ChatGPT Search

ChatGPT Search is an added function to ChatGPT which extends its search by sourcing content from the internet, as well as providing links with it. This provides users with real-time results, which they can easily click on and investigate themselves. ChatGPT Search is free for all users.

How to enable and disable the feature

Here is how using the ChatGPT Search feature looks:

By typing in a simple prompt whilst the feature is enabled, it will collate all the latest sources to provide a response. As you scroll to the bottom of the response there is a ‘Source’ button, simply click to have all the links expanded out.

ChatGPT Search’s History

The initial release of ChatGPT Search was called SearchGPT and it was rolled out for testing to a select number of users on July 25^th 2024. However, the company later decided to integrate Search GPT with ChatGPT.

The announcement of the release of its new feature came on October 31^st, 2024.

Tips for Utilising AI-powered search

Provide plenty of context

Giving context and making your explanation clear and concise is one of the best ways to use a search engine. Outlining what it is you want the AI to perform is the simplest way to get it to perform a task for you. Including context ensures it has all the necessary details to perform that task.

For instance, an unclear prompt is simple, lacks context and will likely yield poor results. An example of this would be along the lines of ‘Write me an article’. Instead prompting it with ‘Can you inspire me with topics for me to write an article’. Use AI as a building block, rather than the foundation of the content.

Don’t depend on it to do the work.

Don’t rely on AI to do the job for you, instead use it as a tool to assist with tasks like proofing, suggesting structure changes, recommending new ideas or summarising large pieces of text.

Hallucinations

ChatGPT is a fantastic tool because of its ability to collate large quantities of data around particular subjects. However, this also can lead to something known as ‘Hallucinations’. Hallucinations are when non-factual, misguided or misinformed content is pulled through into the results by an AI Search engine. That’s why fact-checking and referring to multiple verified sources is the best approach.

Sharing private data

Don’t provide private data, instead use placeholder values to get a greater sense of the task you are handling.  Not only should private data be handled with caution and kept secure, but it should be treated with compliance with GDPR Laws also.

Plagiarism

Don’t just copy and paste what AI has written, this can lead to plagiarism. Instead, write original content and let it do the smaller tasks like proofreading, and making minor adjustments or recommendations for improvements for you to implement yourself.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a well known strategy of optimising a website’s content to improve visibility on search engines like Google. However, other platforms such as YouTube, Instagram etc. have their own algorithms for ranking content, therefore we can also apply variations of SEO to these platforms in order to improve rankings and boost visibility. In this article, we will discuss the different ways you can boost your YouTube SEO including:

• Why is YouTube SEO important?
• YouTube SEO Best Practices

Why is YouTube SEO important?

YouTube is the second largest search engine globally, behind Google, which means it is important for any business to be competitive on YouTube for visibility. In a highly saturated and competitive online market, it is important that businesses take all the steps they can to stand out from their competitors.

Higher rankings means more views and subcribers, by following SEO best practices, it will give users an advantage over those who aren’t optimising for search engines.

YouTube SEO Best Practices?

When looking at SEO best practices on YouTube there are a number of similarities to Google, however, there are also some differences as well.

Keywords

Keywords are a fundamental part of any SEO strategy. When looking at keywords, we need to make sure we use both primary and secondary keywords throughout the content to let YouTube know what the content is about. Make sure to avoid keyword stuffing, overloading the keyword, make sure to use keywords as naturally as possible within the content. Keywords should be included in:

• Video
• Transcript
• Title
• Description
• Playlists
• Categories
• Timestamp
• Thumbnail

Titles & Descriptions

On Google title tags are a ranking factor, whereas meta descriptions are not, however they can still help with improving performance by improving CTR. However, on YouTube both titles and descriptions are considered ranking factors. Video titles on YouTube can be up too 100 characters long but it is recommended that they are kept between 60-70 characters so they are still visible on all devices. Descriptions should incorporate keywords to let the audience, search engines and YouTube fully understand what the content of the video is about.

Thumbnails

Thumbnails are a ranking factor on YouTube as the algorithm analyses them to see how relevant and visually appealing they are to audiences. Make sure your thumbnails use colours that capture the attention of users, as well as visually appealing graphics using keywords if applicable. Also make sure you use alt text on your video thumbnails, as you would on your webpage images to be accessible for impaired users.

Accessibility

Accessibility is crucial for any SEO strategy as it helps users with disabilities access content. YouTube automatically generates video transcripts in order to help impaired users access content. Transcripts are a ranking factor on YouTube, so it is advised that you edit and update your transcripts to make sure they are accurate, this can help boost your ranking on the platform.

