I’d be cautious about paying large consulting fees for “AI optimisation” unless the consultant can clearly explain:

what signals they’re measuring

how they validate outcomes

what changes they recommend

and how those changes differ from good modern SEO/content architecture

A lot of “AI SEO” currently looks suspiciously like:“do proper SEO + build stronger brand/entity signals + publish useful original content

I don’t trust the tools (haven’t tried any) and logically I wouldn’t trust an SEO to know.

I received a promo via Search Engine Journal to a webinar in my inbox about “Fixing KPI Blind Spots” for AI Search, which made me think a bit more deeply about what these “AI visibility audits” are probably trying to measure.

After a bit of reverse engineering, a lot of it appears to boil down to tracking whether AI systems mention/cite/recommend your brand or content during discovery journeys, even when no click occurs. In other words: influence before traffic.

The practical takeaway probably isn’t “magic AI SEO”, but rather:

* stronger entity/brand signals
* structured, machine-readable content
* genuinely useful original information
* topical authority
* consistent semantic architecture
* and measuring beyond just rankings/clicks

Feels like modern SEO principles still matter heavily - AI systems are just consuming and surfacing them differently.