ChatGPT is changing the way people look for information. Instead of hopping between five different sites, people are getting quick, straight-to-the-point answers in one place. That’s great for users but for site owners, it raises the big question: how do you get your content to be the stuff ChatGPT pulls in?
The short version: ChatGPT doesn’t “magically know” everything. It’s drawing from information it’s been trained on, much of which comes from high-quality, search-indexed content. So if your site is already playing well with Google, you’re halfway there. But if you want to boost your chances, you’ll need to lean into a few strategies that make your site easy to find, useful to read, and trustworthy to reference. As one of the best SEO agency in Melbourne edicated to your success, here are some expert insights from our team.
SEO Still Matters (Even if You Think It’s Old News)
It’s easy to assume that because ChatGPT isn’t literally “Google,” the old SEO rules don’t apply. But in most cases, if you’re winning with Google, you’re making yourself more visible to AI too. That means:
- Fast load speeds
Big, uncompressed images and heavy scripts slow you down, and slow pages turn both humans and algorithms away. - Logical structure
Use headings that make sense to a real person. If someone’s skimming your article, they should get the gist just by reading your H2s.
The end goal is a site that’s easy for a crawler to understand and pleasant for a human to read. That overlap is where both search engines and ChatGPT tend to look.
Quality Over Quantity
Publishing five rushed, thin articles a week is a fast track to nowhere. Instead, aim for deep, genuinely useful pieces. If you’re in digital marketing, for example, don’t just rehash “10 SEO tips” from three other blogs. Bring something new: your own campaign data, a mini case study, or a hands-on breakdown of a tool you actually use.
Think about what someone would bookmark or share, that’s the kind of content both humans and ChatGPT tend to favour.
Keywords: Use But Avoid Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is one of those habits that lingers from 2010-era SEO. It’s not just unnecessary now, it’s a red flag for low-value content. Use variations: if your main term is “web design,” mix in “responsive design,” “UI layout,” or “site usability.” Long-tail keywords are worth your time too. They often have less competition and match exactly what someone might type into ChatGPT.
Make Your Site Pleasant to Use
User experience isn’t just a nice-to-have. If your site feels clunky on mobile, or loads at a snail’s pace, you’re quietly telling people (and AI) to skip you.
Some quick wins:
- Compress heavy images before upload.
- Keep navigation simple enough that your uncle could find the contact page.
- Break long text into bite-size sections with clear headings — ChatGPT always refers to well-structured pages.
Aim for Featured Snippets
If you’ve ever Googled something and seen a neat little answer box at the top, you’ve seen a featured snippet. ChatGPT loves these because they’re concise, structured, and clear. To target them:
- Answer common questions in a short, scannable paragraph or bullet list.
- Consider adding schema markup so search engines “understand” your structure.
It’s not guaranteed, but if you land the snippet, you often land the AI mention too.
Give Your Content a Human Pulse
This isn’t just about “avoiding AI detection”. Google’s own quality raters now look for and flag low-effort AI content. So, make sure your content has a human/personalised touch. What you can do is add:
- Small anecdotes (“When I tested this tool last month…”).
- Observations from your own work.
- Real photos or original charts instead of stock images.
These little touches break the predictable rhythm that pure AI text tends to have and give readers a reason to trust you.
Build Real Authority (Backlinks Still Count)
Backlinks are like references in a job application, if respected sites are pointing to you, it signals you’re worth trusting. Go for relevant, quality links:
- A marketing blog linking to your SEO guide beats a random lifestyle site linking to it.
- Being mentioned in industry publications or expert roundups still works wonders.
And don’t underestimate the quiet power of social proof. If people are sharing your work a lot, it increases both your visibility and credibility.
Keep It Fresh
Old, stale pages fade into the background. Updating them with current stats, trends, and examples shows both users and algorithms that you’re active. This can be as simple as:
- Replacing outdated screenshots in a how-to guide.
- Adding new research data to a blog post.
- Rewriting intros that still talk about “upcoming 2022 trends.”
Final Thoughts
If you take one thing from this, make it this: you don’t win with ChatGPT by tricking it. Google’s latest guidelines and the AI detection systems that feed into them are set up to reward value and penalise “scaled, low-effort” publishing. The better approach is the long game:
- Make content worth reading.
- Add your own voice and experience.
- Keep your site fast, usable, and trustworthy.
If you do that consistently, ChatGPT’s more likely to pull from your work and people will actually want to read it when they land on your page. If you need help optimising your content for both search engines and AI, the best SEO agency in Melbourne is at your service. Get in touch with us at SEO.Melbourne today.
Ashwathy
Ashwathy is an experienced writer and editor specialising in curating content that is factually accurate, rich in information, thoroughly researched, and thoughtfully articulated. Over the years, she has developed a deep understanding of audience engagement and the nuances of writing across digital platforms, allowing her to deliver content that informs, connects, and adds value.