Understanding the Impacts of AI on Website Visitors and Content Strategy

The world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is constantly changing the way visitors search online. With AI playing a much bigger role on Google in particular, it is important to understand how you can easily evolve your website content to maintain and even improve your online presence with AI. Below are some simple and practical tips to help you understand how AI is affecting website user metrics, content and what this means for your business.

What Is AI?

AI stands for Artificial Intelligence and refers to computer systems designed to perform tasks that would normally require human thinking or knowledge. These tasks include:

• Learning
• Planning
• Understanding language
• Recognizing patterns
• Making decisions
• Planning and problem solving

What is Generative AI?

Generative AI is a type of Artificial Intelligence that can create new content. Most commonly recognised as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and other similar applications, this form of AI helps to produce written content, images, code, music and video.

The Impact of AI for Websites and SEO

AI is an effective way for businesses to save time and money by easily producing tailored content for your audience and website visitors. Systems like ChatGPT can be very beneficial for tourism businesses when it comes to planning and creating content for their visitors. Here are a few examples of how generative AI in particular can help tourism businesses:

• Help you to create tailored Press Releases
• Help with imagery (predicted alt text for images)
• Help to create itineraries
• Generate blog content
• Fact checking
• Suggested content for email newsletters (subject line, titles, main copy)
• Ideas for campaigns
• Help provide engaging social media posts
• Generate marketing and targeting ideas

As a reminder, AI should be used as a support tool not a replacement. Content should always be checked and edited to reflect your brand voice.

What are the Benefits of AI for Visitors?

AI can be very helpful for visitors planning a trip. With the help of AI, users can acquire tailored itineraries, personalised travel recommendations, budget planning support, and other key destination information to make planning a trip easier, quicker and more bespoke.

Google AI Overview

One of the most common ways visitors now interact with AI is through Google’s AI Overview. When someone searches for travel-related keywords or questions, Google’s dynamic AI system generates a clear, summarised response at the top of the search results. This answer is created by processing information from across the web to best match the user’s query.

Google’s increased focus on AI Overview has started to affect how much traffic websites receive, with many businesses seeing fewer visitors coming directly from Google. On average, there has been around a 20% year-on-year decline in organic website traffic. As a result, common practices of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) need to evolve to keep pace with the rapidly changing role of AI.

But it’s not all negative. Small changes to how you write and structure your content can make a big difference. By focusing on clear answers, helpful headings and trustworthy information, your website will be better positioned to perform well in an AI-driven search environment, while continuing to support Organic traffic. You can see examples of all these practices in a recent blog we created.

Below are the most common impacts and what you can do to help your website perform better.

Reduced Click through Rate

Because Google’s AI Overview often answers questions directly on the search results page, users may not need to click through to a website. This has led to lower click through rates, reduced website visits and decreased user engagement.

The Positioning of Organic Search Results

Google has updated the positioning of its search results, with AI Overview appearing first, usually followed by featured snippets and then website results. As websites appear further down the page, even strong SEO content may receive few clicks. This change has contributed to the decline in organic traffic many businesses are experiencing as a result of AI.

How can you Improve your Website Content for AI?

Google’s AI Overview prioritises content that provides clear, direct answers to user queries. By making small changes to how your content is structured, you can improve visibility across both AI and traditional search results. Combine the following best practices with our Guide to SEO for the most effective results.

Answer the Question First

You should prioritise short, clear paragraphs, starting with a direct answer then adding detail after. Avoid long introductions to your content, as well as ‘keyword stuffing’ as this can appear quite spammy towards Google.

Use Popular Questions as Headings

One of the most important factors when writing for Google’s AI Overview is to break up your content with strong headings. AI Overview is driven by real user search queries, so question-based headings work really well. Treat your content as an FAQ for your audience and Google will thank you for it! For example:

• What events are happening in Salisbury?
• What are the opening times at Longleat?
• What attractions are near Bradford on Avon?

This helps both users and Google quickly understand your content.

Optimise Content for E-E-A-T

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. You can support your content around this by:

• Sharing original insights and local knowledge
• Using real examples
• Linking to trusted external sources

A good practice is including a ‘Don’t Miss’ or ‘Did you Know?’ feature within your content. This is a short sentence highlighting a unique experience that you may have that’s not widely known to the public. This helps to demonstrate credibility and increases the likelihood of being featured in Google’s AI Overview.

If you need further support on improving your content for AI, or have any questions, please contact katiebrown@visitwiltshire.co.uk. We will also be offering partner training courses and other educational assets around this topic should you need additional guidance.