How to convince AI: Ivano’s test wins at AST24!
The “future of SEO” goes beyond the classic struggle for visibility with competitors and algorithm rules, becoming a real challenge against artificial intelligence. Indeed, the central issue becomes how to get our content preferred not only by users, but also by the AI algorithms that are invading this field, as shown by the interest generated by SearchGPT. At the Advanced SEO Tool 2024 in Milan we talked about exactly this, thanks to the test of our Ivano Di Biasi, who demonstrated how we can “talk” with AI search engines and, above all, what are the tools we already have to influence them. With a well-thought-out strategy and the intelligent use of SEOZoom, Ivano managed to capture the attention of the most technical SEO community in Italy, winning the award as the best SEO experiment of 2024. Let’s see in detail how he succeeded and what we can learn from his work.
How to convince AI to choose our content: Ivano Di Biasi’s test
It all started with an ambitious idea: to understand how AI-based search engines analyze and choose content, and how, through a strategic and reasoned approach, we can affect how they work to make our articles stand out among billions of pages.
Ivano Di Biasi’s goal was to demonstrate how it is possible to manipulate AI engine results just as we already do for Google, using the correct content optimizations. Indeed, the heart of the test focused on the behavior of artificial intelligence and its content preferences, examining how an AI system-potentially similar to what major search engines of the future will use-chooses and ranks results. The underlying thesis is that for content to emerge, it must be useful and relevant, and at the same time that the AI search engine can – if guided in the right way – figure out which text best meets the user’s needs, rewarding it with a better ranking than others.
The experiment then took shape by focusing on a need that is increasingly central to current SEO: user intent – the real purpose behind a search, not the keywords themselves. The initial step was to clearly and precisely identify the questions users are asking, especially those that correspond to an informational or decision-making need. To this end, SEOZoom played a key role as a tool capable of ensuring a detailed analysis of Google’s keywords and FAQs (found in the People Also Ask box and beyond), which have already become – and will become even more so in the future – real keywords.
The phases of the test: from question analysis to user requirement
In the first phase of the test (conducted prior to the final launch of SearchGPT, ed.), Ivano used precisely the FAQs identified in SERPs by SEOZoom with the Question Explorer to intercept the specific search intent of users in a very sectoral niche, with a view to creating content that answered in a non-generic, but targeted way. He did not simply answer the question, but focused on how that answer was structured and presented.
More specifically, our CEO began by analyzing real user questions in a specific niche – in the case of the test, he focused on cataract surgery : through SEOZoom, he performed a thorough search of related keywords and frequently asked questions that users ask on this topic, generating a vast list of over 500 keywords. The intent was to understand why and how people were searching for certain information, recognizing their real need, and then put together content that not only answered but also anticipated any doubts a