When it comes to using AI for business growth, ChatGPT search is your best friend.
Whilst using standard ChatGPT is not a totally new phenomena as businesses are already using it to help with things like:
- Making content creation quicker
- Thinking of new ideas
- Cutting down on manual tasks
- Improving efficiency
- Streamlining repetitive tasks
Are businesses realising the potential of AI in terms of increasing website traffic?
This is where ChatGPT search comes into play as it aims to search the web in a much more sophisticated way than before.
This means users can get quicker answers to their search queries along with links to relevant web sources and images. ChatGPT search is the perfect combination of a natural language interface with the added benefit of providing people with up to date news.
In turn, this gives businesses the perfect opportunity to use ChatGPT search as a traffic source, as it works similarly to Google in terms of signposting people to valuable results.
This means businesses can enjoy increased website traffic from AI – but how do you make sure your website is suggested by the platform? And how much can you influence this?
That’s what we’re unravelling in this blog as we take you through how to use ChatGPT search to boost your website traffic.
What Is ChatGPT Search?
ChatGPT search aims to make finding answers online easier.
By combining the ChatGPT interface with the search environment, it also aims to make the process more engaging as users can ask more questions to drill down answers further.
Traditionally, this would mean starting a new search query (if you were using Google for instance) but with ChatGPT search, you can respond to the AI suggestions with follow up questions.
It can take ages to find the right answers online, especially with how many results you’re presented with, but this new feature aims to do it for you. It also feels more like a conversation and makes the process of searching the web more enjoyable.
To improve the experience further, ChatGPT search has partnered with news and data providers to add categories to results including the weather, stocks, sports, news, and maps.
From a business point of view, ChatGPT is a huge advantage as it’s helping your business connect with more people.
This gives you new opportunities to reach a broader audience and create more of a two-way conversation where they can dig deeper into your business, and AI will respond with relevant content.
“ChatGPT search promises to better highlight and attribute information from trustworthy news sources, benefiting audiences while expanding the reach of publishers like ourselves who produce premium journalism.” – Pam Wasserstein, President, Vox Media
How AI Is Increasing Website Traffic
AI increases website traffic by recommending your business to users depending on what prompts they enter.
For example, if someone searches for the top 5 restaurants in Newcastle, ChatGPT search will suggest 5 of the best restaurants in that city with links to the websites.
In turn, this is directing more traffic towards these restaurants and increasing the likelihood of people actually going.
Another example would be someone looking for affordable office pods with the prompt:
“Find me an alternative for mute labs office pods in the UK”
For those of you who aren’t aware of Mute Labs office pods, they are soundproof pods designed for quiet work or private meetings in an open office. They offer noise reduction and a distraction-free workspace, and are usually quite expensive.
In terms of results, ChatGPT search would return a list of alternatives with images and links to the sites.
Based on the prompt above, the search results might be vague as the only detail we have provided is the name of the brand we want an alternative for, and the location.
However, had we been more specific and included the word ‘cheap’ or ‘6 person’ for example, the results would be more tailored.
Essentially the more detail you provide in your prompt, the more relevant ChatGPT search’s responses are more likely to be.
In SEO terms, think of this as being similar to long-tail keywords which you type into Google’s search bar. The longer and more detailed your search query, the higher the likelihood that Google will deliver results that match what you’re looking for.
Another example would be someone searching for the best sports brands.
When prompted with, “Find me the best online sports brands” ChatGPT search would provide a list of top sports brands with a link to their websites for an easy shopping experience.
Therefore the platform is directing traffic to these businesses and increasing the likelihood of people making a purchase. As we’ve mentioned, the more precise the query, such as adding budget preferences or looking for specific items such as “sports jackets,” the more precise ChatGPT’ search’s suggestions will be.
It’s the same as SEO, as this mirrors the power of long-tail keywords, helping businesses attract visitors who are more likely to convert.
How Businesses Can Influence AI Responses
With so much competition online, how do you make sure your business is the one that AI suggests to users?
If we think about this in the same context as SEO, you’ve got to follow some basic principles to ensure your website is ranked highly in the search results above all of your competitors.
No one wants to be on page 10, as let’s be honest, who scrolls past the first two pages of Google!
It’s similar for AI suggestions, as Chat GPT needs to be able to understand your website and content quickly, so that it can work out the best and most relevant results for users.
Let’s start by looking at how these principles are similar to SEO.