Timestamps are also important accessibility features as they show users what the different areas of your video covered. This is important as it helps people who are wanting to find out certain information but may not want to watch the whole video. You can also add keywords to help YouTube further understand what your content is about.

Playlists

Playlists are a collection of videos on a channel, created by you, the user, to help YouTube understand how videos are connected based on a specific theme or topic. Playlists can help search engines understand what a video is about and can also help boost rankings of videos if they include the correct keyword for a user’s search. To improve rankings, make sure to add your videos to thematic or topical playlists.

Cannibalisation

Cannibalisation does not affect videos on YouTube as it does on Google. On Google, if you have two webpages trying to rank for the same keyword, Google doesn’t know which one to rank and this can negatively affect the rankings of both pages. However, on YouTube the same issue doesn’t exist and it has no problem ranking two of your videos for the same keywords. So don’t be afraid to create more similar content on a relevant topic if you think you can attract a larger audience.

Refreshing Old Content

YouTube tends to favour fresh and relevant content when it comes to its rankings but that doesn’t mean your old content can’t still rank. Try updating your titles, descriptions, thumbnails etc to see if your video has a boost in performance.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating Google’s control over the search market, where it handles over 90% of all search queries. This marks the first major case under new UK rules aimed at regulating large tech companies. 

What’s the Issue? 

Google plays a huge role in how we find information online and how businesses advertise their products. The CMA is looking into whether Google’s practices are making it harder for other companies, like news websites or new AI-based search tools, to compete. 

If the investigation finds that Google holds too much power—what’s called “strategic market status”—it could force the company to make big changes in how it runs its search engine. 

Why Does This Matter? 

If Google is required to change how it works, it could affect what shows up when you search online. It could also change how ads are displayed, possibly making it cheaper and easier for smaller businesses to reach customers. 

The Bigger Picture 

This investigation follows similar efforts in the U.S., where regulators are challenging Google’s dominance. It’s part of a global push to make big tech companies more accountable, especially as new technology like artificial intelligence starts to transform how we use the internet. 

What’s Been Said? 

CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell emphasized the need for fairness for businesses of all sizes, while Google expressed its willingness to cooperate with regulators, highlighting the benefits its services bring to UK consumers and businesses.

What Could Happen? 

If the CMA decides Google has too much control, the company might have to be more open about how it ranks websites or limits ads. This could change the way we search online and how businesses connect with customers.

Google Ads has introduced a new feature in its Performance Max campaigns that highlights search terms with low activity as “private.” This update provides advertisers with some insights into searches that have been previously harder to track, particularly those with fewer than 50 unique searches over 90 days.

What’s changing?

Advertisers using Performance Max campaigns will now see certain search terms marked as “private.” These terms represent queries that have been searched less than 50 times within a 90-day period. While this doesn’t give access to full details about individual searches, it offers a clearer picture of the type of traffic campaigns are attracting.

Why it matters

This is a helpful update for businesses that often feel left in the dark about how their ads are performing. In the past, Google Ads’ limited reporting on search terms—especially for less common searches—made it difficult for advertisers to fully understand which queries were driving traffic.

Now, by labelling these low-volume search terms as “private,” Google provides a small but meaningful glimpse into long-tail search activity. This can be especially valuable for businesses in niche industries or those running highly targeted campaigns, where understanding even rare search behaviour can influence strategy.

A shift toward privacy

This change reflects Google’s ongoing commitment to protecting user privacy, following a broader trend that started in 2020 when they first began limiting access to search term data. By focusing on aggregated and automated performance insights, Google continues to steer advertisers away from traditional keyword-level management.

What to keep an eye on

For advertisers working in highly specialized fields or targeting very specific queries, this update could mean a significant portion of search data is marked as “private.” While this doesn’t replace more detailed data, it offers a new way to understand the composition of search traffic and refine strategies to capture niche audiences.

This feature might not solve every frustration with Google Ads, but it’s a step forward in providing more transparency in how campaigns perform, particularly for those seeking insights into the less obvious corners of their search traffic.

The difference between on-page and off-page SEO is that on-page SEO looks at tackling all the areas on a site that you can control such as content, title tags and meta descriptions, header tags, image optimisation, keyword optimisation and more. Meanwhile, off-page SEO refers to tactics used to improve SEO performance outside the confines of the site such as backlinks, social media, guest blogging and influencer outreach.

In this blog post we will discuss:

• On-page SEO
• Off-page SEO

On-page SEO

On-page SEO is an important part of any SEO strategy as it informs how users interact with your website. The goal of on-page SEO is to improve user experience by making your website as effective as possible.

