Preparing for AIOs and Agentic Search: Top Tips for B2B Marketers
Jennifer Esty
May 13, 2025
AI is changing the world fast and SEO is no exception. Here’s how to start preparing for AIOs and agentic search now.
AI is changing, prepare for AIOs and Agentic Search
AI is changing the world around us at an ever-increasing pace, and SEO is no exception. Find out how you should be preparing for AIOs and agentic search now and over the next 12 months.
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First, for those of you who love an acronym, a quick reminder of what AIO or AI Overviews are.
Helpfully, Google’s AIO of an AIO is:
Why are they so important for SEO?
AIOs are increasingly taking the top spot for searches, with a higher likelihood of appearing for informational searches (Source: Advanced Web Ranking)
And the percentage of searches displaying AIOs is just going to continue growing.
How does Agentic Search differ from AI-optimised content?
Agentic Search is a step beyond AI-optimised content. It’s an AI-driven method where an agent actively plans, searches and synthesises information to complete tasks—not just return links. Tools like ChatGPT with browsing, Google’s Gemini, Perplexity.ai and Microsoft Copilot are leading this shift.
At Sharp Ahead—and in line with broader marketing trends—we’re seeing Agentic Search change user behaviour. Rather than clicking through search results, users rely on AI to do the digging. This iterative process means they often visit your site only when they’re ready to act. The result? Fewer informational visits, more commercial and transactional ones.
With AI doing the pre-qualification, the challenge becomes visibility during that journey. Being cited by these platforms means showing up where it matters—not by reinventing the wheel, but by doubling down on SEO fundamentals: clear structure, strong service pages, and content that answers real user needs.
So What Should B2B Marketers Be Doing Now to Prepare for AIOs and Agentic Search?
Our top five tips for your B2B SEO focus right now:
- Keep optimising for Google: It still captures the overwhelming majority of search activity and is still a critical investment for B2B marketers. Importantly, optimisations made for Google are also what help you appear in AIOs and AI tool outputs.
- Strengthen EEAT signals: Including display real author names, detailed bios, and credentials prominently on blogs, articles, and service pages to help you stand out against the auto-generated content pool (and the tightening algorithms that Google are developing to detect AI generated content). Furthermore, it’s important to include thorough, well considered FAQs. This is because Agentic Search is iterative so clear FAQs and well-structured content, especially on Service pages, are more critical than ever. They help AI agents extract accurate, actionable information to serve high-intent users. Download our EEAT guide for handy tools to help you understand and implement EEAT.
- Create highly citable, fact-based content: Build deep, structured content that AI engines can easily pull into their overviews.
- Track early adoption of AI tools: Especially in industries where users are experimenting more with Perplexity, ChatGPT and other AI-first search tools. Whilst still in their infancy, SEMRush and GA4 can help you can get a better understanding of your visibility.
What should B2B Marketer Be Doing Over the Next 12–24 Months?
First, B2B marketers needs to understand and prepare for agentic AI.
Reminder that agentic AI differs from traditional AI in that those systems and tools are designed to require little or no human intervention. Think of your personal assistant or a customer service chatbot that can assess a problem, provide a solution and in some cases even act on that solution (self-driving cars are another rapidly developing example of agentic AI).
As a B2B marketer, you will need to explore integrations that allow your brand to be selected for actions, not just information.
Our top tips:
- Improve content markup: Use a mix of Schema to help AI tools correctly categorise your site and content
- Make API connections easier: Help AI trigger actions without manual intervention. Examples of this for B2B would be things like Calendly, HubSpot Meetings etc which have public-facing APIs and therefore are programmatically accessible.
- Test Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO): Begin understanding how your content shows up in AI responses and adjust accordingly.
- Diversify acquisition channels: Build direct traffic streams (email, apps, loyalty programmes) to lessen over-reliance on organic search.
- Invest in brand strength: Strong, recognised brands will be heavily favoured by AI systems in recommending and taking actions for users.
If you need any help or advice with AI and SEO for B2B Marketers, get in touch and we would be happy to help!
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