Whereas Google or Yandex used to display a list of links, search engines are now increasingly responding with snippets. They gather answers to user questions from multiple sources, provide brief explanations, add links, and leave website owners with fewer chances of clicks.
Unpleasant? Certainly. For those who have invested years in traditional search engine optimization, this means they will need to adapt.
However, websites do not disappear from search results; the entry point simply changes. Previously, the task of SEO was straightforward: to reach the top, obtain a snippet, and get a click. Now, there is an additional layer — to be included in AI responses as a source, example, brand, or clear recommendation. This is what is called GEO: Generative Engine Optimization.
GEO and SEO: What’s the difference and why one doesn’t replace the other
- SEO is responsible for a website's visibility in traditional search results. Technical optimization, page structure, key queries, internal linking, external links, speed, user behavior signals — all of this remains critical.
- GEO works alongside SEO but views content differently. Its goal is to make the page user-friendly not only for humans and search engines but also for generative systems that gather answers from various sources.
The difference is simple:
- SEO determines whether a page can rank for a query.
- GEO determines whether AI can consider this page a reliable source for an answer.
For a typical article, this changes the approach to writing. It’s not enough to produce long content with keywords. The text needs to contain clear definitions, direct answers that AI can extract, comparisons, tables, facts, steps, examples, and formulations that can be quoted without losing meaning.
How AI Overviews Work in 2026
Google describes AI Overviews and AI Mode as search features that help users get answers faster while still being able to follow up on sources if they want to dive deeper.
In the official documentation. Google explicitly states: website owners do not need to add special markup specifically for AI Overviews; the basic principles remain the same — useful content, scanning accessibility, correct snippets, and technical cleanliness of the page.
But there is a nuance. AI Overviews do not simply copy the top 10 from organic results. Fresh research from 2026 In 2023, Google AI Overviews showed that about 30% of the domains cited in AI Overviews did not appear on the first page of regular search results for the same queries.
This is bad news for those who only measure everything by positions. And it's good news for websites that can provide accurate answers but haven't captured the entire top yet.
When AI summary appeared in the results, people clicked through less on links than in results without such a block. Clicks on top pages decreased by 34.5%. SEO is not dead; it’s just that quantity is changing to quality. Those who reach the site are more likely to take targeted action.
This changes the KPI for businesses. It's essential to track not only organic traffic but also branded queries, the growth of direct visits, mentions in AI answers, conversions from informational pages, and lead quality.
Features of Alice AI in Yandex
Yandex is heading in the same direction but with local specifics. In Yandex's help documentation, it is stated that Alice AI can respond to queries directly in the search results and on a separate Search tab. The answer is generally based on source pages, with links displayed next to the response.
On the 'Search with Alice AI' page, Yandex states that the search responds to approximately 15,000 queries per second, and half of these queries were never asked before. Another figure from Yandex: for 36% of queries, Search with Alice AI provides a quick answer that references sources.
How to Optimize a Website for AI: 5 Key Steps
1. Write pages to answer questions rather than targeting a single keyword.
Queries have become longer and more conversational. Users ask questions like humans, while AI looks for fragments that can be assembled into a coherent response.
Poor structure:
"Best tires in Prostokvashino. Cheap tire replacement quickly. Quality tire fitting."
Good structure:
- How to choose tires for your car and season?
- How do winter, summer, and all-season tires differ in practice?
- When is it better to change tires instead of waiting for the first snow or wear down to the 'cord'?
- What should you check before buying tires: size, load index, speed, year of manufacture, and tread condition?
- How to choose a tire fitting in Prostokvashino: price, speed, balancing, guarantee, and online appointment?
What to do:
- Gather 20–30 real questions from Google, Yandex, forums, search suggestions, customer reviews, and sales correspondences.
- Group them by intent: selection, comparison, price, tire types…
- Create a separate block or page for each key intent.
- Provide a short, direct answer in the first 2–3 sentences of the block.
- Add details, examples, a table, or instructions below.
AI finds it easier to use text where the answer is already compiled into a clear block.
2. Make the content quotable
Generative systems love clear fragments: definitions, lists of criteria, comparisons, checklists, tables, numbers with sources. They perform poorly with loose text where meaning is spread over five paragraphs.
Compare.
Weak:
Many drivers choose tires based on the season, budget, and vehicle model.
Strong:
For urban winter driving, friction tires like Michelin X-Ice, Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5, or Goodyear UltraGrip Ice are suitable. If you often drive on ice and unplowed roads, it's better to look for studded models: Nokian Hakkapeliitta 10, Michelin X-Ice North 4, or Continental IceContact 3.
The second option can be integrated into the AI response almost without editing.
What to do on the site:
- At the beginning of each conceptual section, add a short answer to the question.
- Use comparison tables where there are 3+ tire options.
- Mention brands directly: Michelin, Nokian, Continental, Goodyear, Pirelli, Bridgestone, Hankook.
- Add selection criteria: season, size, load index, speed index, tread type, wet grip, noise, durability, price.
- Remove general phrases that do not help drivers choose tires.
3. Demonstrate your expertise on the topic
AI search can recount thousands of identical articles. It struggles to replace content that includes personal observations, tests, screenshots, examples, tables, checklists, and real limitations.
An article titled '10 Best Winter Tires' without testing appears weaker than material where the author demonstrates:
- how tires behave on dry, wet, and snowy asphalt;
- the braking distance of different models;
- how well tires hold the road in turns;
- how noise levels change at speed;
- if there's a difference in fuel consumption;
- how quickly the tread wears out;
- how confidently the car starts moving on ice, snow, and wet roads.
For GEO, this is critical. A unique experience increases the chances that the page will be seen as a source rather than just another retelling of the manufacturer's specifications.