Content + Header Tags

Improving website content is one of the easiest ways to improve performance. Content that is clear, informative and structured informs search engines that it is a reliable source of information for users. Header tags are a great way to structure content that makes it easier for the reader to digest, while also indicating to search engines what your content is about. SEO best practices encourage the use of header tags, bullet points, internal links and images when creating content. Creating well-crafted content is one of the most important factors in improving search engine rankings.

Title Tags + Meta Descriptions

Title tags and meta descriptions are the first impression you make on a users when they come across your site, as they are shown on the search engine results page (SERP) in response to user queries. It is therefore important to make sure your title tag includes keywords that are relevant to the queries you want to rank for; while your meta descriptions should be written engagingly to entice new users to your site.

Image Optimisation

When following SEO best practices all images should be optimised to improve SEO performance. Images can be optimised in a number of different ways including;

• Faster page loading times: Making sure image file sizes are correct can impact page loading times, a faster loading website is an improved site.
• Alternative text: Alt text provides a text-based description of an image. This is user-friendly as it is helpful to visually impaired users and can also be read by search engines to determine image relevance.
• Image relevance: Making sure you choose images that are highly relevant to your topic is important so that search engines understand the context

Keyword Optimisation

This is the process of incorporating keywords into content to boost relevance for certain search queries. This is one of the fundamental steps of on-page SEO. Make sure to avoid keyword stuffing, inserting your keyword into the content too many times, as this can negatively affect SEO performance.

Off-page SEO

Off-page SEO is more difficult than on-page SEO as it involves actions taken outside of the site. It is just as important as on-page SEO, as you can have the best content and site architecture in the world but if Google doesn’t view your site as authoritative or trustworthy your SERP rankings will hit a ceiling.

Backlinks

Backlinks are links from other websites that link to your site. When reputable, authoritative sites link to your site, such as BBC, this tells Google that your site is a legitimate and trustworthy site. Therefore, gaining high-quality backlinks is crucial for improving SEO performance. Be aware of toxic backlinks, which can negatively impact SEO performance.

Social Media

Having a social media presence can also positively impact off-page SEO performance. Social media can help build brand awareness and drive traffic to your site while also resulting in backlinks from other reputable social media channels.

Guest Blogging

Guest blogging can also be a helpful off-page SEO strategy to improve performance. Guest blogging is when you appear on and write an article on someone else’s blog in your area of expertise. This can result in backlinks and also open you up to a wider audience.

Influencer Outreach

Influencer outreach can help improve SEO performance as influencers can generate interest in your product/ website which increases brand awareness and produces more backlinks. Influencers can also create high-quality content that can be used on your website and social media channels to attract a larger audience.

The importance of medical copy being accurate

Copy written for medical providers should always contain accurate, factual information which seeks to inform and educate the reader. The importance of it being factual lies in the fact that people will make decisions based on the information they receive, including how they are advised to approach and treat a condition.

The different types of medical copy

Medical Journals

These usually cover a range of medical subjects and allow medical figures to publish their reviews or research. Journals have a variety of reasons for use including:

• Encourage medical innovation
• Explore medical concerns
• To educate the reader
• Publish research findings

Medical Articles

Medical articles are written to help inform the reader on medical topics in an easy-to-understand way. Typically, this involves using plain English, avoiding jargon and using terminology which most readers will be familiar with.

The type of content this includes are things like treatment or conditions pages. These types of content are written to give information on what something is, the symptoms or signs of the issue, what can cause the issue as well as how it may be treated.  A treatment page might provide an in-depth overview of how the treatment process works, from diagnoses to the point of resolution.

Medical blogs

This type of content is far more casual in its tone but can cover a broad scope of medical topics. This can range anywhere from raising awareness, to providing tips and tricks to spot ailments.

Where a blog may differ from something like a medical journal is the terminology used, the perspective it is written in as well as the length and nature that the subject matter is discussed in.

The process of writing medically accurate copy

1. Establish the subject

Understanding what it is that you’re going to write about before rushing into just writing allows you to establish what it is you need to research.

• Research utilising medical journals, medically reviewed articles and local medical authorities.

Using medically accurate research materials is the only way writing copy for anything medical should be approached. Using only reliable sources which utilise science to back their content.

• Outline the common themes for the subject matter.

Identify how the content needs to be structured and consider what you need to include in it in order for your reader to feel satisfied. For instance, a medical journal will need research data, a hypothesis, an analysis of findings and a conclusion. Whereas a blog will have an entirely different structure, far more casual than that of a journal.

