The prevailing question at the table of any marketing department today is not only “How do we rank on Google?”, but rather “Why does ChatGPT not mention us?”. There is a widespread belief that if you carry out proper technical SEO for Google, then you will automatically be favored by Large Language Models (LLMs). Nevertheless, the reality is more complex.
A recent study by Semrush, after analyzing 5 million URLs cited by ChatGPT Search and Google’s AI Mode, sheds light on this fragmentation of the traditional search engine landscape. Spoiler: Technical SEO is not dead; it has evolved into what we now refer to as AI Visibility.
The search landscape is becoming increasingly fragmented. Although Google still maintains overwhelming dominance (90.06%), its slight yet steady decline coincides with the meteoric rise of AI platforms.
In this new discovery-driven ecosystem, the distribution of market share is clear: ChatGPT leads with 80% of the AI search market share, followed by Perplexity (11%) and Microsoft Copilot (5%), which is growing at a dizzying pace. For SEO teams, this means that traffic forecasts based solely on Google are becoming outdated.
One of the most interesting concepts introduced in the study is that of the “polite click.” Unlike users who jump from link to link on Google, users coming from an AI search are already “informed.” After all, a user assisted by AI knows who you are and why you are relevant. This translates into longer sessions, lower bounce rates, and higher conversion rates.
Data from Semrush confirm that pages cited by AIs demonstrate better engagement metrics (visit duration and conversion rates). This does not imply that AI uses engagement as a direct ranking factor; instead, it suggests that pages which satisfy user needs tend to possess the technical structure and authority sought by LLMs.
The study identifies three key pillars:
Though AI can interpret nearly any type of content, Schema Markup acts as a high-fidelity translator. The pages cited show a high implementation of:
Interestingly, Google’s AI Mode is much more demanding regarding these data than ChatGPT, more frequently citing pages that have implemented FAQ and LocalBusiness schema types.
A slug should be neither too short nor an indecipherable string of parameters. The study reveals that URLs with slugs between 17 and 40 characters (especially in the range of 21–25) receive the highest number of citations. Extremely short URLs (such as homepages) and excessively long or keyword-stuffed URLs are less successful in this new environment.
Traffic from OAI-SearchBot (OpenAI’s crawler) is soaring. This requires SEOs to take on a new responsibility: managing the crawl budget for AI. Monitoring log files to determine which sections of your website attract the most interest from these bots is now as critical as it has been (and continues to be) for Googlebot.
It is no longer sufficient to measure only clicks and impressions. The modern strategy demands that AI Visibility be measured:
Frankly, technical SEO does not guarantee inclusion in AI results, but you must execute it correctly in order to have a chance of appearing. Without a clear structure, optimal loading speed, and structured data defining who we are, we shall remain invisible to the algorithms that are redefining the internet.
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