to appear in AI Overviews. As long as it’s indexable and technically sound it’s eligible.

In short, if your web pages have performed well historically there’s no need to update them just for algorithm compliance. Update them if it improves user experience or adds fresh relevance — but not because you’re chasing a phantom SEO threat.

But if your content is not doing well, you need to opmtize it respecting how users receive the search results. 

More than ever, technical SEO is highly imperative, and correctly implemented schema markup too.

Goodbye Blue Links, Hello Generative Responses

Once upon a time, SEO was all about ranking in a list of 10 blue links. Remember that? You’d write keyword-optimized content, maybe build a few backlinks, cross your fingers—and boom, traffic.

But now?

Search isn’t just about “ranking” anymore. It’s about answering.

Generative engines like Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity aren’t just pointing users to content. They’re becoming the content. They synthesize answers. They give people what they need without them ever needing to click.

And that, my friend, is a paradigm shift.

The metric isn’t just “how many people visited your site.” It’s “did your brand show up in the answer?” And more importantly—did it stick?

SEO Isn’t Dead—But It’s Not Alone Anymore

Let’s bust a myth right now: Traditional SEO isn’t irrelevant. It’s just no longer the whole picture. We’re in the “yes, and” era now.

Yes, you still need solid technical SEO. Yes, content still matters. And you now need to optimize for AI-powered answers, brand mentions, and platforms beyond Google.

This is where the term GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) comes in.

But it’s not just a cute acronym. It’s a mindset shift. The game isn’t clicks—it’s credibility. It’s context. It’s trust. And trust doesn’t come from a keyword-stuffed blog post anymore.

Your New KPIs? Quality, Not Quantity

Traffic is still great—but let’s stop chasing vanity metrics. What you want now is this:

“I searched a question. Your brand was in the answer. I looked you up. I converted within 10 minutes.”

That’s the holy grail. And it’s happening. Right now.

Because AI traffic? It’s hot. It’s intentional. It skips the fluff and jumps straight to action.

So forget everything you thought you knew about SEO being a long-game traffic game. In the age of AI search, it’s about being the answer—not just pointing to one.

Who Runs the AI Search World?

Here’s the current map:

• Google is still king, but now it’s an AI king. Over 50% of Google searches may soon be filtered through AI mode. Your Google Business Profile? That’s still gold for local.
• ChatGPT is already the 5th most visited site globally. It’s no longer just a chatbot. It’s a discovery engine.
• Perplexity, Claude, Grok, Meta AI, Microsoft Copilot—these are no longer fringe players. They’re becoming answer engines in their own right. Each with their own logic, their own bias, their own citation patterns.

What does that mean for you?

You’re no longer optimizing for a search engine.
You’re optimizing for a network of intelligence.

That’s AI Search Optimization in a nutshell.

The Real Goals of AI Search Optimization

Let’s simplify this.

Goal #1: Get Your Brand Mentioned.

This is everything. It’s not about ranking. It’s not about backlinks. It’s about presence in the conversation.

If someone asks ChatGPT for the best virtual assistant company, and it says “MyTasker”—boom. That’s where money is made.

Forget “keyword domains.” Forget “blog farm content.”
The AI doesn’t care if your URL is best-VA-for-ecommerce.com.
It cares who you are. That means—build a real brand.

How Virtual Assistants Help with Brand Visibility 

Community Presence

Virtual Assistants use various tools like Quora Alerts, Reddit Notifier, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator to engage with relevant questions on Reddit, Quora, Facebook groups, and LinkedIn.

Content Amplification

They repurpose your blogs into infographics, quote cards, and carousel posts and distribute them across Buffer, Hootsuite, or manually via targeted groups and forums. For this, they use tools like Canva, Buffer, and Sprout Social.

Business Citations & Listings

VAs submit your brand to directories and review sites, boosting your credibility and making it easier for AI tools to recognize your business. The tools they often use for business citations and listings are BrightLocal, Moz Local, and Google Business Profile.

