Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping the digital landscape, and websites are no exception. AI’s impact on websites is giving marketers and the companies they work for exciting ways to enhance the website user experience – including more efficient content development and new features and functionality like AI-assisted chatbots and improved taxonomy and filtering.
Here’s a brief look at AI’s impact on websites and five specific AI website optimization strategies to consider right now that will help improve your organization’s website user experience and set you apart from the competition.
Setting the Stage: What to Know About AI Adoption Right Now
Understanding the AI Hype Cycle
First, it’s important to keep in mind that every major technology faces a hype cycle – AI included. While initial excitement often leads to inflated expectations, the true value of technology emerges as organizations apply it thoughtfully to solve real business challenges.
Source: Gartner
As you’ve probably guessed, we’re currently in the Peak of Inflated Expectations phase of the AI hype cycle. In this stage, it’s important to take a measured approach to AI adoption: stay informed, experiment, and focus on practical applications (like the ones we’re recommending here) that deliver value to your users.
AI's Impact on Website Traffic
If you’re like most marketers, you’re no doubt worried that tools like AI-powered chatbots and large language models (LLMs) will reduce website traffic. However, this isn’t the reality – at least not yet.
In 2024, AI-driven search accounted for about 6% of all searches. Today, AI traffic is still a similarly small percentage of overall site traffic, and we’ve found this to be true across all of our clients’ sites.
That means SEO – including technical SEO – is still a critical digital marketing strategy, even as generative search optimization, or GEO, which focuses on optimizing content and websites for AI search, emerges as a new area of focus. Read more about GEO and how GEO and SEO work together.
Websites Are More Important than Ever
Despite AI’s growing role in answering users’ questions and information retrieval, websites remain the cornerstone of digital strategy for many reasons:
- AI Needs Data: LLMs rely on structured, high-quality website content for training and answering queries.
- Brand Control: Your website remains the authoritative source for your brand’s message and offerings.
- Customer Service: Websites enable personalized support and direct customer interactions that AI alone can’t currently replicate.
Five Ways AI Can Elevate Your Website
1. AI Chatbots: Enhancing User Engagement
Modern AI-powered chatbots can answer complex questions, provide instant support, and personalize interactions. When considering or building an AI chatbot, plan for and follow these recommendations:
- Craft detailed system prompts to define chatbot behavior and safety constraints.
- Personalize the chatbot interface with branding and clear instructions.
- Offer multilingual support and seamless transitions to live agents.
- Continuously track analytics to improve performance.
An example of Peloton's chatbot experience.
2. AI-Assisted Search: Beyond the Chatbot
AI-powered search tools allow users to ask complex questions and receive detailed, context-aware answers. Instead of restraining chat to a small portion of a webpage, AI-assisted search offers a full-screen experience, providing more opportunities for visuals and detailed information display.
Several of our clients have found that AI-powered search can effectively streamline the user journey and improve UX by pulling relevant product information and suggesting related content.
Best Practices
- Design full-screen interfaces for richer, more conversational interactions.
- Integrate with your ERP, CRM, product databases and/or support resources to offer more detailed and relevant information.
- Ensure the system can handle both general and specific queries. Offering a hybrid approach that provides AI-powered search along with traditional search is a recommended practice for now, as users continue to get used to AI-powered search queries.
Briggs & Stratton's AI-assisted on-site search.
3. Improved Taxonomy and Filtering
A robust taxonomy enhances the user experience and enables AI to better understand and present your content. To improve your website’s taxonomy and filtering capabilities, you should:
- Organize products and resources with clear categories and metadata.
- Prioritize data filters that align with common user behaviors.
- Support both discovery and comparison through intuitive interfaces.
4. AI-Assisted SEO: Staying Ahead in Search
AI is revolutionizing SEO by making keyword research, content optimization, and performance analysis faster and more effective. Tools like SEMrush are now enhanced with AI insights to help you:
- Identify high-value keywords and long-tail phrases.
- Simulate the impact of keyword changes.
- Optimize for voice search, which is expected to account for 50% of online searches this year.
- Analyze brand presence across platforms, including Gemini and ChatGPT.
Consider using AI SEO tools like SEMrush or others to glean insights on traffic coming to your site today from AI search and get insights to help you optimize your content further. An effective SEO strategy is the best way to ensure success in both traditional and AI search right now.
5. AI-Assisted Content Generation and Data Cleansing
AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude can streamline content creation, proofreading, and data cleanup. Leverage these tools to:
- Generate content drafts for web pages and marketing materials.
- Cleanse and enrich large datasets.
- Validate data such as addresses and geocode locations and transform data formats.
But remember that AI-generated content always requires human review to ensure clarity, relevance, and brand alignment.
Final Thoughts
AI is fundamentally transforming website development and digital marketing, but the most successful organizations will blend AI’s power with human expertise, thoughtful design, and a relentless focus on user experience. Websites remain the cornerstone of digital strategy right now, serving as the primary source of truth for both users and AI tools.
By investing in high-quality content, robust taxonomy, and smart AI integrations, organizations can captivate visitors, drive conversions, and future-proof their digital presence. As the AI journey continues, it’s critical to remember that tools will evolve, but the fundamentals of great content, clear communication, and user-centric design will always matter.
Need guidance on how best to leverage AI to enhance your website? Contact us anytime. And learn how to effectively use AI in your digital marketing and advertising – download our Ultimate Guide to Leveraging AI in Your Digital Marketing and Advertising.