Ahrefs’ Brand Radar data shows that brand mentions are an important factor in AI search visibility.
The post Ahrefs Data Shows Brand Mentions Boost AI Search Rankings appeared first on Search Engine Journal.
Ahrefs’ Brand Radar data shows that brand mentions are an important factor in AI search visibility.
The post Ahrefs Data Shows Brand Mentions Boost AI Search Rankings appeared first on Search Engine Journal.
These are the top 50 countries with the biggest proportion of AI Overviews worldwide. We pulled data from our search index and calculated how many keywords appear in AI Overview queries compared to regular search queries that appear in SERPs…
Kinsta announced that customers will no longer have to pay for bandwidth caused by bot traffic.
The post Kinsta Managed WordPress Host Won’t Charge For Bot Traffic appeared first on Search Engine Journal.
Until fairly recently, I admit that YouTube Shorts weren’t a priority in my social media mix. Then I scheduled a YouTube Short for a Buffer blog I was writing, and happened to check the analytics.
1,436 views in just a few days — that’s more than all my other videos combined. Taking a deeper look at my analytics, it’s clear that YouTube Shorts are doing all the heavy lifting:
This power performance of these bite-sized videos is not just anecdotal. According to Buffer’s data, engagement on YouTube Shorts is on the rise (from 3.95% to 4.71%), with usage skyrocketing from 5.6K to 147K in just 18 months.
YouTube Shorts offer a unique opportunity for creators to reach a wider audience, promote longer videos, and even increase subscribers. Now, the question becomes: what should I post?
In this blog, I’ve rounded up 25 YouTube Shorts ideas so that you’re never short (see what I did there?) of content.
If you’re looking for inspiration for your next short-form video, here are 25 creative ideas and content suggestions to help your content stand out and engage viewers in bite-sized bursts.
If you’re already posting on TikTok or Instagram Reels, you’ve got a head start because you can repurpose existing videos and your best-performing clips to your YouTube channel. Just be sure to adapt your captions, pacing, or audio to fit the YouTube audience and platform best practices.
Pro tip: Buffer makes it super easy to cross-post from one convenient dashboard.
Here’s the Buffer team celebrating 22 million ARR:
On Tiktok
@bufferapp We reached an incredible milestone together during our recent retreat and had the chance to celebrate in person. 🤩
On YouTube Shorts
This one has my name all over it. My shorts strategy is to take short clips from podcast episodes and turn them into shorts.
If you’re creating long-form video, extract your most engaging or thought-provoking moments and repackage them as bite-sized teasers. A bonus is that these videos stand alone and encourage viewers to check out the full-length version.
Short:
Other long-form videos like podcasts, webinars, and livestreams often contain powerful moments that are worth turning into shorts. And, let’s be honest, not everyone is going to watch the full video of the existing content, so giving your audience quick, digestible takeaways means you can reach more people.
Viewers love authenticity. A short “day in the life” gives people a glimpse behind the curtain — the wins, the chaos, the little details that make you human. It’s relatable content that builds trust and a deeper connection with your audience.
⚡️ Pro tip: Hop on the “Imma Be” trend by pairing your content with Black Eyed Peas’ song and a flip transition.
If you offer premium videos, memberships, or courses, use shorts to share quick previews. Tease a key moment or lesson to show the value your paid content delivers.
Behind-the-scenes moments show the heart of your work and who you are — the process, the bloopers, the not-so-Instagram-worthy efforts behind the final product.
Businesses and creators use this format to humanize their brands and give viewers a reason to feel personally connected.
Short, snappy product showcases or reviews work best when you focus on honest impressions and quick takeaways. Show products in action, highlight key features, and share what you genuinely think.
When done right, promotional shorts shouldn’t feel like ads, but recommendations from a trusted friend. Use them to highlight what makes your product or partnership genuinely valuable. Better yet, if you’re a brand, partner with a creator who would be a natural fit.
Your workspace says a lot about your personality and process — and people want to see that. A quick tour or update on your setup can inspire others, offer practical ideas, and pique people’s curiosity. As someone who works from home, I’m a sucker for a little workspace sneak peek.
