AI SEO: what it means, and what a small team should do first

In the Netherlands, “ai seo” is now the second most searched SEO term after “seo google” (Google Trends, twelve months to October 2026). The term is used for two different things, and mixing them up leads to the wrong work.

The two meanings of AI SEO

• AI for SEO: using AI tools to research keywords, draft and update pages, write titles and descriptions, and find technical problems faster.
• SEO for AI: making sure AI answers (Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini) can find, understand and mention your company. This half is also called GEO, generative engine optimisation.

Where AI helps with SEO work

• Grouping keywords by what the searcher wants, so one page answers one need.
• Outlines and first drafts that someone who knows the subject then rewrites.
• Titles and meta descriptions across many pages at once.
• Finding thin, duplicate or outdated pages, and suggesting internal links.
• Checking structured data and spotting pages that are not indexed.

Where AI-written SEO goes wrong

Google’s guidance is that it judges the content, not the tool: helpful pages are fine however they were made, and pages generated mainly to manipulate rankings break its spam policies. The problems are the usual ones, made faster:

• Pages that say what every other page already says.
• Facts, figures and quotes that nobody checked.
• One thin page for every variant of a keyword.
• Nobody with real experience reading it before it goes live.

What makes AI answers mention you

AI assistants describe companies from what they can read about them. The work is less about tricks and more about being clear and consistent:

• Your own site says plainly what you do, for whom and where, in the first sentences of the page.
• The same facts appear on your LinkedIn page, in directories such as Clutch and on your other profiles.
• Pages answer the questions buyers ask, in their language, with the answer first.
• Structured data (Organization, FAQ, Article) and plain copies of your pages for assistants, such as an llms.txt file.
• Other sites mention you: press, partners, clients and reviews.

What to do first, in order

1. 01Fix the basics: pages Google can index, clear titles, a fast site and Search Console set up.
2. 02Write one strong page for each theme your buyers search for, in each language you sell in.
3. 03Use AI to speed that work up, with a person checking every fact and claim.
4. 04Make your company facts consistent everywhere, and add structured data.
5. 05Each month, ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini about your category and your company, and fix the sources behind wrong answers.

How GrowAxis does it

SEO and GEO are part of GrowDigital. GrowAxis sets up the technical basics, writes the pages your buyers search for in each of your languages, uses AI where it saves time with a person checking every claim, and tracks how AI assistants describe you each month. It goes live within 30 days, with your team, and is measured on organic leads.