How to Write Content That Ranks on Google and Improves AI Visibility

Content writing is no longer just about adding keywords, optimising headings and publishing articles to improve Google rankings.

With the growing importance of AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), businesses also need to think about how their content is understood, selected, mentioned and referenced by AI platforms.

But this doesn't mean you need to write separate articles for SEO, AEO and GEO.

Your content should serve the same end user across all these discovery experiences.

Whether someone finds your article through a traditional Google search, gets an answer through Google AI Overviews or receives a recommendation from ChatGPT, the underlying requirement remains the same: your content should provide useful, accurate and relevant information.

So, how do you create content that performs well in SEO while also improving your AI visibility?

Here are the ten principles I follow when developing a content strategy.

1. Choose the Right Topic Based on User Intent, Not Product Priorities

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is choosing content topics based on what they already know about their products.

Sometimes, the product team suggests topics based on product features. Sometimes, the marketing team looks at competitor blogs and decides to write about the same subjects.

But is that what your target audience actually wants to know?

Your content topic should not be selected simply because:

• Your business knows a lot about that subject.
• Your product team wants to promote a particular feature.
• Your competitors have already published an article about it.
• A keyword research tool shows good search volume.

Instead, choose topics based on the questions, challenges and decisions your target audience faces.

Your content should help users make a decision.

For example, imagine you are marketing an HRMS software product.

Instead of writing another article explaining the features of your HRMS software, think about the problems an HR manager faces:

• How do I manage employee attendance across multiple locations?
• What should I consider before choosing an HRMS?
• How can I reduce manual payroll errors?
• What are the challenges of managing employee records manually?
• When should a growing business move from spreadsheets to HRMS software?

These questions give you much stronger content opportunities because they are connected to actual user problems and decisions.

How do you find the right topics?

Don't depend entirely on keyword research tools such as Semrush and Ahrefs to discover what your audience wants to know.

You can use them to understand keyword opportunities, competition and search demand. However, you also need to research the questions and problems your target audience is discussing.

Here are some places to start:

• Google Search Console: Identify queries that already bring relevant visitors to your website.
• Reddit and Quora: Find real questions, discussions and problems from your target audience.
• Google Search: Explore People Also Ask, autocomplete and related searches.
• Customer reviews: Understand what customers appreciate, dislike and struggle with.
• Sales and customer support teams: Identify frequently asked questions and objections.
• Competitor reviews: Understand what customers are missing from existing solutions.

I have explained this approach in more detail in my previous article: How to Do Keyword Research for AI Search

The idea is simple: identify the questions your audience is asking, understand the decisions behind those questions and create content that helps them move forward.

2. Get Straight to the Point: Don't Make Readers Search for Answers

You don't need to build a story before answering a user's question.

If someone searches for a solution to a problem, they expect useful information, not three paragraphs explaining why the topic is important.

Start with the actual problem and address it directly.

For example, if your article is about reducing payroll errors, don't start with a generic introduction about how payroll management is important for every organisation.

Instead, explain why payroll errors happen, what problems they create and how businesses can prevent them.

A good introduction should help readers understand:

• What problem does this article address?
• Why should the reader care?
• What will the reader learn or be able to decide after reading it?

This approach is also useful for AEO and GEO. Clearly written answers and well-organised information make it easier for readers and AI systems to understand what your content is about.

You also don't need to write 2,000 words just because someone says long-form content is good for SEO.

If you can answer the user's question comprehensively in 800 words, there is no reason to stretch it to 2,000 words.

Write as much as the topic requires, not as much as an SEO word-count recommendation suggests.

3. Add Your Own Insights to the Content

Information alone is not always enough to make your article valuable.

If someone can find exactly the same information in ten other articles, why should they choose yours?

This is where your insights become important.

An insight can come from your professional experience, customer interactions, research, industry observations or an understanding of how a particular problem works in real situations.

