5 Locations to Optimize Past Google

And right here’s the factor: they’re not simply wanting on Google anymore.

Persons are turning to TikTok for product solutions, digging via Reddit for brutally sincere evaluations, and asking ChatGPT for personalised buying lists and suggestions—typically in the midst of conversations about their private or skilled challenges.

They’re looking out the place they already spend their time, trying to find the form of genuine, unfiltered content material that conventional search outcomes typically miss or asking AI for assist with selecting from too many choices in a subject they don’t know a lot about.

So, whereas conventional Search engine optimisation asks, “How can we rank greater on Google?” Search In every single place Optimization asks, “The place is our viewers truly wanting, and the way can we present up there?”

Let’s discover the 5 platforms the place your viewers is definitely looking out, and tips on how to present up authentically on every one.

AI visitors to web sites has grown 9.7x previously yr, with 63% of internet sites now receiving AI-driven visitors that may convert even 23x greater than conventional natural search visitors. ChatGPT alone had 500 million weekly users in April 2025 and rising quick.

When folks want to unravel complicated issues, examine detailed specs, or study one thing new, they’re more and more turning to AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude.

In contrast to conventional search, AI can synthesize data from a number of sources, create personalised suggestions, and supply step-by-step steerage tailor-made to particular wants.

For instance, after I requested for the very best laptop computer for a Ph.D. scholar in computational biology—full with a listing of particular private wants—Perplexity reviewed 20 completely different sources to give you a advice. Actually, going via that many sources by myself could be exhausting. That form of analysis is strictly the form of job I’d gladly hand over to AI each time, as a substitute of Googling.

Core optimization ideas

As of now, there’s nonetheless an ongoing—and certain long-running—debate within the trade about whether or not optimizing for generative AI search engines like google and yahoo is actually completely different from conventional Search engine optimisation, with its personal distinctive set of guidelines.

The online feels prefer it’s in a little bit of a panic. AI Overviews and assistants are starting to pull traffic away from websites, and some are declaring that “SEO is dead.” The new buzzword is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and some people are saying you need to drop everything and start learning this brand-new playbook.

But here’s the thing: every time I try to break down the discussion and look for clear, confirmed facts, I end up with a list of strategies that look a lot like what SEOs—ourselves included—have been recommending for years. At the end of the day, it all comes down to:

• Develop brand authority signals across the web. AI models recognize and weight authoritative sources more heavily. Build mentions, citations, and references across reputable sites to establish your expertise in AI training data and come up more often when AI assistant use search to refine their answers(yes, ChatGPT actually Googles things).
• Build comprehensive, authoritative resources. AI assistants favor detailed, well-researched content that covers topics thoroughly. Instead of thin content, create definitive guides that AI models will want to reference and cite, aka deep content.
• Create content that is easy to digest. Structure your content with clear headings, bullet points, and factual statements that AI models can extract and reference.

If you want to learn more about the intersections between Search Engine Optimization and Generative Engine Optimization, dig into our two articles:

Note

That said, the AI era is definitely bringing some shifts to how we approach marketing. In a recent webinar, our very own Patrick Stox highlighted two key points about SEO for AI assistants:

1. SEO itself hasn’t drastically changed, but getting good results may now require closer collaboration with other teams like PR and partnerships.
2. And a word of caution: don’t try to game AI systems. With major updates happening every few months, the safest bet is to focus on delivering real value. With major updates rolling out every few months, you never know when a shortcut could come back to haunt you. Focus on real value—it’s the safest long-term strategy.

The full webinar might be the most insightful thing you’ve seen so far on the topic:

How can you tell when or how AI is mentioning your brand? AI assistants themselves don’t provide such data, so you will need an AI monitoring tool like Brand Radar. Here are a few ideas.

First, you can monitor where your brand is mentioned online and contact sites to correct or update any outdated information.

Once you enter your brand in Brand Radar, click on AI responses, set the AI type, preferred location, and sort by search volume (for AI responses with the biggest reach).

Next, you can dive into competitive analysis.