Quick tutorials are among the most-watched shorts formats, so it’s worth seeing if you have a helpful hack to share as a how-to video.
Feature your fans, followers, or customers in a short. User-generated content celebrates your community and encourages others to join in. It builds a cycle of engagement, authenticity, and trust that algorithms and audiences love.
Research by Massive found that 81% of consumers find user-generated content more trustworthy than professionally created branded content or content from influencers.
Transformation videos are just so satisfying, am I right? Best of all, before-and-after content can fit almost any niche, from renovations to design projects, fashion, makeup looks, art projects, fitness journeys, or a skill you’ve been practicing.
Short-form frequently asked questions (FAQs) help you connect directly with whatever’s on your audience’s mind. This is a great way to provide value quickly and show you’re actually listening to your community.
Brands can also use FAQs to counter common objections and provide more information about their products and services.
⚡️ Pro tip: Pick one question at a time and answer it conversationally.
You can also have some fun with your FAQs. The short video below answers a couple of questions, but it made me smile, so I had to share.
People love learning something new, especially when it’s quick and surprising. Share fun facts, insights, or myths about your industry to spark curiosity and start conversations in the comments.
(You have to watch this one. Science is fun!)
Trends move fast, but the trick is to make them yours. Use viral sounds, challenges, or memes, then layer in your unique angle. And don’t just tap into a trend for the sake of it. Make sure it aligns with your brand and content strategy.
⚡️ Pro tip: Trending video formats (like the “daily lives” short video below) often start on TikTok and Instagram, so keep an eye on those platforms to see what you can repurpose for shorts.
Just like with your favorite TV programme (Survivor, anyone?), consistency + continuity = viewer engagement and anticipation.
Video series offer a structured narrative or theme, encouraging viewers to return for each new installment. Turn your Shorts into a consistent series, like “One-Minute Marketing Tips” or “Weekly Design Fix.”
Mini vlogs are a trending way to tell your story (often in under 60 seconds). All you need to do is capture real-life snippets — a morning routine, a quick project update, an idea, or a day on location — and share them in a relaxed, natural way.
Buffer’s Kirsti Lang loves vlogging. Here’s how she does it on YouTube:
Your personal journey is powerful and engaging content. Share a quick story about an idea, challenge, lesson learned, or moment of growth. Being open about your experiences humanizes your brand and can inspire others with similar aspirations.
Short myth-busting videos are highly shareable because they often surprise people.
As an example, start with a bold statement (“You don’t actually need X to do Y”) and then explain the truth clearly and confidently. You can also include on-screen text that spells out “Myth” vs. “Reality.”
Give yourself 30 or 60 seconds to complete a task that’s relevant to your niche. It adds tension and fun, making your video more watchable from start to finish (and we know the YouTube Shorts algorithm loves to see viewers watch to the end).
Timelapses work beautifully in shorts, showing change, motion, and creativity all at once. They’re meant to condense a lot of footage into a short space of time, which makes for great short-form content.
If you spend any time in the comments section of YouTube Shorts, you’ll know how hilarious and on-point audiences can be. As a creator or brand, why not showcase your best comments in a comedy skit?
Transparency is magnetic, so don’t be shy to share what’s working for you — growth tips, view milestones, or lessons learned from your analytics.
Ask one interesting question relevant to your niche and audience, and capture short, spontaneous responses. Of course, always ask for consent before filming or posting anything.
Pose a one-line question that invites instant participation and encourages comments. When the comment section is alive, it tells the algorithm that people are engaging, which boosts your visibility.
Let’s be honest, even goldfish now probably have better attention spans than humans. Here are the five key characteristics that set high-performing short-form videos apart and keep people watching.
If you need help with your opener (the most important part), this comprehensive guide to scroll-stopping hooks can help.
Yes, it’s possible to tell an entire story in just a few seconds. Think of your short like a tiny blockbuster: you need a hook that grabs attention, a quick middle that keeps it fun or surprising, and a satisfying ending.