For example, an article about choosing HRMS software could explain the common features available in the market.

But you can make it more useful by adding an observation such as:

“Many growing businesses compare HRMS platforms based on the number of features they offer. However, the more important consideration is whether the software can handle the organisation's actual approval workflows, employee structure and payroll requirements.”

This additional perspective helps the reader evaluate the decision instead of simply consuming information.

Try to include:

• Practical observations from your industry.
• Common mistakes people make.
• Lessons from real customer experiences.
• Your own interpretation of industry trends.
• Examples that explain why a particular approach works or fails.

Don't add opinions just to make the article look different. Your insights should add value to the topic.

Original insights and first-hand experience also give your content something more valuable than generic information that can be reproduced across multiple websites. This can strengthen your GEO content strategy by giving readers and AI platforms useful information to reference.

4. Make Your Content Problem-Solving, Not Product-Selling

Your article should not be written with the intention of selling your product in every paragraph.

Its primary purpose should be to help users understand their problems and evaluate possible solutions.

Let's take an example.

Suppose you are writing about travel and expense management software.

Instead of immediately introducing your product and explaining its features, first address the problems businesses face:

• Employees submitting expenses without proper receipts.
• Delays in travel approvals.
• Difficulty tracking travel budgets.
• Manual reimbursement calculations.
• Lack of visibility into employee spending.

Then explain how these problems can be solved.

You can break the solution into different approaches, explain the advantages and limitations of each and help readers understand which approach might work for their business.

Also, think beyond the first question.

If someone asks, “How can I automate employee expense management?”, their next questions might be:

• What processes can be automated?
• How much manual work can be reduced?
• What should I look for in expense management software?
• How do I choose the right solution?

Your article should anticipate these related questions wherever they are relevant.

This makes the content more useful because you are helping the reader progress through the decision-making process rather than answering just one isolated question.

5. Explain Different Scenarios and Possible Solutions

Not every user faces the same problem, even when they search for the same topic.

Your content should account for the different situations in which the problem occurs.

For example, consider an article about choosing payroll software.

A startup with 15 employees may have completely different requirements from an organisation with 500 employees.

You can break the topic into different scenarios:

This approach helps readers understand which solution is relevant to their circumstances.

It also makes your article more comprehensive without adding unnecessary information.

Whenever you write about a topic, ask yourself:

What are the possible situations in which someone might face this problem, and how can I help them solve each one?

6. Use Comparative Content Wherever It Helps the Reader

Comparison is an important part of decision-making.

People often search for information because they are evaluating different approaches, products or solutions.

You should make these comparisons easy to understand.

For example, if you are writing about employee attendance management, you could compare manual attendance tracking, spreadsheets and automated attendance software.

A well-structured comparison table helps readers understand the differences without reading multiple paragraphs.

You can also use comparisons within your content to explain:

• Different methods of solving a problem.
• The advantages and disadvantages of each approach.
• When one solution is more suitable than another.
• What users should consider before making a decision.

Don't create comparison tables simply for the sake of adding tables. Use them when they make information easier to understand.

7. Support Your Content With Evidence

This is one of the most important things I would recommend when creating content for both traditional SEO and AI visibility.

Don't just make statements. Support them with evidence wherever possible.

For example, if you claim that a particular process reduces manual work, explain how you arrived at that conclusion.

You can support your content with:

• Customer case studies.
• Real customer reviews and testimonials.
• Original research and survey findings.
• Industry reports and statistics.
• Product demonstrations and screenshots.
• Expert opinions and interviews.
• Relevant external research.

Imagine you are writing about how businesses can reduce payroll processing time.

Instead of simply saying that automation saves time, include a relevant customer example showing the previous process, the changes implemented and the results achieved.

A case study or customer review can provide useful supporting evidence that a generic statement cannot.

Make sure that statistics and performance claims are accurate, traceable and presented with the right context.

Your content should not just tell readers what works. It should show them why they should trust that information.