To find pages that mention your competitors but not you (your AI mention gap), add your competitors to Brand Radar, hover on any AI chart, and click on “Others only”.

Next, click on the Cited pages report to see websites you could reach out to to close your AI mention gap.

To fix your AI citation gap (when your competitors are cited in AI answers but you’re not), start by clearing all the top-level filters. Then, go to the Cited pages report and apply the lower filter shown in the screenshot below. This will give you a list of pages, showing how many AI responses they were mentioned in and the total search volume of those queries.

Next tip. According to our data, Reddit pages have been cited over 12 million times in AI Overviews and AI Assistants.

You can use Brand Radar to spot which Reddit threads are being featured in AI Overviews and assistant answers. From there, jump into the conversation or share useful posts to shape the sources AI relies on.

This approach also works for Quora, which shows up in around 3.4 million AI Overviews, giving you plenty of opportunities to influence what AI surfaces.

YouTube reaches 2.5 billion monthly active users with 3.7 billion month-to-month natural visits, the place customers are 3x more likely to watch tutorials than learn directions, and the majority of viewers have bought merchandise after discovering them on the platform.

Google would possibly let you know the steps for a recipe, however YouTube reveals you what the batter ought to truly appear like, how the sauce ought to bubble, and what “golden brown” actually means. You see the errors, the corrections, and the ultimate end result.

Plus, in lots of circumstances, visible studying merely trumps textual content. A ten-minute YouTube video about investing feels extra digestible than a 2,000-word article, even when it accommodates the identical data.

YouTube at all times surprises me with what sort of content material takes off. I used to assume instrument evaluations had been extra of a written factor, however there’s this couple who run a YouTube channel doing simply that, they usually’re truly doing very well with it. It’s their full-time job!

Core optimization ideas

Whereas options like Instructed and Browse often work higher when you’ve constructed an viewers, YouTube Search engine optimisation is vital for getting these first views. Search visitors is tremendous dependable, typically brings in regular subscribers, and tends to have greater common watch occasions.

We’ve put collectively a whole information that walks you thru our video Search engine optimisation technique—the identical one which helped us earn over 5.7 million natural views and 642,000 watch hours in 2024 alone.

• Mastering YouTube key phrase analysis utilizing Ahrefs, YouTube autosuggest, Google Developments, TubeBuddy, and vidIQ (plus why search quantity estimations might be deceptive).
• Strategic subject choice by analyzing top-performing video codecs and competitor channel authority to seek out reasonable rating alternatives.
• Creating high-retention content material with correct scripting, pure key phrase integration, and engagement hooks that preserve viewers watching.
• Full optimization guidelines masking video file names, titles, strategic tags, descriptions that seize “key moments,” compelling thumbnails, closed captions, and strategic playing cards/finish screens.
• Promotion methods for driving preliminary views, from Reddit and Quora sharing to cost-effective YouTube search adverts.

With over 400 million weekly active users producing 952 million month-to-month natural visits, Reddit dominates product evaluation discussions, showing in 77% of product review searches on Google.

When folks need the true story—not the advertising model—they head to Reddit. It’s the place you’ll discover brutally sincere product evaluations, unfiltered recommendation, and communities discussing all the things from skincare routines to enterprise software program selections.

By the best way, that’s the place we’ve been going for the previous 10 years for product suggestions.

What’s extra, unhealthy recommendation will get downvoted. Good recommendation rises to the highest. It’s social proof constructed into the search expertise, one thing Google’s algorithm can’t replicate.

Reddit’s distinctive expertise has created the “Reddit modifier” phenomenon—maybe the clearest image of Reddit’s energy as a search engine. It signifies that folks sort “reddit” proper earlier than the factor they’re eager about.

For example, this tree chart from Ahrefs’ Key phrases Explorer reveals the preferred option to ask for vpn suggestions. Those that embody the Reddit modifier seem twice within the high 15.

Core optimization ideas

Be taught the tradition earlier than you publish something. Every subreddit has its personal guidelines, tone, and expectations. Spend time studying, understanding what will get upvoted, and the way neighborhood members work together earlier than you ever contemplate posting.

