Smarter SEO in 2025: Get Found, Ranked & Recommended

The algorithm’s smarter. Your strategy should be too.

SEO has always been a moving target. One minute we’re obsessing over keyword density, the next we’re told to write naturally, then suddenly AI turns up and rewrites the rules. Again.

If you’re wondering whether traditional SEO still matters or if you need to adapt to appease the algorithm, the answer is yes. And yes.

SEO in 2025 has evolved into a five-headed beast.

It still includes your bread-and-butter optimisation, but it also now involves helping AI learn about you, generate answers with your content, highlight your brand in snippets, and convert all that hard-earned traffic.

In this guide, I’ll break down the five key facets of SEO best practice in 2025 that you need to know to keep up.

These tips are essential if you want to stay visible in the current climate where Google, ChatGPT, Gemini and their friends are answering questions on your behalf.

What you need to know:

• What is traditional SEO and does it still work?
• What is AIO and why does AI optimisation matter?
• What is GEO and how can you optimise for AI-generated answers?
• What is AEO and how do you win featured snippets?
• What is SXO and why is search experience important?
• What’s the difference between SEO, AIO, GEO, AEO and SXO?
• How do you optimise for all five?
• Building successful SEO strategies in 2025

What is traditional SEO and does it still work?

Traditional SEO primarily focuses on being visible in SERPs for the highest-volume keywords relevant to your business. And yes, it’s still your foundation.

Search Engine Optimisation involves optimising content on your site, earning backlinks, and resolving site technical issues to ensure Google can understand and trust your website.

Traditionally, SEO was largely about finding the most used keywords (the search terms your audience was using in Google or Bing) and writing content around those queries. You’d create multiple pieces of long-form content using those keywords, with the specific aim of ranking as high as possible on the SERP (search engine result page).

While this is still relevant, the goalposts have changed. In 2025, SEO is no longer just about keywords. It’s about being genuinely helpful, fast, and proving to the AI algorithms that your site is worthy of its rankings.

4 key areas of focus for SEO in 2025:

1. Matching keyword intent rather than just chasing search volume.
   It’s about answering what users are really looking for, the reason behind the search terms they’re using.
   
2. Building content clusters that show you’re an expert in your space.
   Interlink related content to demonstrate authority and help both users and search engines understand your expertise.
   
3. Earning backlinks from reputable sources, not buying them from questionable websites.
   Focus on quality, not quantity.  Genuine links from trusted sites build long-term SEO value.
   
4. Getting your house in order, technically.
   Fast load times, mobile usability, crawlability, and clear navigation all support visibility and performance.

When building an SEO strategy, ask yourself:

“Does my site genuinely help users and prove it deserves to rank?”

Putting this into practice:

A Brighton-based estate agent can improve their local search visibility by:

• Creating targeted landing pages for each property type and area (e.g. “2-bed flats in Hove”) that match user intent
  
• Linking blogs like “What to check before buying in Brighton” to relevant listings to build topical authority
  
• Earning backlinks from local press by featuring expert insights on housing trends
  
• Running regular technical audits to fix broken links and ensure fast mobile load speeds

Takeaway: Traditional SEO still works, but today, it’s all about relevance, clarity, and quality over quantity.

What is AIO and why does AI optimisation matter?

This is about teaching AI who you are.

AI Optimisation is about ensuring that your content is easily discoverable, understandable, and trustworthy according to the rules of AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity. 

These tools increasingly rely on high-authority sources, structured data, and external links to answer user queries, especially when they’re connected to live search or browsing features.

While foundation models like GPT-4 aren’t regularly updated with new training data, many AI assistants are now blending static knowledge with real-time search capabilities. This means that if your content is well-optimised and referenced externally (e.g. on trusted sites, through backlinks, or via structured markup), it stands a better chance of being surfaced in AI-generated responses. This is much like how SEO works with Google.

3 key areas of focus for better AIO:

1. Earn mentions from trusted sources.
   AI tools value citations from Wikipedia, Crunchbase, specialist directories, developer forums and trusted news outlets.
   
2. Structure content clearly.
   Use clear headings, bullet points, FAQs, and summaries. It helps AI parse your content more easily.
   
3. Ensure consistency across platforms.
   Facts, names, and claims should be consistent across your platforms, wherever you’re mentioned online, to avoid confusing the models.

When optimising for AOI, ask yourself:

“Will this content help AI models learn about my business?”

Putting this into practice:

A climate-tech startup can ensure AI models can learn about them by:

• Publishing open-access case studies with structured headings and summaries
  
• Creating a company profile on Crunchbase and Wikidata with accurate metadata
  
• Answering relevant questions in niche communities like Stack Exchange or Reddit, linking back to their own technical documentation

Takeaway: AI Optimisation involves seeding trusted platforms with structured, reliable information, so AI systems can reference you without guessing.

