Early in 2025, Google began using AI Mode at the top of its search results pages, and the change had an immediate impact on organic search. If you’re the type of person who closely follows your site’s Google Analytics, you’ve likely seen charts in complete freefall. In some industries, the organic traffic drop has been over 50% in the last six months.
We closely follow SEO trends at Baker Marketing, and we’ve tracked the impact of AI Mode on our clients’ sites, noting what strategies have been most effective — and most ineffective — in driving meaningful, high-converting traffic. The good news is that many longstanding SEO best practices are still driving results, but the implementation has required a few tweaks.
Here’s what we’ve found as the best ways to rank in AI search results.
Before You Begin: Define Your Goal
Search Engine Optimization is one of the most cost-effective long-term digital marketing strategies. If your site ranks at the top of search results, it’s that much easier for new patients and customers to find you and learn about the services you offer.
Not everyone who visits your website, however, fits your ideal customer profile. Content marketing targets many informational-intent search queries (these are customers who are “just looking” in a store), sometimes inflating web traffic metrics with unqualified leads. For example, we work with a mid-sized surgical practice in the Midwest, and several of their blog articles rank nationally for questions about specific medical conditions. While the article might be informative for someone in Southern California, it’s unlikely that person will travel across the country for an annual screening.
We mention this because many organizations correlate web traffic with SEO success. The more important metric is qualified web traffic. Below are practices we’ve seen work well to rank in AI-powered search results, keeping conversion rates high even if overall website traffic is down.
1. Answer Questions (Answer-Engine Optimization)
There’s a new acronym in town: AEO. Answer engine optimization is a play on search engine optimization, recognizing that most AI-powered searches end before the user clicks on a link. The AI-generated result to a search query is sometimes called “Position 0.” It’s what users see before sponsored content and before the first organic search result.
The example above shows an AI overview in “Position 0” for “how to cure a cold.”
Notice in the above example that AI is pulling snippets from highly authoritative websites (in this case, the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins) to answer the question. While your website may not have the clout to do well on general questions like this one, creating content with clear, concise answers to highly specific patient questions increases the likelihood of an AI overview pulling from your site.
This isn’t so different from SEO content strategies built around long-tail keywords, which are complex phrases that have lower organic competition. The key difference is that it’s almost like you’re playing “Jeopardy!” and you need to write content in the form of a question. “5 Symptoms of fibromuscular dysplasia” would be a good long-tail keyword for traditional SEO, but “What are the symptoms of fibromuscular dysplasia?” would fit better for AEO.
2. Use Schema Markup
Schema markup, often called structured data, refers to tags in your site’s HTML code that signal to search engine crawlers to correctly identify the content. Once again, this isn’t necessarily a new SEO tactic. Even before AI search results, it was important to make sure blog posts were tagged as posts on the site’s backend, for example.
Ranking well in AI search results goes a step beyond categorizing page types. Correctly labeling FAQs, reviews and testimonials, and provider credentials will help AI tools understand the context of your content. For example, if your website content has been medically reviewed for accuracy, the correct schema markup can list the reviewing doctor’s credentials and bio in a way that search engines will easily find it.
3. Create Trustworthy Content
Since Google’s Helpful Content Update in 2022, the search giant has recommended that sites focus on EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). Similarly to the point about tagging medical reviewers with healthcare content, focus on publishing expert articles and detailed patient success stories.
Don’t feel limited to blogs, either. One of the healthcare providers we work with created an ebook, while a professional services firm we work with developed an industry report based on survey data. While these resources may have higher upfront costs to develop, the end result is a highly authoritative, unique, citable reference point. Showcasing your own proprietary research is one of the best ways to stand out in a sea of general information online.
4. Think Local
Unless you provide a service that truly has a national client base, ranking well in AI search results means prioritizing local ranking factors. This includes everything from updating and maintaining your Google Business Profile to regularly pursuing backlink opportunities featuring your practice’s name and address on news and industry aggregator sites.
We recently helped a lawyer run a citation campaign — we located several dozen websites where his firm was mentioned or could be mentioned with a free profile, and we ensured all of his information was up-to-date. As a result, we’ve seen discoverability remain high in AI-powered searches for his firm.
5. Track Performance
Going back to where we started, your goals may shift when you focus on ranking in AI results. Presently, there isn’t a clean, reliable way to see how often your brand is appearing in AI-powered results. Instead of simply exporting a report from Google Analytics, it’s important to work closely with your marketing team to develop a tracking dashboard using several reliable data aggregators and to meticulously label successful conversions in your outreach funnel so you know what tactics are driving the best results.
Needless to say, AI models are constantly learning and changing. AI search optimization is not a set-it-and-forget strategy. Regular testing, creative new campaign ideas, and an adaptable mindset are keys to navigating this new age of online search.
Enter To Win: Free AI Search Results Audit
Wondering how you can improve your website’s performance in AI-powered searches? We’re giving away a free comprehensive brand audit.
We’ll look at your current website and online brand presence to determine some of the lowest-hanging fruit that will improve the likelihood of getting brand mentions in AI-powered search results. Enter below:
Baker Marketing Laboratory supports healthcare businesses in East Tennessee and across the U.S. with a combination of inbound digital marketing and powerful messaging strategies. Whether you’re a solo practice or you represent a group of physicians, we can help you build a marketing campaign that resonates with your ideal patient base. Get in touch for a free marketing review.