• Begin to write

Start to craft the copy, once you know the structure and you’ve collected all your research. As with any content writing, it needs to be original, plagiarism is punished by search engines, and it demonstrates an inability to provide authentic and useful content.

• Refer to the research.

As you’re writing, make sure to check your work. Refer to research when in doubt, keeping your content only factual.

• Check for punctuation, grammar and spelling.

This is a standard practice in copywriting, make sure that it is readable, concise, and isn’t littered with errors. When publishing medical content, you need to be able to demonstrate.

• Send it off to be medically reviewed.

The final and most important step to any medical piece of content is to have it medically reviewed. A medical review is conducted by a licensed healthcare worker like a dentist, doctor, or medical practitioner. The review checks over the content to ensure that all the information provided is relevant and factual.

Microsoft Clarity, a free website analytics tool, now integrates with Google Ads to give businesses deeper insights into user behaviour after clicking on an ad. This new feature helps connect ad performance with website engagement, enabling businesses to see how visitors interact with their site and identify ways to improve results.

What Is Microsoft Clarity

Clarity provides tools to help website owners understand their users. Features like heatmaps, session recordings, and real-time data show how visitors navigate, click, scroll, and engage with a website. These insights make it easier to spot what’s working and address issues that might drive users away.

What the Integration Offers

The integration between Clarity and Google Ads takes things a step further by focusing specifically on paid traffic. A new advertising-focused dashboard provides real-time metrics for each ad campaign. Businesses can see how users behave after clicking ads, such as where they click on the site, how far they scroll, and how much time they spend.

One standout feature is the ability to track user intent by campaign. This means businesses can measure the volume of clicks and the quality of interactions, helping them understand which campaigns bring engaged visitors and which may need adjustments.

Why This Matters

This new feature allows businesses to go beyond basic ad metrics like clicks or conversions. By linking ad spending to real user behaviour, businesses can optimize their campaigns and landing pages based on what their audience does. This can lead to smarter advertising decisions, better website experiences, and improved return on investment (ROI).

Looking Ahead

This integration will enhance marketers’ ability to optimize campaigns and drive performance for brands and clients. It also raises the question of whether Google might develop its own Clarity-like technology for use within Google Ads.

A recent study by digital marketing agency Seer Interactive suggests a connection between brands ranking on Google’s first page and their mentions in AI-generated answers, such as those from ChatGPT.

What is generative engine optimisation?

Generative engine optimisation (GEO) is a new approach to improving brand visibility in AI-driven platforms like ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, or Bing’s AI-powered search. Unlike traditional SEO, which focuses on improving rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs), GEO is about ensuring that a brand’s content is referenced in the responses generated by large language models (LLMs).

Why is this important? As AI assistants become a go-to source for information, users may bypass search engines altogether, relying on concise answers provided by these tools. For SEO professionals, this shift means adapting strategies to ensure content is not just searchable but also preferred by AI systems. This involves creating highly relevant, authoritative, and user-focused content that these models are likely to reference when answering queries.

GEO is still evolving, but it’s already clear that it matters for:

• Brand visibility: LLMs have the potential to shape consumer awareness and decisions directly through their answers.
• Future search trends: As user behaviour changes, optimising for AI-generated responses could become as critical as traditional SEO.
• Content relevance: GEO prioritises producing content that aligns with how AI tools process and prioritise information, keeping brands ahead of the curve.

Methodology for the study

Seer Interactive conducted a detailed analysis to explore the connection between Google rankings and brand mentions in AI-generated responses. They began by gathering over 300,000 keywords from the finance and SaaS industries, sourced from both paid and organic data. These keywords were then used to analyse rankings and search engine result page (SERP) data from both Google and Bing.

From this dataset, the researchers identified nearly 600,000 “People Also Ask” (PAA) questions, which served as proxies for real user queries. This list was then narrowed to 10,000 highly relevant questions that were most likely to trigger brand mentions. Using OpenAI’s GPT-4o API, the team submitted these questions to observe which brands were mentioned in the generated responses. To focus the study, the questions were designed to naturally elicit brand mentions, such as “What’s the best CRM for small businesses?” rather than generic or non-commercial queries like “How do I open a bank account?”.

Finally, brand mentions were extracted from the AI responses and analysed to determine the frequency with which specific brands appeared across the dataset. This approach allowed the researchers to measure how Google rankings influenced visibility in AI-generated answers.