What is GEO and how can you optimise for AI-generated answers?

You want to be recommended, not forgotten.

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is about helping your content become the source AI tools use to generate responses. With assistants already pulling quotes and summaries into conversational answers, clear, well-structured content gives you a better chance of being included.

3 key areas of focus for better GEO:

1. Use clear, concise language.
   AI models prioritise content that is easy to summarise and understand without ambiguity.
   
2. Structure your content for readability.
   Headings, bullet points and intro summaries help AI identify relevant parts of your content quickly.
   
3. Add schema to support AI interpretation.
   FAQs, articles, and product schemas make it easier for models to understand what your page is about.
   

When optimising for GEO, ask yourself:

“Will this content structure help the model recommend my site to users?”

Putting this into practice:

A travel blog can prepare its content for generative answers by:

• Writing intro summaries that clearly explain who the content is for and what it includes
  
• Using subheadings like “Best family beaches near Cornwall” and bullet points to break down information
  
• Linking to trusted external sources like tourism boards or local councils to build credibility

Takeaway: GEO is about formatting your content so AI tools can easily summarise and reference it, quickly and confidently.

What is AEO and how do you win featured snippets?

If Google’s only going to show one answer, make sure it’s yours.

Answer Engine Optimisation is how you land those prime, most clickable spots in Google like featured snippets, People Also Ask, and AI Overviews. These are the places people look first, and increasingly, the only place they look.

3 key areas of focus for better AEO:

1. Write direct answers to common questions.
   Short, scannable responses give you a better shot at landing in Google’s highlighted result boxes.
   
2. Use the right schema markup.
   FAQ and HowTo schema signal to Google that you’re providing a clear, structured answer to a known query.
   
3. Format content for scannability.
   Bullet points, numbered steps and bold subheadings make your answers easier for Google and users to digest.

When optimising for AEO, ask yourself:

“Have I structured this content so it’s the answer Google or AI chooses to show first?”

Putting this into practice:

A cleaning brand can update its blog to target featured snippets by:

• Adding direct answers at the top of articles in fewer than 50 words
  
• Splitting how-to posts into clearly labelled steps with numbered headings
  
• Applying FAQ schema using structured data plugins in WordPress
  

Takeaway: AEO is about structuring your answers for visibility, ensuring content is concise, scannable, and schema-friendly to increase visibility and get picked.

What is SXO and why is search experience important?

Traffic is nice. Conversions are better.

Search Experience Optimisation (SXO) blends SEO, UX, and CRO. It’s about what happens after someone lands on your site, making sure they can easily find what they need and take action. You’ve done the hard work getting them there. Now make sure you don’t lose them to slow load speeds, cluttered design, or vague content.

3 key areas of focus for better SXO:

1. Prioritise site speed.
   Slow sites kill conversions. Anything over 2 seconds can increase bounce rates and hurt rankings.
   
2. Match content to search intent.
   Answer the user’s question fast. Don’t bury useful info halfway down a page.
   
3. Use clear CTAs and a clean layout.
   Guide users with simple design and obvious next steps. Don’t make them work to convert.

When optimising for SXO, ask yourself:

“Is my site working hard enough to turn visitors into customers?”

Example:

A coffee ecommerce site can improve its product pages by:

• Reducing image sizes for quicker loading without losing quality
  
• Breaking up dense paragraphs with tabs for ingredients, reviews, and delivery info
  
• Adding a sticky “Add to Basket” button on mobile to remove friction
  

Takeaway: SXO is about reducing frustration and guiding users intuitively, not just getting them to the page but keeping them there.

What’s the difference between SEO, AIO, GEO, AEO and SXO?

Here’s a quick comparison of how they should fit into your SEO strategy in 2025:

These different types of search optimisation categories are not in competition. They work in tandem with each other. 

You can think of them like layers on a tiered cake. Neglect one, and the whole thing starts to wobble.

So, how do you optimise for all five?

To optimise for SEO, AIO, GEO, AEO and SXO in 2025, you need a strategy as layered as the digital landscape itself. 

Start with the basics:

• Do thorough keyword research and write genuinely helpful content for the end user.
  
• Structure your site so both humans and machines can navigate it easily.
  
• Be present where AI models find their information and know how to produce readable content for them.
  
• Answer real questions in clear, simple ways, getting straight to the point.

Deliver a fast, smooth experience on your site that makes people want to take action.

Most SEO strategies aren’t built for 2025. Ours are.

Search has evolved. But most SEO agencies haven’t.

While others chase outdated tactics, at Bamboo Nine we focus on what actually drives visibility and conversions in 2025.

We create SEO strategies that are aligned with how people search, how AI delivers answers, and what your audience actually needs. From traditional SEO to AI optimisation, we cut through the noise and get results.

If your site isn’t pulling its weight, we’ll show you what to fix, where to improve, and how to move forward.

Let’s build a smarter SEO strategy together.