Construct real relationships, not promotional campaigns. Reddit customers have finely tuned promotional radar. As a substitute of pushing your product, change into a useful neighborhood member. Reply questions, share insights, and supply worth with out anticipating something in return.

Take part constantly in related subreddits. Discover 3-5 subreddits the place your excellent prospects hang around. Grow to be an everyday contributor by sharing helpful content material, asking considerate questions, and interesting in discussions that matter to that neighborhood.

Create content material price discussing. The most effective Reddit content material sparks dialog. Share case research, ask for suggestions on actual issues, or current fascinating trade information that will get folks speaking.

Right here’s a fast tactic you should use for Reddit: concentrate on threads that have already got visibility in Google Search.

1. Go to Ahrefs’ Site Explorer, enter “reddit.com”, and open the Natural key phrases report.
2. Use filters: positions 1-10, key phrase consists of (enter phrases associated to your web site). You possibly can choose a most popular location, too.
3. Search for related key phrases with plenty of visitors.
4. Add considerate, helpful solutions to those high-traffic threads.

TikTok is the tenth largest web site by search trafifc on the planet (470M visits). Amongst Gen Z—particularly the youthful section—TikTok is more and more preferred over Google for search, with 62% utilizing it to seek for product reviews and recommendations.

TikTok isn’t simply the place for viral dances anymore. It’s change into a full-fledged search engine the place folks uncover all the things from life hacks and restaurant suggestions to sincere product evaluations and native ideas.

What units TikTok aside is its concentrate on actual, unfiltered moments somewhat than completely polished content material.

Positive, among the stuff that pops up might be fairly senseless, however that doesn’t appear to harm the platform. If something, it would even assist. Possibly it’s an indication that TikTok is actually uncensored and open to every kind of expression…

TikTok has created its personal cultural motion with the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt hashtag, just like how Reddit customers depend on the search time period modifier to seek out precisely what they’re on the lookout for. For a lot of customers, this hashtag is a trusted option to discover merchandise, making it a go-to search instrument, particularly for way of life, magnificence, and tech objects.

Core optimization ideas

The algorithm seems to be at issues like how many individuals watch your video all through, what sounds are trending, and different engagement alerts to resolve what to indicate extra of.

We’ve received a complete information that covers TikTok Search engine optimisation from the bottom up, together with:

• Understanding TikTok’s search algorithm and the way it differs from Google’s method to rating content material.
• Key phrase analysis for TikTok utilizing the platform’s search solutions, trending hashtags, and competitor evaluation methods.
• Optimizing your content material, together with captions, hashtags, sounds, results, and video descriptions for optimum visibility.
• Content material technique frameworks for creating genuine, participating movies that align with TikTok’s tradition whereas driving enterprise outcomes.
• Measuring TikTok Search engine optimisation success with the appropriate metrics and KPIs that truly matter for enterprise progress.

Check out our in-depth TikTok SEO guide for the full step-by-step process.

Pinterest engages 553 million active users monthly, conducting 2 billion monthly searches. It has a powerful Gen Z consumer base, the place nearly all of customers discover new brands and products via the platform.

Google solutions, “What’s farmhouse decor?” Pinterest reveals 50 alternative ways to realize the look, with actual examples it can save you and reference. And, as a substitute of particular person, disconnected search outcomes, Pinterest offers you themed boards and associated pins that work collectively—like having a private stylist or inside designer.

Pinterest stands out because the platform the place folks go to plan their future. Whether or not it’s organizing a marriage, redesigning a house, planning weekly meals, or gathering model inspiration, customers include a transparent intent to act.

Core optimization ideas

Design vertical, eye-catching pins. Use 1000x1500px pictures with a 2:3 ratio, daring colours, and minimal textual content overlays. Add descriptive alt textual content to spice up impressions and clicks.

Put up contemporary pins repeatedly. Prioritize new content material over repins. Goal for two–3 high-quality contemporary pins each day, with a number of designs for every weblog publish.

