The mindset shift is from “rank for the keyword” to “comprehensively cover the topic and the context behind it.” Here’s how I’d actually do it.
Cover the whole question, not just the headline.
On any important page, answer the related, implicit and next-step questions a buyer has, not just the one in the title.
Use clear question-style subheadings, comparison tables, and short self-contained passages that make sense even when the AI lifts one out of context. This is topical authority done properly, and it’s the single biggest lever.
Mine the auténtico questions.
People Also Ask, related searches, the “ask a follow-up” in AI Mode itself, AlsoAsked, and your own reviews and category subreddits will surface the implicit questions faster than guessing.
Pull them, then make sure your content answers them. Our keyword research process still applies, you’re just casting wider.
Build entities, not just pages.
The AI is matching things and concepts, so be consistent about who you are, what you sell and what you’re known for, on your site and off it. Structured data helps the machine understand you (more in our schema guide), even though it isn’t a magic fan-out switch.
Go off-site, because fan-out reaches there too.
A big share of sub-queries chase validation: reviews, comparisons, “best of” lists, forums and YouTube. Ahrefs found YouTube is the single most-cited source in AI Overviews.
You can’t on-page your way into those, so third-party presence, reviews and creator coverage are part of the job now. This is where GEO meets old-fashioned PR, and where our AI SEO work lives.
For ecommerce, feed the machine. Shopping fan-out runs against Google’s Shopping Graph, so complete, accurate product data is your version of topical coverage: full attributes, specs, GTINs, and a clean Merchant Center feed (Google has even added natural-language “conversational attributes” for AI matching).
I went deep on this in our product page SEO guide, and it ties straight to ecommerce SEO.
If you want the broader AI-search playbook, our guide on how to rank in AI Overviews covers the rest.