If you’re anything like me, blurry footage and muffled sound often leads to a hard swipe. The good news is that you don’t need a Hollywood setup to create decent YouTube Shorts. Natural light, a steady hand (or tripod), and a quick cleanup in your favorite editing app can make your Shorts look *chef’s kiss*.
You know that creator who feels like they could be your funny coworker or your brutally honest bestie? That’s the vibe we’re going for. Viewers love it when you show up as you — in all your unfiltered, imperfect, and totally human glory. There’s no perfect formula for authenticity, so just tell your story, your way. You’ll see this is a common thread in the YouTube Shorts ideas above.
If you don’t tell people what to do next, they’ll just keep scrolling. It’s up to you to guide your audience to take that next step, like: “Hit that like button,” “drop your thoughts below,” or “check out the link for the full story.”
Each platform’s algorithm is unique, so use your analytics to pay attention to what works: the ideal video length, trending sounds, or how your audience engages. Sprinkle in strong keywords, snappy captions, and a thumbnail that stands out.
There’s nothing worse than having an amazing content brainwave and then forgetting it because you didn’t write it down.
If you have great ideas for YouTube Shorts but aren’t ready to film and schedule them just yet, you can save your video ideas in your Create Space on your Buffer dashboard.
As I mentioned earlier, I’m fairly new to sharing YouTube Shorts. What’s made it manageable for me is batch-scheduling in advance (thanks, Buffer).
After recording a podcast series, I normally have four shorts to share (one for each episode). As soon as they’re available, I schedule one to go out per week with a link to the full episode.
Sure, I’m not exactly flooding the feed with content, but scheduling one YouTube Short per week keeps me consistent and helps get more eyes on the podcast.
Posting your YouTube videos and YouTube Shorts when you’re most likely to get views could give your content the boost it deserves. According to our data, the best time to post YouTube Shorts is Wednesday at 4 p.m., followed by 4 p.m. on Thursday and 4 p.m. on Monday.
YouTube Shorts are one of the fastest ways to get your content in front of new eyes, and with these 25 ideas for YouTube Shorts at your fingertips, you’ll never run out of inspiration (be sure to bookmark this blog).
The real magic, though, comes from showing up consistently. Scheduling shorts is one of the easiest ways to stay on track and grow your channel — and tools like Buffer make it even easier by helping you plan, post, and keep your content flowing and your audience growing.
In my previous blog on scheduling YouTube Shorts, I committed to scheduling one piece of short-form content per week, and I’m proud to say that I batch-created and scheduled two months’ worth of Shorts last night. Here’s to more 1,000+ impressions!
There’s no one answer to this question because the best topic is one that genuinely connects with your audience. If you’re stuck for video ideas, educational how-tos, quick tips, relatable humor, and behind-the-scenes moments all perform well. When in doubt, just focus on what your viewers care about.
It varies widely. Shorts monetization depends on factors like watch time, audience location, and engagement. Because YouTube shares revenue from Shorts ads across all creators, you typically need millions of views to earn around $1,000.
Here’s a guide on how to monetize YouTube Shorts.
The YouTube Shorts algorithm looks at average video watch time, overall engagement, and the percentage of viewers who watch instead of swiping away. With this in mind, it’s important to grab your audience’s attention early and keep it.
The best niche is one you can stay consistent with and truly enjoy. Successful content creators often find a sweet spot between what they love, what they know, and what people search for. For example, I’m a freelancer who’s passionate about helping fellow freelancers, so that’s my content niche.
Trends change fast, so keep an eye on trending audio clips, challenges, and remixable content. Whatever trend train you hop on, make sure it fits your brand, and be sure to add your own content to stand out.
AI search traffic went up 527% in just a year. Here are some more AI SEO statistics—with sources.
Victoria Evans is a partner at Oliver Wyman in the firm’s government and public institutions practice, based in London. With over 17 years of experience working across UK government on strategic growth and transformation, she explains the importance of mentorship and support for young people trying to make a career in the professional services space.
Apple has reportedly selected Google to power the next generation of Siri through a partnership neither company plans to publicly acknowledge.
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Benjamin Houy shuts down Lorelight, arguing AI search doesn’t need stand-alone GEO tools. The decision sparks debate over measuring assistant visibility.