Monitoring & Mention Tracking

They track where your brand is (or isn’t) mentioned online and take action using tools like Google Alerts, Brand24, and Mention.

Goal #2: Become the Source.

Getting cited is good—but it’s not everything. Users often don’t click the citation. They already got the answer.
So being cited? Helpful.
Being mentioned by name? That’s power.

How Virtual Assistants Build Website or Authority

Answer Generation Research

VAs perform question-based research using platforms like AnswerThePublic, AlsoAsked, and SEMrush. They help create content that directly answers those questions, increasing the chances of being cited by AI. Tools get used are SEMrush, Frase, and AnswerThePublic.

Expert Roundups & HARO Pitches

They pitch your quotes or insights to journalists, bloggers, and content creators who are actively sourcing expert opinions.
Common tools for this are HARO, Qwoted, and SourceBottle.

Content Drafting & Optimization

VAs support long-form content creation by assisting with outlines, formatting, and on-page SEO.
Tools often used include Grammarly, Hemingway, Surfer SEO, and ChatGPT.

Knowledge Base Building

They maintain updated bios, Wikipedia entries, Crunchbase pages, and other structured sources that AI engines crawl for reliable information.
Typical tools include Google Docs, Wikidata tools, and Notion.

A skilled Virtual Assistant is not just your extra pair of hands. They’re your brand amplifier, visibility engineer, and AI relevancy partner.

They work behind the scenes using smart tools and sharper thinking. So that your name shows up in the answers that matter.

The Secret Sauce: What Signals AI Actually Pays Attention To

Want your brand to show up in AI answers? It’s not just about your own website anymore.

About 80% of the weight lies in third-party signals.

Here’s what actually moves the needle:

• Editorial Mentions: Get on “Best of” lists. Real ones.
• Expert Contributions: Write for respected industry publications. Guest post. Be quoted.
• Podcasts & Interviews: LLMs read transcripts. If your name’s in there, the AI sees it.
• Local & Niche Sites: Yes, even small blogs and community directories help.
• Directories & Reviews: Google Business, Capterra, G2, Yelp—it all matters.
• Cross-Platform Content Loops: Got a podcast? Promote it via email, link to it in your YouTube description, quote it in a blog. Build a content ecosystem.
• Influencers & Thought Leaders: Get people with clout to mention you, tag you, talk about you. Links are optional. Mentions are gold.
• Communities: Reddit, Discord, Quora. Be helpful. Be visible. Be human.

The rest? That’s your 20%: first-party assets.

• Clean, fast, responsive site (HTML over JavaScript)
• Schema markup
• Clear, topic-relevant internal linking
• Regular audits and updates
• Human-polished, AI-assisted content (especially BoFu)

Welcome to Your SEO Rebirth

Let me be honest: this new world feels intimidating.
We spent years mastering one game, and now they’ve changed the board.

But here’s the thing nobody tells you:
If you’re already doing good work—building trust, delivering value, being human—you’re already ahead.

Because the future of SEO isn’t about beating the algorithm.
It’s about being worthy of the answer.

It’s about being someone people want to find.
Not just in search engines—but in answers, in conversations, in the minds of customers. So yes, SEO has become GEO.

And GEO is just a stepping stone to what it’s always been about:

Get noticed. Get trusted. Get named.

And that? That’s eternal.

Let’s stop the tricks. Let’s build brands that are worth remembering.
That’s AI Search.

Need human helping hands that can manage a series of AI tools to do so, summon MyTasker. To the least, give the exclusive trial a try.

Google Search in the AI Era: What You Need to Know (Simple Guide)

Google Search is changing fast. Here’s a simple breakdown for marketers and businesses:

Google Search & AI: What’s New?

• No Special SEO Needed for AI: If your website already works well for regular Google Search (meaning Google can easily find and understand your pages), you don’t need to do anything extra for Google’s new AI features.

• How AI Search Works:

  • AI Overviews: These are quick summaries that appear at the top of Google search results. They answer your questions directly and link to the websites they used for information.

