How publishers can adapt to AI Mode and LLMs: a strategic framework beyond classic SEO

When the map is not the territory anymore

Google didn’t just flip a switch when it announced that AI Mode will sooner rather than later become the default interface for search. It redefined the territory.

The familiar pathways of SEO – the ones we’ve been walking for over two decades – suddenly feel abstract. The terrain hasn’t disappeared, but the user no longer sees it.

For publishers, this isn’t a UX shift. It’s a tectonic change in how visibility is assigned, how intent is interpreted, and how value is distributed.

So, what happens when your content is still visible but rarely clicked?
What does it mean to be “present” in a world of zero-click journeys?

To think this through practically, let’s use a fictional publication: The Rebellion, a sci-fi digital magazine with strong editorial values, niche topical authority, and – like many real publishers – a revenue model that’s still deeply tied to organic search.

Let’s unpack the strategic options The Rebellion (and, really, any publisher) has today.

From clicks to recognition: how Search changed 

The classic funnel has collapsed.

What was once a relatively linear experience looked like this:

Query → Search Results → Click → Page Visit → Engagement → Conversion

Now, it often looks more like this:

Query → AI Overview → Synthesized Answer → (Maybe) Brand Mention → (Maybe) Branded Search

And that’s if we’re lucky.

For publishers, this isn’t just a drop in traffic; it’s a loss of context.

The reader encounters your knowledge, but not your brand.

Your insight is embedded in the answer, but your authorship is anonymised or abstracted.

And yet, this layer of AI synthesis can still function as top-of-mind awareness… if we structure for it.

Strategy 1: Competing for AI Mode visibility 

If we can’t be the destination, be the reference.

That’s the logic behind optimising for AI-generated results. But this isn’t traditional snippet optimisation.

It requires intent clarity, structural design, and semantic precision.

What The Rebellion does:

• Answer-first content structures:
  Every explainer starts with a clear, extractable definition.
  “What is the Prime Directive?” → 2-line definition, then deeper contextual layering.
• Schema and machine-friendly formatting:
  They use FAQ, HowTo, Article, and Review schema to surface for the right entity-queries but doesn’t limit their use to the standard Google recommendations.
  
• Topical clustering and entity mapping:
  Instead of isolated content, they build interlinked universes: Cyberpunk Tech, Dystopian Governance, Time Travel Mechanics.
  
• Encodes signs of trust and credibility using a semiotic E-E-A-T lens:
  Instead of treating E-E-A-T as a checklist, The Rebellion designs content that signals trust through meaning: grounded experience, expert-coded language, clear authorship, and referential context. (See: E-E-A-T as Semiotic Framework)
  
• Bulids a proprietary Knowledge Graph through a living Glossary/Wiki:
  The Rebellion builds its own internal semantic layer by maintaining a continuously updated glossary of sci-fi terms, characters, timelines, and tropes, each treated as a node in a self-contained knowledge system. Every article links back to relevant glossary entries—and vice versa.
  This isn’t just UX; it’s strategic positioning. It tells Google’s AI (and other LLMs):
  “We own this territory. This is our canon.

This doesn’t guarantee inclusion in Google’s AI Overview and AI Mode. But it dramatically increases the odds of being cited and remembered.

But visibility Is no Longer just about Google 

Search is no longer a monolith.

Users now consult LLMs directly via ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or Gemini. These aren’t just side tools; they’re becoming default discovery layers.

And here’s the paradox:
LLMs offer less structured discovery, but more opportunity for semantic memorability.

How The Rebellion ensures presence:

They allow LLM crawling (no robots.txt blocks for OpenAI, Google-Extended, Anthropic).
They write with citation-ready language:
e.g., “The Neural Uprising, as seen in The Expanse, mirrors Asimov’s Second Law of Robotics…”.
They appear in upstream contexts:
Fan wikis, high-trust Reddit threads, and academic citations, all of which are favoured in training data.
They monitor LLM responses:
When users ask Perplexity or Gemini about “AI ethics in sci-fi,” The Rebellion shows up, not just as a footnote, but as a source.

Here, the game isn’t just visibility. It’s semantic inclusion, being present in the language models themselves.

Strategy 2: Owning the relationship (omnichannel ecosystem)

Visibility alone isn’t enough, we know.

Publishers need to build surface-independent loyalty, and that’s what the omnichannel strategy offers.

For The Rebellion, this means:

• Newsletters: Serialised essays, exclusive fan theories, curated link digests.
• Podcasts & YouTube: Deep-dive video essays, debates on sci-fi philosophy, dystopian scenario breakdowns.
• Discord and Patreon community: Fan theory channels, episodic live chats, user-generated lore contests.
• Merch & Digital Goods: Timeline posters, lore PDFs, collectable downloads.

Search introduces. Community retains. Email monetises.

That’s the triangle every publisher should draw.

How SEO can support an omnichannel strategy?

