Why the Smartest Marketers Are Betting Big on This AI SEO Strategy

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Why the Smartest Marketers Are Betting Big on This
AI SEO Strategy

(Hint: It’s not backlinks. It’s not keywords.)

Old-school SEO is crumbling. TBH, it’s pretty much dead.

The smartest SEOs I know aren’t chasing keyword rankings or obsessing over link juice anymore.

They’re going all in on something way more powerful. Entity SEO.

Why? Because the future of search isn’t about ranking #1. It’s about being recognized and cited by AI.

Let me break it down.

👀 What’s Actually Changing in SEO / AEO

Search engines like Google, and tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity, aren’t just “ranking websites” anymore.

They’re generating AI Overviews, and those Overviews cite entities, not just URLs.

So if you’re not recognized as a distinct, trustworthy entity? You’re invisible.

That’s the shift. And it changes everything.

🔍 What Is Entity SEO?

An entity is a unique, identifiable thing: a person, business, product, or concept.

Entity SEO is the strategy of making sure AI search engines understand exactly who you are, what you do, and how you relate to the rest of the web.

It’s not about keyword density. It’s about building a trustworthy identity — across your website, your bios, your citations, and the internet as a whole.

When you do that right, AI will start mentioning and recommending you in its summaries.

🧩 Why Entity SEO Is Now the Foundation of AI Search

AI-powered tools don’t “crawl” and “rank” like traditional search engines.

They generate answers based on the entities they recognize and trust.

This means:

• Google’s AI Overviews will only list you if you’re a known entity

• ChatGPT can’t recommend your brand if it doesn’t know you exist

• Tools like Perplexity cite based on structured knowledge, not SEO tricks

If you’re not optimized as an entity, none of these tools will mention you.

🛠️ 5 Core Components of Entity SEO

Here’s how to actually do Entity SEO:

1. Structured Data (Schema Markup)

Add Organization, Person, Product, and FAQ schemas to your website.

2. Consistent Brand Language

Your About page, LinkedIn bio, Google Business listing, Crunchbase profile — all of them should tell the same story.

3. Third-Party Mentions

Get cited in roundup posts, interviews, and industry directories. These validate your existence.

4. Internal Site Structure

Group your content around topic clusters and use internal links to build relationships between them.

5. LLM-Visible Profiles

Platforms like Crunchbase, GitHub, and Wikipedia get indexed and cited by LLMs. Make sure you’re there.

✅ Quick Self-Audit

Ask yourself:

• Does Google show a Knowledge Panel for you or your brand?

• Does ChatGPT give an accurate answer when someone asks about you?

• Are you mentioned in any AI-generated Overviews?

• Are your bios and public profiles consistent?

• Do you use schema markup on your site?

If not, it’s time to start optimizing.

🤯 Why This Matters

You could be creating amazing blog content… and still be invisible.

You could be ranking on page 1… and still not get cited.

Because if AI doesn’t recognize your brand, it won’t mention you.

No recognition = no visibility = no traffic.

And you can’t fix this with more backlinks.

📈 What Smart SEOs Are Doing Differently

The best SEOs today are shifting from chasing rank to building identity.

They’re using Entity SEO to:

• Appear in AI Overviews

• Get mentioned in ChatGPT and Perplexity answers

• Future-proof their visibility in voice search and smart assistants

• Establish lasting trust with search systems

It’s not about SEO hacks. It’s about showing up by default — because AI knows who you are.

🔧 How To Get Started

Here’s your quick-start Entity SEO playbook:

1. Add schema markup to your homepage, About page, and blog content.

2. Align your bios across LinkedIn, Crunchbase, and Google Business.

3. Build profiles on platforms that feed LLMs.

4. Get mentioned on third-party sites (interviews, listicles, press).

5. Create content clusters around your core topics.

6. Ask ChatGPT what it knows about you — that’s your new visibility audit.

7. Use Open Forge AI to track citations and spot gaps.

👇 TL;DR

If you’re still optimizing for keywords, you’re playing yesterday’s game.

Entity SEO is how you build durable visibility in the age of AI search.

Want to get cited in AI Overviews and show up in smart assistant answers?

Teach the AI who you are.

If you need any help with this, just email me at [email protected] or reply to this email.

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