What I’m Actually Doing About AIO
Hey friend. You’ll be hearing a lot more about AIO (AI Optimization), especially alongside SEO... and like most things in tech, it can sound way more complicated than it is.
I’m not here to give you a full 101 (there are plenty of those); I just want to share the handful of things I’m actually doing with my own site (and encouraging clients to look at too).
What is AIO anyway?
AIO (AI Optimization) means making sure your website is clear and helpful... so people and AI tools (like ChatGPT or Google’s AI Overviews) can understand what you offer. It’s about being direct, not perfect.
Why it helps:
Whether you love AI or not... it’s quickly becoming a core part of how people search, discover, and find information. AI summaries are showing up in search results more often, and tools like ChatGPT are pulling website content to answer people’s questions directly.
That means your site could be part of the answer… whether or not someone clicks through. So even if SEO and driving search traffic to your site isn’t your thing, it’s still worth making sure your words are showing up clearly (and ideally sounding like you).
And because these summaries often pull content out of context, it’s extra important that your pages have strong, plain-language titles and descriptions. This is how we keep our voices intact, even when machines are doing the talking.
More than 13% of Google searches now show AI Overviews (and 16% on desktop in the U.S.). (source)
Click-through rates are dropping by 30–35% when AI overviews appear. (source)
AI-triggering queries are growing fast; up 72% in just two months earlier this year. (source)
Stats aside: people are finding your work in new ways. A little clarity helps them land in the right place.
How I’m using this information:
I’m using this AIO shift as a reason to pause and make a few thoughtful updates to my own site. I’ve also started working it into new client projects, especially when we’re rebuilding or refreshing content. It's not about making everything perfect; it's about making sure the important stuff comes through clearly, for humans and machines.
Here’s what I’m doing on my own site, and incorporating in all new client projects:
Writing clear, specific page titles that include what I do and who I help. No vague metaphors, no “elevate your essence” type language.
Adding short, helpful page descriptions so AI tools (and humans) get a quick sense of what each page is about without guessing.
Making sure headings say what they mean, not just what sounds pretty. “Services” instead of “How I Hold Space,” you know?
Running the Squarespace AIO checklist (Website → Marketing → SEO & AIO) and actually following the suggestions. It usually just takes 10–15 minutes and catches the stuff I might’ve skimmed.
A lot of this is similar to classic SEO best practices, but the directness and clarity feels like the biggest shift for me at this time.
If you’d rather not be “found by AI” (that’s valid)
You can block known AI crawlers in Squarespace: Settings → Crawlers → Block AI crawlers. It’s not a perfect block, but it’s something. And if you’d rather protect your energy than grow your reach, I fully support that.
More on that here: Squarespace on AI + SEO, Forbes article
Why I care (and why maybe you do too)
This isn’t about chasing clicks. It’s about helping real people find what they need, in a world where so much of what we see online is filtered through layers of automation, algorithms, and AI summaries. If someone’s first encounter with your work is through a single paragraph written by a robot... I want that paragraph to actually sound like you.
Taking a little time to shape how you show up—what words describe you, what titles you lead with, what someone sees when they hover over a search result—that’s part of your creative expression too. It’s part of your boundaries.
This kind of update doesn’t need to be a whole project; it can be a quiet check-in with your site. A refresh. A reclaiming. And yes, it might even feel good.
