once upon a time, seo felt like a one-audience game. well, ai assistants are now in the game, and they’re actually reading your content to decide if you’re worth recommending. time to make friends with the robots! 🤖
remember when seo was all about pleasing the google gods? meta descriptions, keywords, backlinks, and crossing your fingers that the algorithm would smile upon you? well, buckle up, because there’s a new player in town, and it’s already sending people to websites.
ai just entered the chat (and it’s bringing traffic)
here’s something wild that’s happening right now: ai assistants like chatgpt, claude, and perplexity aren’t just answering questions anymore. they’re actively browsing the web in real-time and recommending websites to users.
when someone asks, “what’s the best tool for x?” or “how do i solve y problem?” – these ai assistants don’t just give a generic answer. they search the web (yes, right now, not from some ancient training data), read your pages, and if your content makes sense, they’ll recommend you.
it’s like having a really smart friend who actually reads your documentation and tells people about you. except this friend never sleeps and talks to millions of people every day.
the “oh snap” moment
data is starting to show that ai assistants are becoming significant referral sources – sometimes even outpacing traditional search engines like bing, duckduckgo, and yahoo combined. google is still the king (let’s be real), but ai-driven traffic is growing fast.
and here’s the kicker: this is happening now. not in some future training cycle. the page you publish today can be discovered and recommended by ai assistants tomorrow.
so what does this mean for us?
we’re now writing for two very different audiences:
- humans – who skim, scroll, and click on things that look interesting
- ai systems – that actually read everything, understand context, and recommend based on clarity
the good news? making content ai-friendly also makes it better for humans. it’s a win-win!
the “make ai your friend” checklist
here’s what ai assistants love (and humans appreciate too):
✅ clear documentation – don’t make people (or ai) guess what you do
✅ well-structured pages – headings, bullet points, logical flow (not a wall of text)
✅ comprehensive faqs – answer the questions people actually ask
✅ consistent messaging – don’t call the same thing three different names
✅ real use cases – show, don’t just tell
why you should care (like, right now)
unlike traditional seo where you optimize for keywords and hope for the best, ai assistants actually read and understand your content. they’re looking for clarity, not keyword density.
if your pages are confusing, poorly organized, or missing key information, you’re invisible to this new traffic source. and these aren’t just random visitors – they’re high-intent users actively looking for solutions.
the bottom line (aka the tl;dr)
seo isn’t just about gaming google anymore. it’s about being genuinely understandable to both humans and ai systems that can browse the web in real time.
good documentation isn’t just “nice to have” – it’s now part of your distribution strategy. the clearer and better organized your content is, the more likely ai assistants will recommend you.
so next time you’re writing a page, ask yourself:
“could i explain this to a really smart intern who’s never seen our product before?”
if yes, you’re probably ai-friendly too.
now go make your pages so clear that even a robot would recommend them! 🤖✨