Use key phrases strategically. Place your predominant key phrases within the first 40 characters of your pin titles. Embrace 2–3 associated phrases in descriptions and optimize board names with particular phrases.

Allow wealthy pins in your web site. Add schema markup so Pinterest mechanically pulls metadata for articles, merchandise, or recipes—enhancing your pins’ look and credibility.

Create pins that get saved. Give attention to content material that encourages customers to avoid wasting—it’s Pinterest’s high sign for enhancing attain and long-term efficiency.

Observe the 40-40-20 rule: 40% evergreen, 40% seasonal, 20% experimental. Begin pinning for holidays and occasions 2–3 months upfront.

Right here’s a fast Pinterest tip: discover search phrases with excessive demand and visible intent. If these key phrases are fashionable on Google, there’s likelihood they’ll additionally carry out properly on Pinterest.

1. Go to Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer and click on Explore entire database.
2. Use filters: Target: pinterest.com in top 10, Intents: non-branded.
3. To refine the results, use Presets or the Include filter, where you can add general keywords related to your business.
4. Look for relevant keywords with high search volume (SV).

Beginning with SEvO can really feel overwhelming while you’re 5 completely different platforms, every with its personal guidelines and viewers behaviors. The secret’s approaching it strategically somewhat than attempting to be in all places at as soon as.

Begin along with your viewers, not the platform

Earlier than you create a single piece of content material, get crystal clear on who you’re attempting to achieve. Create detailed purchaser personas that transcend demographics—perceive their issues, analysis habits, and the place they naturally spend time on-line.

Instruments like Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer and SparkToro can reveal what your viewers is definitely trying to find, is the demand rising or shrinking, and which platforms they frequent. Don’t assume the place they’re, let the information information your selections.

In Ahrefs, you can begin by asking AI for matters associated to your enterprise.

Subsequent, the Matching Phrases report offers you a broad listing of search phrases folks use to seek out companies like yours. The Search Quantity column reveals what matters your viewers cares about most, whereas the Development (GR) column reveals whether or not curiosity in these phrases has risen within the final 3 to 12 months.

SparkToro, however, helps you discover out which social media platforms your audience spends probably the most time on.

Examine what’s already working

Spend time searching every platform to know the panorama. What sort of content material is your competitors creating? What’s getting engagement? Extra importantly, what feels genuine to that platform’s tradition?

Ahrefs has information on that, too. In the event you open Site Explorer and plug in your competitor’s domain, you will see which of their content gets the most visitors from Google (Top pages report), and which content makes them authoritative in the industry through earning backlinks (Best by links report).

Match your product to the right platform and behavior

The goal is to create the right content for each search platform. 

Product/service type	Best performing channels	Why It works
Complex or high-ticket products (e.g., B2B software, cars, enterprise solutions)	Google, YouTube, LinkedIn	People need detailed information and want to build trust before making big decisions.
Visual and lifestyle products (e.g., fashion, home decor, food, travel)	Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok	Discovery happens through inspiration and visual browsing.
Local services (e.g., restaurants, healthcare, home repair)	Google My Business, voice search optimization, local social media	People search for “near me” solutions and rely on visibility in local results.
Trending or impulse purchases (e.g., beauty products, gadgets, wellness items)	TikTok, Instagram Reels, influencer collaborations	Spontaneous discovery drives immediate action.

The normal metrics you’ve used for every platform nonetheless matter. Search engine optimisation nonetheless seems to be at key phrase rankings and backlinks, social media nonetheless values likes and follows, and so forth. However with AI within the combine, there are new alerts price listening to.

What nonetheless issues

Search engine optimisation fundamentals nonetheless rely. Issues like the place your web site ranks for key phrases, how a lot natural visitors you’re getting, the variety of backlinks you’ve gotten, and your area authority all present how properly you’re doing in search. You possibly can monitor core metrics and the advanced ones with Ahrefs’ Site Explorer and Rank Tracker.

Social media numbers are still key. Growing your audience, getting likes, shares, comments, and longer watch times, plus how many people see your content—all of these are solid signs of how you’re doing on social platforms. All social media platforms have native built-in analytics, but you can also use tools like Buffer to test all metrics in a single place.

