With AI assistants like ChatGPT stepping in to answer questions directly, the way you set up your pages matters on two fronts: the classic search engine crawler and the AI model that’s pulling content to give people answers. Getting both sides right is what really sets a site apart in 2025.

First, let’s talk about Google basics. Titles, meta descriptions, and headers still carry weight. They tell search engines what the page is about and help people decide whether to click. Clear formatting, short paragraphs, and logical section breaks also make your content easier to scan, which Google tends to reward. And of course, site speed, mobile design, and clean URLs still play a major role.

Now, for ChatGPT and other AI tools, the rules are slightly different.

These assistants aren’t ranking links—they’re summarizing. That means your content has to be extremely clear, conversational, and direct. Instead of stuffing in keywords, you want natural phrasing that sounds like you’re explaining something to a friend. FAQs, bullet points, and straight-to-the-point explanations usually get pulled into answers more often.

Something else worth noting is context and credibility.

AI models lean on trusted, well-structured content. Adding author bios, citing sources, and updating content regularly makes your site look like a reliable resource, which increases the chances of being included in AI-generated replies.

In a way, the sweet spot is blending both approaches. Write with Google’s structure in mind, but shape the language so it flows like a conversation—because that’s what AI tools favor. If you keep pages clear, helpful, and human-sounding, you stand a good chance of showing up in search results and in AI responses.