Before You Spend More on SEO, Check Your Website First.

Is your website properly set up for Google and AI search?

You could be spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars on SEO and Google Ads while overlooking something fundamental.

Does your website clearly tell search engines, AI platforms and potential customers what your business does, who you help and why you're relevant?

Improving your website's visibility starts with the right foundations: clear content, well-structured pages, relevant headings and a technical setup that allows search engines to access and understand your information.

Before investing more in ongoing SEO or advertising, it's worth checking whether those foundations are in place.

Why website content matters for Google and AI search

The way people search for businesses is changing.

Traditionally, someone might search Google for "corporate reporting agency Australia".

Today, they might ask ChatGPT or another AI search platform:

"Can you recommend a corporate reporting agency that understands Australian regulations, stays up to date with reporting trends and delivers modern, interactive digital reports?"

Now imagine your business offers exactly those services.

You have the expertise, experience and technical capabilities to be a great match.

But your website headline says:

"Transforming complexity into meaningful experiences."

It sounds professional, but doesn't clearly explain what you actually do.

Compare that with:

"Corporate Reporting and Digital Annual Reports for Australian Businesses."

The second headline immediately communicates your service, expertise and market.

Your supporting content can then explain your experience with Australian reporting requirements, interactive reporting solutions and emerging industry trends.

Clear, specific content helps customers understand your offering and gives search platforms more information to assess its relevance.

My advice? Don't try so hard to sound clever that you forget to sound obvious.

Website SEO checklist: What should you have in place?

Improving your visibility in Google and AI search involves more than adding keywords to your website.

Here are five important areas to review.

1. Clear H1 and H2 headings

Your main page heading (H1) should clearly communicate the page's primary subject or service.

Supporting headings (H2s) should organise your content around relevant services, expertise, benefits and customer questions.

2. Relevant SEO titles and meta descriptions

Every important page should have a descriptive SEO title that accurately reflects its content.

Meta descriptions should summarise the page and give potential visitors a reason to click through from search results.

While meta descriptions aren't a direct Google ranking factor, they can influence how your business is presented in search results.

3. Content that answers customer questions

Does your website explain what you offer, who you help, the problems you solve and what makes your business relevant?

Think about the questions potential customers might ask Google or an AI platform, then make sure your website provides useful, specific answers.

4. Accessible and well-structured pages

Search engines need to be able to crawl and index your important pages.

Logical navigation, descriptive internal links, useful text content and appropriate technical settings all contribute to a stronger SEO foundation.

Relevant structured data can also provide additional context about your content and business.

5. Evidence of your expertise

Support your claims with examples, relevant experience, case studies, qualifications or other credible information.

This helps potential customers assess your business and gives search platforms more useful information about your capabilities.

Does AI search require a different SEO strategy?

Not necessarily.

Google confirms that established SEO best practices also apply to its AI search features, including AI Overviews and AI Mode.

Other AI search platforms use different systems to discover and retrieve information, but clear, accessible, relevant and trustworthy content remains a sensible foundation.

There is no guaranteed way to make an AI platform recommend your business.

However, making your services and expertise easier to understand can improve your website's opportunity to be discovered and considered relevant.

For more context, read AI Search vs SEO: What's Actually Changing for Businesses.

Three questions to ask before spending more on SEO

Before investing in ongoing SEO services or increasing your advertising budget, ask yourself:

1. Can Google find and understand my website? Are the technical foundations in place?

2. Does my website clearly explain what my business does? Including who I help, my expertise and the services I provide?

3. Am I answering the questions my potential customers are searching for? Including the more detailed questions people ask AI platforms?

A good SEO provider should help address these areas, but understanding your current position is an important first step.

Know what to fix before investing more

This is why I developed AutoVisibility, a practical SEO and AI search visibility review that helps businesses understand how their websites are set up to be found online.

It identifies what's working, what's missing and where to focus first, with practical recommendations to improve your website's content, structure and technical setup.

You'll receive a prioritised action plan and page-by-page playbook, so you can make better-informed decisions about where to invest your marketing effort.

Before you spend more money trying to get found online, make sure your website is giving your business the best possible foundation.

Explore AutoVisibility

Tracy Edgar | Founder & Lead Strategist, TracElement Strategic Marketing

Strategy first. Tactics second.