Yes, SEO supports omnichannel when used deliberately.

Here’s how:

• Map SEO content to audience segments and micro-moments:
  Not every query needs to rank. Some are designed to drive newsletter signups, community engagement, or product awareness. Structure topic clusters accordingly.
• Use organic traffic to build first-party data:
  Craft content around evergreen intent (e.g., “Best sci-fi shows for beginners”) with embedded CTAs for lead capture, subscriptions, or social follows.
• Bridge content formats with smart internal linking:
  Link articles to podcast episodes, glossary entries, or merch pages—creating frictionless transitions between editorial, experiential, and commercial content.
• Leverage search intent as audience research:
  High-ranking queries signal where interest and confusion intersect. Feed this insight into your content calendar, video scripts, and email sequencing.
  

In The Rebellion’s case, SEO isn’t a standalone channel. It’s the connective tissue between search visibility and brand immersion.

These strategies aren’t opposites. They’re complementary

It’s tempting to frame Strategy 1 (AI Search Optimisation) and Strategy 2 (Omnichannel Ecosystem Building) as alternatives, as if one is tactical and reactive, while the other is visionary and strategic.

But that’s a false binary.

These strategies are mutually reinforcing. They work best when developed concurrently, not consecutively:

• Visibility in AI Mode and LLM interfaces establishes semantic presence in environments where discovery is increasingly mediated by machines.
• Omnichannel ecosystems convert that fleeting visibility into durable relationships through community, email, recurring formats, and intentional UX

One introduces. The other retains.
One helps you exist where the user begins. The other ensures you’re remembered after they’ve left the AI interface behind.

But there’s more.

If you focus only on AI visibility, you risk becoming a source without a story: summarised, scraped, and forgotten.
If you focus only on brand and channels, you risk never being found: buried beneath layers of algorithmic synthesis.

And this isn’t linear either. Being consistently mentioned in AI Overviews or cited by LLMs can increase branded searches, which are more likely to lead users into your owned ecosystem. Likewise, strong branded communities and high engagement can increase off-site mentions (forums, social, wikis) that LLMs draw from to build their responses.

This feedback loop is critical.

The Rebellion doesn’t treat these strategies as separate departments. It orchestrates them together, structuring content so it’s parseable by AI and compelling to humans, distributed across discovery engines and owned channels alike.

Because in today’s search reality, discovery and loyalty no longer live in separate funnels. They coexist. And your strategy must reflect that.

And yet, Google News and Discover still matter

Not everything is changing.

Google News and Discover (now also on desktop) remain two of the last stable surfaces for classic editorial visibility.

They’re not AI-native yet, and that’s an opportunity.

How The Rebellion leverages them:

• Google News: Reacts with journalistic rigour and proper schema to new trailers, cast announcements, and award shows.
• Google Discover: Feeds off visual storytelling and narrative tension (“10 Sci-Fi Technologies That Already Exist” → image-led, curiosity-driven, highly scrollable).

You can’t control Discover’s algorithm. But you can earn familiarity by aligning with recurring topical and emotional themes.

And then there’s Bing

Bing is a niche player.

But in the LLM age, it’s increasingly important because it powers ChatGPT’s browsing mode and Copilot.

Unlike Google AI Overviews, Bing Copilot explicitly links and previews content.

For The Rebellion, this means:

• Ensuring BingBot access
• Using well-structured HTML with embedded summaries
• Monitoring how Copilot excerpts and displays its content
• Testing visibility on Microsoft Start and Edge content feeds

Is it a game-changer? No.

But in a fragmented search landscape, every interface is an opportunity.

Rethinking monetisation: traffic is not revenue

The days of building a media business on CPM ads alone are over.

Smart publishers, like The Rebellion, diversify:

Strategic synthesis: the map for publishers

Rebuilding meaning in an AI age 

Let’s be clear: The Rebellion is a fictional example. A narrative device. It exists to help illustrate a framework, not prescribe a one-size-fits-all solution.

Reality, as always, is messier.

Publishers operate with different resources, audiences, content types, and levels of dependency on organic search.

The strategy outlined in this article is not a rigid blueprint; it’s a hypothesis. One that must be tested, adapted, and customized to each specific case.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: this strategy shouldn’t be a response to what happened at Google I/O 2025.

It should have been underway long before.

The shift didn’t start with AI Overviews. It began years ago when Google started becoming not a gateway to the open web, but a self-contained experience.

It started when zero-click SERPs became the default for more and more queries.

AIO and AI Mode are simply the formalisation of that trend.

So no, this isn’t about reacting to change. It’s about finally acknowledging what’s been obvious: Google no longer routes traffic; it curates answers.

And in a world where algorithms do the explaining, your role as a publisher is to do something machines can’t:

• To build trust.
• To create affinity.
• To make meaning.

Because in the end, visibility without memorability is noise.
And memorability – unlike traffic – can’t be scrapped.