  • AI Mode (Gemini AI): This is a more advanced chat-like way to search. It helps with complex questions and detailed comparisons, giving you rich, AI-generated answers.

• Google Looks Deeper: When you ask a question, Google’s AI breaks it down into many smaller questions to find a wider variety of content.

• More Websites Get Noticed: AI features tend to show links from more different websites than the old way of searching.

• What Still Matters for SEO:

  • Website Setup: Your site must be easy for Google to “read” (technical SEO, like using robots.txt correctly).

  • Internal Links & User Experience: Make sure your pages link to each other well, and your site is easy and pleasant for people to use.

  • Organized Info: Use clear, well-structured content, especially for product details (if you’re an e-commerce site).

• No New Special Code: You don’t need new types of special code (schema) or file formats just for AI Overviews.

• Clicks Are High Quality: When someone does click from an AI feature to your site, they are usually very interested and more likely to convert or stay longer.

• Keep Watching Your Stats: Use Google Search Console and Google Analytics to see how your website is performing with these new changes.

• You Control Your Content: You can still tell Google not to show snippets or index certain pages, and even prevent Google’s AI from using your content for training, if you wish.

SEO & Google Tools Updates

• Easier to See Problems: Google tools (like Search Console) are getting better at showing you any issues with your website’s performance or technical setup.
• New Test Features: Google is trying out new ways to show data in Search Console.
• Robot Rules are Key: Your robots.txt file (which tells bots what to look at) is very important for managing both Google’s regular search bots and its AI bots.
• SEO World Talk: People in SEO are using new terms like AIO (AI Optimization) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), but “SEO” is still the main term.

E-commerce SEO in 2025

• Google’s Shopping Pages are Smarter: Product search results look more like shopping pages now – very visual and driven by AI.

• What’s Showing Up More:

  • Regular search links are fewer.

  • Discussions from forums (like Reddit) and user-generated content (from TikTok, Instagram) are appearing more often.

  • “Popular Products” sections are growing big.

• More “Zero-Click” Searches: People are getting answers directly in Google without clicking on a website.

• How People Click is Changing: Users are clicking more on user-generated content and well-known brands, while clicking less on generic news or some retail sites.

• Top Things to Focus On:

  • Product Pages: Make your individual product pages amazing – easy to find, rich with details, and well-linked.

  • Brand Authority: Build trust and reputation through all kinds of content (articles, videos, social media).

  • Watch Changes: Keep an eye on how Google’s search results change and how well your ads are seen.

• Product Page Checklist:

  • Make sure Google can find and read them.

  • Connect them well to Google Merchant Center (for shopping ads).

  • Use structured data (info organized for Google).

  • Optimize your product images.

  • See how your top competitors do it.

• Content Plan: Create helpful, expert-level content that guides people to your products.

Bots, Website Traffic & Control

• Half of Internet Traffic is Bots: More than 50% of all internet traffic comes from automated programs (bots), not humans. Some are good (like Google’s search bots), some are bad (like spammers).* Your Website Logs Show Bot Activity: Your website logs will tell you which bots are visiting, how often and if they’re having issues.

• Bot Traffic:

  • 44% of e-commerce site visitors are bots (24% of those are AI bots).

  • 50% of ad-supported site visitors are bots (45% are AI bots).

  • Different AI bots (like OpenAI) prefer certain types of content (ad-supported) while others (ByteDance) focus on e-commerce.

• SEO Tools are Bots Too: Ahrefs and SEMrush send bots to your site which can use up your website’s resources.

• Managing Bots:

  • Use robots.txt and other website settings to control which bots can visit and what they can see.

  • You might want to block very aggressive bots to save bandwidth.

• Controlling AI’s Access to Your Content:

  • Google-Extended: This specific rule lets you tell Google not to use your content for training its AI models but still allow it for search results.

  • llm.txt: This is a proposed standard for controlling AI bot access but it’s not widely used yet.

• To Block or Not to Block? Some say it’s too late to stop AI from seeing your content while others believe in keeping it open so AI can help people find your site.