The post GEO Platform Shutdown Sparks Industry Debate Over AI Search appeared first on Search Engine Journal.
More than half of searches in 2025 don’t lead anywhere. People get answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini without clicking a single link.
Not showing up in those responses? You’re invisible to half the internet.
That’s where answer engine optimization (AEO) comes in. It helps your brand become the answer that AI tools deliver.
This guide breaks down how AEO works, how it compares to SEO, and what steps you can take to make your content more findable across modern search platforms.
Answer engine optimization (AEO) makes your content easy for AI tools to find and use as a direct answer.
This started with rich results in Google like Featured Snippets and People Also Ask, but today, AEO is about showing up in a full ecosystem of AI-driven answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google’s AI Overviews.
While there are technically still links as a part of these tools, there’s no guarantee a user will click on them.
Your content needs to match how large language models (LLMs) process information if you want to appear in those answers. This includes:
These systems rely on machine learning and natural language processing to determine what content best fits the user’s query. If your site structure and content format aren’t optimized for this, you are less likely to be cited.
AEO isn’t some future tactic. It’s how visibility works now.
Search has changed. It’s not just about blue links on a results page anymore. Tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews are changing how people access information and how brands show up.
The rise of these answer engines has led to a sharp increase in zero‑click searches. In many cases, users now get what they need without ever visiting a website. That means if your content isn’t optimized for those responses, you’re missing visibility.
Voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant work the same way. As generative AI improves by summarizing the web, fewer sources get shown per query, putting more pressure on marketers to be the one selected.
People expect answers fast. They won’t scroll through ten links when one will do. AEO is about aligning your content to that expectation: clear answers, fast.
And the impact isn’t just on organic traffic. AEO boosts brand visibility, strengthens trust signals, and improves discoverability across AI tools and platforms. If you’re investing in SEO but ignoring answer engine optimization, you’re missing opportunities.
AEO and SEO work toward the same outcome (getting your content discovered) but the paths they take are different.
Search engine optimization (SEO)focuses on improving rankings within search engine results pages. That includes optimizing technical elements, matching content to user intent, building links, and improving site structure. It’s about increasing visibility across a range of possible results.
Answer engine optimization (AEO) focuses on earning the single, summarized response delivered by an AI system. These systems rely more heavily on structured answers, clarity, and content that fits within specific answer formats. You’re competing for the only spot that gets shown, not position ten.
AEO is often confused with Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), which is related but distinct. GEO focuses on creating content that gets cited by AI tools as a source. AEO focuses on optimizing existing content to be surfaced directly within the answer. Both matter, but they solve different problems.
AI hallucinations happen when tools like ChatGPT give answers that sound right but are completely wrong. This happens when AI pulls outdated, misattributed, or low-quality information when summarizing information.
In one example, users asked a chatbot for medical advice and received fabricated product suggestions. Other tools have invented studies, misquoted statistics, or pulled misleading content from forums.
The risk increases when a brand has little online authority or inconsistent information across platforms. If the AI can’t verify what’s real, it fills in the blanks and gets it wrong.
To reduce your risk of hallucinated results about your business:
Protecting your brand from hallucinations goes beyond technical fixes. It’s part of owning your visibility.
Keywords alone won’t get you featured in AI responses. You need clear, credible, well-structured content that’s easy for machines to understand.
The strategies below are designed to help your site show up in AI summaries, voice results, and other answer-first formats.
Before you start new optimizations, start by reviewing what’s already working. You may already have content showing up in AI searches like Perplexity, ChatGPT with browsing, or AI Overviews in Google.
Platforms like Ubersuggest Profound track brand and URL visibility across AI answers. These tools show what questions your site already ranks for, what sources AI is pulling from, and where gaps exist.
You can also run manual prompts in ChatGPT or Perplexity using branded and non-branded queries. Try asking questions you’d want your content to answer, and take note of what shows up.
This audit shows you where you stand and helps you prioritize. If certain pages are already being pulled into AI results, you may just need small tweaks. If others aren’t surfacing at all, you’ll know where to focus first.