The Similarity to SEO Practices
Just like Google, AI priorities content that is:
- High quality
- Informative
- Engaging
- Original
- Up to date
- Relevant
With this in mind, you need to review your website and the content to make sure it fulfils the criteria above.
By making your website as easy to understand as possible, you’re not only increasing the likelihood of customers converting once they’ve landed on it, but you’re also increasing the likelihood of Chat GPT recommending you to users in the first place.
The goal of AI is to serve relevant responses that help the user, so by optimising your website and taking the above points into consideration, you can increase the chances of being surfaced in AI answers.
User Intent
You want to make sure that your website serves user intent, otherwise you have less chance of being suggested by AI as it might think your content is spammy.
By understanding your audience and providing genuinely useful information on your website, you can answer their queries quickly. This shows AI that what you’re providing is valuable to users, increasing the likelihood of it linking to your website.
One way to do this is through FAQs which answer specific questions.
For example, going back to the prompt we entered about office pods, if you’re a company selling these products you want a dedicated webpage that gives users more information.
The content should cover queries such as:
- How much do they cost?
- How easy are they to install?
- How long does installation take?
These are things people will be typing into Google when looking for office pods, so by covering these questions on your website you’re helping make sure your website is served by AI.
Essentially, by organising your content thoughtfully, you’re helping AI build a clearer picture of your offering. This allows the platform to easily scan your website and suggest it in response to relevant queries, based on the information you’ve provided.
For instance, if a user prompt in ChatGPT search specifically included the word “cheap,” AI could scan your website’s FAQs, identify the section about cost, and suggest your site as a relevant response.
You’re making life easy for the platform, as you’re helping it pick out key pieces of information without scanning your site in its entirety.
This alignment between user intent and your content helps AI recognise your site as a valuable source, increasing the likelihood of it recommending you for specific queries.
Conversational Queries
Optimising your website for conversational queries means understanding how people type questions into AI.
For example, making sure you incorporate natural language and responses to frequently asked questions as this shows the platform that you’re writing for real people. This supports our earlier point about providing relevant and useful information rather than just stuffing your website with keywords.
A good example would be on a product page.
Instead of only listing product features and specifications, think about what questions people might ask about the product instead.
For instance, in the case of office pods, people might ask questions such as “What are the benefits of an office pod?” or “Will the office pod fit my workspace?”
By reviewing the content on your website and ensuring it aligns with these natural queries, you’re making it easier for AI to serve your content in its answers.
When being more natural, it’s important to strike the right balance between conversational queries and keywords so that you appeal to both users and the AI driven search environment.
So make sure these keywords are incorporated naturally in your content and always read it back to check it flows and is enjoyable to read.
Staying Up to Date With AI Trends
We’re all still learning about AI, including ChatGPT search, as it continues to evolve. It’s important to keep up to date with any changes so that you know how these affect your website’s visibility.
With this information you’ll be able to provide users with the relevant and valuable content, increasing the likelihood of AI suggesting you in its responses.
Keeping up to date with these trends also allows you to tailor your website to meet the latest criteria that AI uses when selecting content to suggest.
Like SEO, where ranking factors including keyword relevance and content quality influence Google’s results and where it positions different websites, AI considers context, user intent, and behaviour patterns.
By understanding AI-specific factors, you can review and optimise your website to meet the needs of an AI-driven search environment. This might include focusing on structured data, prioritising natural language, or enhancing content relevance through highly targeted FAQs and clear, specific answers.
Essentially, you’re aligning your website’s content with the criteria AI uses when deciding what websites to suggest to users, increasing the likelihood of your website being surfaced in AI responses.
This gives your website greater exposure through this expanding traffic source and allows you to stay competitive.
ChatGPT Search: How AI Can Increase Your Website Traffic
ChatGPT search aims to help users get quicker, more direct answers without having to sift the web.
Finding high quality, relevant information can be difficult but this new feature aims to search the web for you, collating links to web sources and images to help you find what you need.
By creating a two-way conversational environment, it allows people to ask follow-up questions to really focus on the information they want ChatGPT to find.
As AI continues to evolve, we’ll no doubt be learning more about this new search environment and what it means for business and customers alike.
At Discovery Design, we’re always helping companies keep up to date with the latest changes in the industry, whether that’s related to branding, websites, or marketing, ensuring your business stays competitive. If you need any help with your own business, get in touch to find out how we can help.