What to do:
- Select the same car to test all tire models.
- Maintain the same conditions: tire size, pressure, surface, temperature, speed, and vehicle load.
- Test braking on dry, wet, snowy, or icy roads, depending on the type of tires.
- Evaluate handling: corners, lane changes, stability at speed.
- Measure noise levels inside the cabin.
- Check fuel consumption or rolling resistance, if possible.
- Add a table with results: model, size, season, braking distance, noise, wear, price, strengths, and weaknesses.
- Write honestly about where the tire performs confidently and where it falls short against competitors.
4. Set up the technical foundation: speed, structure, availability
Generative search does not eliminate technical SEO. If a page loads poorly, is closed to indexing, takes forever to load, or is hidden behind scripts, AI will not deal with it.
What to do:
- Compress images before publication, use WebP or AVIF where possible.
- Do not place three chat widgets at the same time.
- Remove unnecessary trackers if they do not provide data for decisions.
- Watch out for H1–H3: one H1 per page, logical nesting, without headers for the sake of font size.
- Check canonical, sitemap.xml, robots.txt, and SSL.
- Do not block important content from indexing.
- Add schema.org where appropriate: Article, FAQPage, Product, Organization, BreadcrumbList.
Speed alone will not make a weak article a leader. But a slow page with good content simply will not reach either AI or humans.
5. Use AI website builders, but do not hand over your entire strategy.
AI website builders can suggest a structure for a specific request, assemble a design, write meta-tags, prepare headers, generate text blocks, and suggest SEO fields. This is convenient when you need to quickly launch a site for a service, local business, portfolio, or test niche.
Site.pro, for example, claims to create websites using AI and to generate a site in seconds. Tilda offers an AI assistant for structure, text, images, and blocks. uKit AI describes a scenario where artificial intelligence analyzes a website and helps improve it according to the best practices for small businesses.
But AI doesn’t know your market as well as you do. It hasn't heard customer calls. It hasn't seen at what stage people hesitate. It doesn't know what objections arise in the correspondence.
Therefore, the scheme should be as follows:
- The AI constructor creates the first framework.
- You check intents and structure.
- The editor removes any common phrases.
- The SEO specialist refines the titles, meta-data, and internal links.
- The business owner adds facts: prices, timeframes, guarantees, case studies, and limitations.
- After publishing, you monitor Search Console, Metrics, positions, clicks, user questions, and refine the page.
AI is good as an accelerator. It is poor as the sole editor.
Content optimization for AI Overviews and Alice AI
Content for AI searches must be easy to extract. This doesn't mean you should write dryly. However, each section must answer a specific question.
Working structure of the article:
- A brief answer to the main question.
- Definition of the term.
- Comparison of approaches.
- Criteria table.
- Step-by-step guide.
- Mistakes.
- Examples.
- Sources.
- Update date and author.
For the GEO topic, it may look like this:
- What is GEO?
- How does GEO differ from SEO?
- How does Google AI Overviews select sources?
- How does Alice AI display answers in Yandex?
- How to prepare a page for generative search?
- What tools help speed up work?
- What to check after publication?
And one more thing: update articles. Don't just change the date for appearance; genuinely add new data, check links, remove outdated services, and revise screenshots and prices. In AI topics, six months is already a significant period.
Examples of website builders with AI available to the Russian audience
For the Russian-speaking market, it is important not only to look at the features but also at the actual availability of the service: whether one can register, pay for a plan, receive support, connect a domain, and not lose access to the account after a month.
Wix is not recommended as a viable option for residents of Russia: the service has announced that starting from September 12, 2024, it will limit access to accounts and services for Russian users, including both free and paid accounts. It can be referenced in comparative articles as an international benchmark, but not as a practical recommendation for launching a website in Russia.
Site.pro
Site.pro is a website builder suitable for quickly creating a site using AI without programming. Users can obtain a ready-made structure, texts, keyword-optimized content, and a complete website design faster than with manual assembly. Furthermore, the site can be edited later through chat, making the builder a winning option for beginners.
For small businesses, this is beneficial in scenarios where speed is crucial: service websites, landing pages, portfolios, local company websites, or simple advertising pages.
Tilda
Tilda remains one of the most recognizable website builders in the Russian-speaking segment. Its strengths lie in landing pages, promotional pages, portfolios, educational projects, small shops, and visually appealing pages.
Tilda's AI features help to quickly assemble structures, texts, images, and blocks. However, final editing still needs to be done by a human, especially if the page is promoted for SEO requests rather than simply needing a 'pretty business card.'
uKit and uKit AI
uKit is focused on small business websites: services, local companies, and small commercial projects. uKit AI is useful in scenarios where it's necessary not only to create a website but also to improve an existing one: updating the structure, checking the presentation, and bringing the page to a more modern look.
This is an option for those who want a simple website without a complicated CMS and without development.
Nethouse
Nethouse is suitable for entrepreneurs who need a website, showcase, services page, or a small online store. It is worth considering if Russian-speaking support, local scenarios, and straightforward management without a technical team are important.
WordPress with AI plugins
WordPress is not a classic builder, but for many projects, it remains a viable alternative. With AI plugins, visual editors, and ready-made themes, the preparation of structures, texts, meta-data, and content blocks can be expedited.
However, WordPress requires more attention: hosting, security, updates, plugins, speed, compatibility. This option is not for 'launch and forget' but for projects that need flexibility and control.
Conclusion
Search is no longer limited to a list of blue links. Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Alisa AI, and other generative responses are changing the user's path: some questions are answered directly in the search results, while others redirect to trusted sources.
It's best to start small: choose one article or service page, rewrite the first screen, add comparisons, check the speed, and update the facts. Then move on to the next one.