Search engines, chatbots, and voice assistants all aim to solve one thing: what the user actually wants to know. That’s where search intent comes in, and it’s a foundational piece of answer engine optimization.
AI tools don’t just crawl your content. They interpret it. If your page doesn’t match the kind of answer a user is looking for, it likely won’t get picked.
Intent typically falls into four categories: informational, transactional, navigational, or commercial. But when it comes to AEO, you also need to understand how people phrase questions. “What is,” “how to,” “best tools for,” and “should I” are all common patterns.
So how can you learn the intent behind the keywords you’re targeting or ranking for? Keyword research tools, like Ubersuggest and Semrush can help.
Once you understand what search terms your website ranks for, you can dig into the most popular terms. Using Ubersuggest’s Keyword Overview tool, for example, lets you see search volume and SEO difficulty.
The keywords in the above screenshot are largely informational. The searcher is hoping to learn more about digital marketing. As we continue to scroll through the list of queries , we begin to see more commercial and transactional results.
Take “digital marketing platforms” as an example:
There’s certainly some informational intent behind the question, but it’s also possible to be commercial intent. For example, a business who is looking to subscribe to a platform may want to learn more about it so they can make the right decision.
If you’re a digital marketing agency with a platform, and you understand the intent behind that keyword, you can create content that captures the customer within the purchase journey.
Content that targets the transactional intent of this keyword may be a digital marketing platform or tool roundup. You can position your platform as the best option, or even create a post with affiliate links to other relevant platforms.
Intent matters as much as the question itself. This is why you must consider the whole picture when incorporating such keywords into your content.
If your content doesn’t look like an answer, AI tools won’t treat it like one. That’s why formatting matters more than ever in answer engine optimization.
Start by identifying the questions your audience is asking. Then give them a direct response near the top of your content, ideally within the first few sentences or paragraphs.
Use clear H2 or H3 headings for common queries. Add a dedicated FAQ section if your topic has multiple related questions. Bullet points, concise summaries, and short paragraphs all help AI models parse your content more accurately.
You’re not just helping users skim. You’re helping machines understand what your content is trying to say and where it fits.
Google’s AI Overviews, People Also Ask, and tools like Perplexity and Gemini all pull from content that’s been structured clearly and answers a defined question.
This is one of the simplest changes you can make to support AEO, and it pays off fast.
Answer engines don’t just scan your website. They also pull from structured data across the web. That includes business directories, local listings, and public profiles.
Tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity can surface business info from places like Google Business Profile, Yelp, Apple Maps, and Bing. If your data is missing or inconsistent, your brand may be excluded from results.
Make sure your listings include accurate details like name, address, phone number (NAP), hours, and website. Add photos, reviews, and categories where possible. These signals all feed into the authority and relevance AI models look for.
Some key directories to prioritize:
Don’t treat this as a one-time setup. Keep listings up to date, especially if your business has multiple locations or seasonal changes.
The goal is to make it easy for AI systems to confirm your legitimacy and context. You’re giving them structured proof of who you are and what you offer.
AI systems scan for more than keywords. They look for trusted voices. If your brand is consistently cited, reviewed, and linked to across the web, you’re more likely to be featured in AI-generated responses. When we surveyed a group of marketing professionals who said that optimizing their content to appear in chatbot responses has been a major priority for them, 34 percent had the top goal of building brand awareness and loyalty.
That trust is built through authority. This includes third-party mentions, earned backlinks, expert-led content, and consistent appearances in respected directories or roundups.
Authoritative brands are also more likely to be surfaced in zero-click search, local packs, and answer engine results. Why? Because these platforms want to deliver credible information. If your site has proven expertise on a topic, it’s more likely to be chosen.
To build that authority, focus on publishing effective content, earning brand mentions in your niche, and contributing insights on third-party platforms. Guest posts, research, and interviews can all help grow your presence.
This takes time, but it compounds. The stronger a thought leader you are seen as, the harder it is for AI tools to ignore your content.
AI is changing how people search and how we create content. Used correctly, it can help you build pages that are more likely to surface in answer engines.