Evidence, original data and real-world examples can also make your content more valuable as a potential source for generative AI responses.

8. Explain Where Your Product Fits Into the Solution

There is nothing wrong with introducing your product in an informational article.

However, the product should appear as a relevant solution to the problem being discussed, not as the reason the article exists.

For example, after explaining the challenges of managing employee travel requests and expense reimbursements, you can introduce how your product addresses those workflows.

You could explain:

• Which specific problem your product solves.
• How the product handles that particular workflow.
• What makes its approach useful.
• Which type of business would benefit from it.

You can also include a small comparison with other solutions available in the market.

For example:

“Unlike basic expense tracking tools, EMgage brings travel requests, expense submissions, approvals and reimbursements into a connected workflow.”

Only use comparisons that you can substantiate. If you mention competitors or alternative products, make sure the comparison is fair and accurate.

You don't need to turn the entire article into a product promotion. A relevant product explanation, supported by a case study or customer review, is often more useful than repeatedly inserting product CTAs.

9. Follow a Simple Content Structure

There is no single article structure that works for every topic.

The structure should depend on what the reader wants to understand and the decision they need to make.

However, here is a basic structure that you can use as a starting point:

A. Introduction

Introduce the problem and explain what the article will help the reader understand. Get straight to the point.

B. Main problem or pain point

Explain the actual problem the user is facing. Use examples and relevant context to make the problem easy to understand.

C. Possible solutions

Break the problem into relevant scenarios and explain how each situation can be addressed.

D. Comparisons and insights

Help the reader evaluate different approaches using comparisons, practical insights and supporting evidence.

E. Product relevance

Where appropriate, explain how your product or service solves a similar problem. Include relevant customer examples, case studies or reviews.

F. Conclusion

Summarise the important considerations and help the reader understand what decision to make next.

Remember, this is only a starting structure. Some articles may need a step-by-step guide, others may need a comparison table, and some may need a detailed explanation of a particular problem.

Don't force every article into the same template.

A flexible structure that addresses the user's intent is more important than following a fixed SEO article format.

10. Include Expert Insights and a Credible Author Profile

Content should reflect real knowledge and experience.

Where the topic requires additional expertise, include insights from people who understand the subject.

For example:

• An HR article can include insights from an experienced HR professional.
• A financial article can include an expert's explanation of relevant financial considerations.
• A technical article can include insights from someone who has implemented the technology.

You can include expert contributions as short quotes, practical observations or detailed explanations within the article.

Also, maintain a proper author profile.

An author bio should explain:

• Who wrote the article.
• Their professional experience.
• Their relevant expertise.
• Why they are qualified to discuss the topic.

Don't add expert names or credentials simply for appearance. The contribution should be genuine, and the author profile should accurately represent the author's experience.

Real expertise and relevant author information help readers evaluate the credibility of your content and provide useful context about the people behind it.

Final Thoughts: Write Content That Deserves to Be Referenced

Writing content for better SEO rankings and AI visibility doesn't require complicated writing techniques.

It requires a better understanding of your audience and the problems they are trying to solve.

SEO, AEO and GEO may have different optimisation considerations, but the foundation of good content remains the same: relevance, usefulness, clarity, original insights and supporting evidence.

Before starting your next article, ask yourself these questions:

• Is this a topic my target audience actually wants to know about?
• What decision is the reader trying to make?
• Am I answering the main question directly?
• Have I included useful insights that go beyond existing information?
• Have I covered the possible scenarios and follow-up questions?
• Have I supported my statements with reliable evidence?
• Does my content help the reader evaluate possible solutions?
• Is my product included naturally where it is relevant?

If you can answer these questions confidently, you are moving in the right direction.

Don't write content just to fill your website with articles. Write content that deserves to be read, helps people make decisions and provides information worth referencing.

That is the foundation of creating content that can perform across traditional search and improve your brand's visibility across AI platforms.