There are two types of traffic on the Internet: rapid traffic, which you have to pay for, and organic traffic, which is “free”. What does this mean?
Paid traffic is simple and lies within our general understanding of purchasing ads. You buy an ad, you get people to show up and check your product. When you run out of money in your campaign, the traffic stops. This is a finite resource that tends to be expensive if we’re talking about a large business.
The second type is SEO traffic. It’s the stream of customers you get from the search engines. Or in the current social media reality, it’s the traffic driven to the business by content. When you produce certain content, be it an article, a YouTube video, or an Instagram reel, when a user is scrolling through their feed, they come across your content and if they like what they see, they can be redirected to your page. Now, why am I calling this traffic channel “free” (with quotation marks)? That’s because this content doesn’t just appear, it has to be created and created in a very specific manner, depending on the nature of your business and thus, the ad campaign. It’s time-consuming and it requires resources, so it’s not entirely free. However, unlike paid traffic, which is driven by a specific amount of money you‘re willing to put up, there is no time limit on quality content. If the article is useful, it brings helpful insights and remains relevant, it’s enough to post it once for it to keep driving traffic. It’s not unreasonable to claim that quality content brings higher returns than an ad campaign simply because this channel isn’t constricted.
Does SEO matter
The SEO age began in the late 90’s and went through different stages, we moved from lifehacks of how to fool Google to improved search algorithms. It’s 20 years later and we barely come across instances where Google indexes nonsense simply because someone clever cracked the algorithm. It’s for the best too, because we finally stopped stuffing the Internet with barely readable collections of random words and shifted our focus toward releasing valuable content. And if it can’t be truly valuable it at least can be entertaining.
The topic seems like one that’s been studied and explained to everyone who would and wouldn’t listen. SEO articles are everywhere, there’s a million companies solely dedicated to polishing your content according to SEO requirements, there is an SEO person in every company, and there’s software for every SEO-related purpose. What’s free about that? It’s a whole business and it’s so big and immobile it’s not going to go away if we tried to make it. Well, here’s the thing, free traffic is right here if you’re ready to reach it.
The New SEO Age
In 2023-2024, we have seen a drastic change in the narrative that is making its way into our life, without any intention of stopping. You guessed it, I’m talking about AI assistants like ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Claude, Siri and Alexa. It took some time but in 2024, AI finally mastered the skill of finding the information online. Prior to that, it could only work with archives. But now, that it’s possible, we need to figure out how exactly AI surfs the web. It’s nothing similar to how we do it or how Google itself does it. It might be similar at first glance, but as the technology grows, so do the algorithms. For now, AI doesn't search the way humans do — it looks for concise, structured answers, not long-winded blog posts. All to bring us the most concise and correct responses. The better they get, the more people will use AI for searching. And let’s not get into the possible death of search engines, but instead focus on a more relevant issue.
How do I push my Content through AI?
Allow me to introduce the new direction of search optimization, which already bears the name of AEO or VSO, depending on who you ask. The names come from either Answer Engine Optimization or Voice Search Optimization. Why? That’s easier than you’d think, the reason is your average smart speaker or voice assistant like Siri. They’re a much more pleasant company than an old-school AI chat. The future’s right there in the name, isn’t it? But ok, let’s not get into the poetry of it, and instead see what we can actually do to push our content through the pipes (and not down the drain).
So, how do you actually optimize for AI search?
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Let’s break it down.
If you want your content to show up in voice results or answer boxes from AI assistants like ChatGPT, Siri, or Alexa, you’ll need to tweak a few things on your page:
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Use long-tail keywords
People talk to AI like they talk to humans. Instead of typing “best running shoes,” they ask, “What are the best running shoes for flat feet?” These longer, more natural phrases are what AI looks for, so you need to include them in your content.
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Add an FAQ section
Voice search often pulls answers from Q&A formats. If your site has a clear “Question → Answer” section, you're more likely to get picked up by AI looking to answer a user’s query.
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Use the <speakable> tag
Google has a special tag called <speakable> that helps AI know which parts of your page are best for being read aloud. If you highlight key answers or summaries with this tag, AI tools will have a much easier time finding and using your content.
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Keep your structure clean
Make sure your content is organized with clear headings (H1, H2, H3). Break things into small, readable sections. AI tools scan pages fast — the easier you make it to digest, the better your chances.
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Watch your word count
AI assistants don’t want to read a novel. They prefer short, clear answers — usually 40–90 words. If you want your answer to be read out loud, keep it tight.
Now, having a clear method is cool and all, but doing it by hand is still boring and time-consuming. This means that eventually, there will be a software solution that will save us from this dull work. For now, we offer Voice Search Optimizer plugin for
Try it, comment about it, and let’s see if it does the trick!
