How To Make Your Website AI-Friendly?

Generative AI platforms are picking data directly from websites, creating an entirely new source of web traffic

Traditionally, SEO and website content were made compliant with search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. In the present times, an increasing number of people have started using AI platforms such as ChatGPT. These generative AI platforms already have their own database. But for many of the queries related to current topics, these AI platforms take data from websites. These data sources are listed as references, which users can click if they want.

As such, generative AI platforms have emerged as a new source of website traffic. This is expected to increase manifold, as more people start using generative AI platforms. For website owners, it is thus imperative to align their SEO, coding and content to suit AI platforms. Let us take a look at some tips and suggestions to make your website AI-friendly.

Rely on structured data – Add schema.org markup to your site to give clear context about your content. Applies to most components such as articles, products or events. This helps AI and search engines understand what your page is really about. Use JSON-LD format to tag things like headlines, authors, dates or product info. After adding it, run your page through Google’s Rich Results Test or the Schema Markup Validator. This will ensure that everything is working as expected.

Improve semantic understanding – It is important to note that generative AI platforms rely on natural language processing (NLP). That is why you need to create content that is easy to understand and focused on the relevant topic. Make sure to use heading tags such as H2 and H3, so that AI platforms can easily find the required information. Use keywords in a natural way, instead of keyword stuffing.

Faster load time – Similar to search engines, AI platforms also prefer taking content from websites that load fast. That is why you need to keep special focus on ensuring that your web pages load fast. You can use tools like PageSpeed Insights to understand your website’s performance across mobile and desktop devices. Webpages can be made faster to load by compressing images and reducing the amount of CSS/JavaScript codes.

Make your website mobile friendly – Generative AI platforms prefer to take info from websites that work smoothly across a wide variety of mobile devices. Globally, the content is being accessed across thousands of different types of devices. The more responsive your website, the more suited it will be for AI platforms.

Focus on content accessibility – Add clear, descriptive alt text to your images. So that AI platforms can understand what they show. Make sure your site is easy for bots to crawl. Avoid hiding key content behind JavaScript and keep your URLs clean and simple. Also, maintain an up-to-date XML sitemap. Submit it to search engines to help them find and index your pages easily.

Build trust – AI platforms pick up information from websites that they consider to be reliable and trustworthy. So, make sure your website has credible content and links to reputable sources. Your ‘About Us’ and ‘Contact Us’ pages should have clear information. Make sure your website has HTTPS. It will also help if your website has customer reviews or certifications.

Create AI-friendly content formats – Add FAQs, how-to guides or listicles that answer common questions. AI platforms often use these for quick answers. Use tables, bullet points or infographics to make your information easy to scan and understand. Also, make sure your content is detailed and truly helps the user. That is because AI platforms prefer content that fully meets the user’s query.