What’s new (because of AI)

AI mentions. AI mentions are situations the place AI assistants embody your model or merchandise of their solutions, whether or not or not they hyperlink to you. The extra typically your identify seems, the extra seemingly customers are to contemplate your services or products—it’s the brand new “visibility economics”.

You possibly can monitor AI mentions with instruments like Ahrefs’ Model Radar. It’s additionally price including your rivals to see how your visibility stacks up over time.

First, plug in your and your rivals’ model names. You should utilize the AI characteristic to recommend competing manufacturers:

Subsequent, you will note a dashboard with a aggressive evaluation of your model’s visibility together with:

• AI share of voice: How typically AI assistants and Google’s AI Overviews point out your model in comparison with your rivals.
• Search demand: What number of occasions folks searched in your model on Google final month.
• Net visibility: The whole variety of occasions your model was talked about anyplace on the web.

Use the charts to match your model’s visibility with rivals and monitor how typically AI responses point out your model over time.

Other than mentions, Model Radar may even present you:

• Impressions: mentions weighted by Google search quantity to estimate potential publicity. Your competitor might have extra mentions, however you’ll have extra attain.
• AI share of voice: share of brand name impressions out of the overall impressions for responses that point out any tracked model.

You may as well monitor AI mentions inside a particular subject. For instance, I can test for Mailchimp’s AI share of voice in comparison with rivals, however solely as a social media instrument (which is their lesser-known characteristic). Apparently, Mailchimp wins throughout the board, apart from Google’s AI Mode.

AI citations. AI citations are situations the place your model or content material is referenced in AI-generated responses, reminiscent of these from ChatGPT or Google’s AI Overviews. These citations sign your visibility and affect within the AI panorama—the extra typically you’re cited, the stronger your presence on this new data financial system.

If you need a fast look at your quotation efficiency, head on over to Website Explorer and plug in your area.

Click on on the quotation quantity to see the main points in Model Radar (which pages have been cited and in what context).

You may as well use this information to determine what sort of content material AI tends to choose up on, after which create extra of that.

Remember the fact that search in all places optimization isn’t anti-Search engine optimisation—all the things works collectively in a related ecosystem.

Let me illustrate that with a number of examples.

YouTube movies rank within the high 10 for about 8.3B key phrases within the US (that’s about 27% of all of the key phrases in our database; key phrases >100 month-to-month searches).

ChatGPT pulls outcomes from Google when it tries to “floor” solutions. In this experiment, we noticed sturdy correlations—round 90%—for some queries, and far decrease ones, round 8%, for the long-tail queries we analyzed.

Reddit ranks within the high 10 for over 10.6B key phrases within the US (that’s nearly 35% of our database of key phrases with quantity over 100 searches).

Merchandise found on one platform typically set off analysis on others—somebody would possibly discover you on TikTok, analysis you on YouTube, after which Google your model identify.

For instance, when Duolingo introduced the dying of the Duolingo mascot throughout a viral marketing campaign in February 2025, the search quantity for the time period “duolingo” peaked to a brand new all-time excessive, and so did the branded visitors to the location (see charts under).

There’s additionally Instagram. Pictures, movies, and Reels now seem instantly in Google search outcomes alongside conventional net content material.

SEvO is sort of a trendy information to constructing a powerful fame. It makes positive folks can simply discover you, belief you, and keep in mind you, irrespective of the place they appear on-line. This helps your model develop and keep sturdy over time.

Closing ideas

Today, folks use numerous completely different locations to seek out and find out about merchandise. They may skip Google fully. For instance, somebody might see you on TikTok, test evaluations on YouTube, be sure you’re reliable on Reddit, and solely then search your identify on Google.

Google nonetheless issues—nevertheless it’s not the one place folks search. SEvO makes positive you’re simple to seek out on all of the platforms your viewers makes use of, from TikTok and Pinterest to AI assistants, and that you simply present up in a real, useful method wherever they’re wanting.

Received questions or feedback? Let me know on LinkedIn.