Start by using tools like ChatGPT to test your topic coverage. Ask sample questions your audience might type into an AI search. What comes up? If your site isn’t mentioned, or the answers are thin, you’ve found a gap to fill.
Many marketers are already leaning into this. In a survey we ran, over 81 percent of professionals optimizing for AI responses said they had been incorporating AI into their business processes for six months or more.
The top use cases included improving efficiency, sparking innovation, and enhancing customer experience. But AEO-focused content creation is where AI can deliver quick wins.
You can use AI to generate question-based outlines, draft summaries, or test how clearly your answers come across. Just don’t skip the human layer. Tools can help you move faster, but high-quality content still requires expertise.
Schema markup helps AI tools understand your content better. That can make the difference between being ignored or included in an answer.
Schema is a form of structured data that tells search engines and AI systems what your page is about. It adds a layer of clarity in the background without changing how your content looks to users.
For example, if you have a FAQ section, adding FAQ schema helps Google and answer engines extract that content more confidently. The same goes for how-to schema, product schema, article schema, and organization schema.
The more structured your content is, the easier it is for AI to match it to the right query. Schema also increases your chances of appearing in AI Overviews, People Also Ask, and AI-generated summaries.
You don’t need to add schema manually. Most SEO plugins, like Yoast or Rank Math, include built-in schema tools. There are also free generators available online if you want to apply it page by page.
Think of schema as a translator between your content and the AI tools deciding what gets shown. The clearer your signals, the better your visibility.
Answer engine optimization isn’t a one-time fix. Once you implement AEO strategies, you need a plan for tracking performance and making improvements.
Set a regular schedule to check whether your content is being picked up by AI tools. Look for patterns in which pages get cited, what queries they appear for, and where your visibility drops off.
This doesn’t require complex reporting. You can track progress using a simple spreadsheet, noting the presence or absence of your brand in AI summaries across key queries.
When something stops appearing, that’s your signal to re-optimize. Refresh the content, clarify the structure, or align it more closely with search intent. If something continues to perform well, look at what’s working and replicate that approach elsewhere.
AEO is still evolving, which makes monitoring even more important. The brands that adapt fastest will stay visible the longest.
We ran a study to understand why ChatGPT recommends certain brands in its responses. After testing over 80 possible factors, six rose to the top.
Brand mentions: The more your brand is cited across the web, the higher the likelihood ChatGPT will surface it.
Reviews: Quality and volume of customer reviews, especially on third-party sites, play a major role.
Relevancy: If your site’s keywords match the user’s query, and the page offers helpful context, you’re more likely to get picked.
Age: Older, more established brands tend to be trusted more often by AI models.
Recommendations: Listicles and curated “best of” roundups (even those using affiliate links) still influence ChatGPT outputs.
Authority: High-authority domains with credible backlinks and consistent content earn more inclusion in AI answers.
You can’t control every factor, but you can influence most of them by building strong, reliable content that other sites and users want to reference.
Answer engine optimization is the process of improving your content so it appears in AI-generated answers. It focuses on clarity, structure, authority, and accuracy—so tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews can pull your content as a trusted response.
It builds on traditional SEO but adapts it for zero-click and conversational search experiences.
Start by identifying the types of questions your audience is asking. Then create clear, concise answers—formatted with proper headers, schema markup, and supporting data. Use tools to track which content appears in AI results, and optimize based on visibility gaps.
Focus on building authority and publishing quality content that answer engines can trust.
AEO is about getting your content pulled into AI-generated responses. SEO is about ranking in search engine results pages. Both use similar tactics, but AEO requires more structured, answer-ready content.
AI is already reshaping how people search, and answer engines are gaining traction fast. If your content isn’t built for these platforms, you’re likely losing visibility—even if you’re ranking well in traditional search.
The good news: if you’ve been investing in SEO, many of the foundations are already in place. AEO simply takes it further, focusing on clarity, structure, and intent.
Tools like Ubersuggest can help you find question-based keywords, track content performance, and identify optimization gaps. From there, it’s about building better answers—and making sure they’re easy for AI to find.
Now is the time to get proactive. The longer you wait to adapt, the harder it’ll be to catch up.
