To provide users with ever better experiences, search engines are constantly evolving. Aside from tweaking their ranking criteria, they now make extensive use of AI to provide more relevant results, including offering AI overviews on the results page. The rise of AI, meanwhile, means search has gone beyond search engines, with more people using tools like ChatGPT to find information online. In this post, we examine the impact of these changes on SEO strategies in 2025.
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Ranking criteria in 2025
With search engines becoming much better at understanding content intent and quality, ranking criteria have become more focused on delivering results that offer helpful user experiences and authentic content.
In response to the growing number of businesses publishing AI-generated content, Google’s Helpful Content System now puts greater scrutiny on AI-created pages. While AI content can still rank, the algorithm favours that which is created with some human input, and which is genuinely helpful to readers.
When it comes to helpfulness, Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) framework has become increasingly important for ranking. This essentially means that the content creator’s experience and expertise, together with the website’s authority and trustworthiness, are all important criteria.
Besides content, mobile-friendliness and speed continue to be key requirements. With regard to the latter, changes to Google’s Core Web Vitals, which saw Interaction to Next Paint (INP) replace First Input Delay (FID), mean the algorithm now puts increased emphasis on how quickly websites respond to user input.
Search engine algorithms are making increased use of AI. With Google, for example, machine learning systems like RankBrain, BERT and MUM are used to interpret search intent, context and meaning. Using techniques like neural matching, Google is also able to match user queries to relevant content even when there’s a mismatch with keywords. SpamBrain, meanwhile, uses AI to detect low-quality content and the use of keyword manipulation.
How the changes impact website owners
If you run a website, the recent developments in search engine capabilities and ranking criteria have several implications. At the basic level, having a well-designed, mobile-friendly site that loads and responds quickly is no longer an option – it’s a necessity.
With regard to content, while keywords remain relevant, quality is more important. What you publish needs to provide visitors with a unique, experience-led and helpful perspective. Moreover, web pages need to be clearly structured, using H2/H3 headings, schema markup and accurate metadata to assist both humans and search engines.
Additionally, website owners must check existing content regularly to ensure it remains accurate and relevant, as outdated information can quickly stop ranking. Finally, while AI-generated content can appear in search results, to ensure quality, tools like ChatGPT should be used to assist humans in the creative process rather than doing all the work.
Local business? Read: Local SEO Strategies to Boost Your Business
The impact of AI overviews on search visibility
A major change to Google search has been the introduction of AI Overviews – expandable sections at the top of results that provide instant answers. The impact of these answers is that fewer people will visit the websites listed beneath, increasing the competition for clickthroughs. This will make snippets and meta descriptions increasingly important for attracting visitors.
The appearance of AI Overviews also means that the highest percentage of clickthroughs no longer goes to the highest-ranking website, but to those sites referenced in the overviews. To appear in this section, web content must directly answer the user’s query and demonstrate clear authority on the subject.
Beyond search engines
The dominance of search engines is under challenge as more users turn to AI tools like ChatGPT and voice assistants to find information and products online. With regard to visibility on these AI platforms, we asked ChatGPT how it chose the website content it uses. Its response was that while it doesn’t use a search engine algorithm, it assesses content using similar principles. These were:
- Authority of the source: Well-established domains and expert content are prioritised.
- Freshness and clarity: Up-to-date information that is logically presented performs better.
- Cross-verification: Information supported by multiple trusted sources is more reliable.
- User-friendly formatting: Clean layouts, minimal distractions and consistent structure help ensure AI can interpret the content correctly.
As a result, websites wanting to reach this new audience and appear in AI-generated responses will need to meet these criteria.
Got a WordPress site? Read: AI vs. Manual SEO: Which Works Better for WordPress Sites?
Tools to help with SEO
As optimising a website for search engines can be both challenging and time-consuming, many businesses make use of SEO tools to make better decisions and save time. One of the most useful is Marketgoo, an all-inclusive SEO tool that provides actionable SEO reports and recommendations for your website in an easy-to-use interface. It’s particularly useful for small business owners who lack the time or expertise that effective SEO demands.
In addition, plugins like Yoast help with site-wide and on-page optimisation; Google PageSpeed Insights provides information about website performance and how to improve it; and platforms like SEMrush and Ahrefs offer insights into search intent, competitor analysis, keyword optimisation and more.
The importance of hosting to SEO
With fast loading times and input response being key ranking criteria, the performance and reliability of your website can have a significant impact on your SEO.
At Webhosting UK, we boost performance by hosting your site on high-speed infrastructure, including high-frequency Intel Xeon CPUs and superfast SSD or NVMe storage, helping you meet Google’s Core Web Vitals thresholds.
Do you have shared hosting? Read: Is your Shared Hosting Provider Ruining Your SEO?
Conclusion
In 2025, website owners need to put more focus on content quality, performance and structure if they want their sites to be visible on search engines and AI platforms. By creating relevant, authoritative content, using modern SEO tools and choosing performance-boosting hosting technologies, owners are better placed to stay ahead in the competition for traffic.
For fast, reliable and secure web hosting, backed up by 24/7 technical support, check out our WordPress Hosting or Shared Hosting with cPanel plans.