What brands need to do to optimise for ChatGPT

As language models like ChatGPT become more influential, brands must adapt their strategies to ensure they are included in AI-generated answers. Here are some actionable steps to optimise for ChatGPT and similar tools:

Focus on high-quality, authoritative content

LLMs prioritise content that is accurate, comprehensive, and well-written. Brands should create content that addresses common user queries in a clear and concise manner, using language that is easy to understand.

Answer specific user questions

Since LLMs are often used to answer direct questions, brands should produce content that focuses on solving problems or providing recommendations. FAQs, how-to guides, and content targeting “People Also Ask” queries are especially valuable.

Optimise for search engines

While backlinks and content variety seem less important for LLMs, traditional SEO factors like strong rankings on Google and Bing still matter. Brands that rank well on search engines are more likely to appear in AI-generated responses.

Build brand authority

AI models tend to favour brands that are perceived as experts in their field. Establishing authority through thought leadership, partnerships, PR efforts, and consistent messaging can increase the likelihood of being referenced.

Provide structured data

Including structured data and schema markup on your website can help AI systems identify and extract relevant information more efficiently, improving the chances of your brand being featured in responses.

Monitor AI mentions and refine strategies

Regularly check how your brand is being referenced in AI-generated content. Use this information to adjust your approach, focusing on the types of content and topics that yield the best results.

By implementing these strategies, brands can improve their chances of being featured in the answers provided by ChatGPT and similar AI tools, ensuring they stay visible as user behaviour evolves.

Why this matters

As brands strive to be seen in AI-driven platforms, generative engine optimisation is quickly becoming a new frontier. While it’s not identical to traditional SEO, both approaches share a common goal: delivering high-quality, relevant content to users.

This study’s findings may be good news for those already producing strong content, as success in Google search seems to improve AI visibility too.

Key findings

The study, led by Christina Blake and Nick Haigler, analysed 10,000 questions in the finance and SaaS industries to explore what influences brand mentions in AI responses. Here’s what they found:

• Google rankings matter: Brands appearing on Google’s first page showed a strong correlation (~0.65) with mentions in ChatGPT answers.
• Backlinks are less important: Surprisingly, backlinks had little to no impact on AI visibility.
• Content variety is overrated: Multi-modal content (e.g., combining text, images, and video) didn’t significantly boost mentions.

Wikipedia is an online encyclopaedia of information which was founded in 2001, with the aim of supplementing content on Nupedia. Nupedia pre-dated Wikipedia and was also an encyclopaedia which was available from 2000-2003. Wikimedia Foundation, a nonprofit organisation hosts Wikipedia.

How does Wikipedia work?

The site works on an open-source basis, allowing any individual to contribute and edit a Wikipedia page. This open-source basis has often come under scrutiny as non-factual information has been known to be displayed.

The software used to create Wikipedia is Wiki, a content management system which makes it super simple to create, edit and publish content onto Wikipedia.

Wikipedia pages can be edited by any spectator by simply locating the ‘Edit’ button in the top right-hand corner of the web page. To edit, click the edit button and begin to type out your adjustment. To publish the content, you’ll need to press ‘Publish changes.’

Alternatively, readers can create a note on the article’s talk page in order for someone else to make the amendment to the content. Equally, any vandalism should be reported to the Wikipedia email address.

The pros and cons of using Wikipedia as a resource

Pros

• The website is really easy to use, navigating across pages is made super simple, often with content being hyperlinked throughout. This makes it a particularly great building block for beginning research.
• Wikipedia is a free resource, with the option to be able to donate. Its accessibility makes it an ideal tool for gathering basic information.

Cons

• The downside to Wikipedia with it being open-source is that the information isn’t backed by scholars. This means that often non-factual content or vandalism is present in content.
• Whilst it is frequently updated, there is no structure or process to how or who updates a page. This lack of protocol for updating content means that some content on the website will be irrelevant, or outdated.

Facts about Wikipedia

Wikipedia has established itself as a valuable research tool, with a steady influx of over 4.2 billion visitors per month in 2024. Companies such as SemRush claimed Wikipedia was the fourth most visited website of 204, whilst Similarweb stated it was seventh.

Though the data on Wikipiedia’s founding year is spotty, by 2005 it was the most favoured research site. 2005 was also a big year for Wikipedia, as it hosted the first-ever Wikimania conference, which celebrates any free knowledge projects organised by the Wikimedia Foundation.

Wikipedia has content in over 300 languages and over 6.9 million articles in January 2025 alone making it the world’s biggest encyclopaedia.

Toxic backlinks are external links to your site from sites that search engines deem to be “toxic” or bad. In this article, we will discuss everything you need to know about toxic backlinks.

When Google is assessing your site to see if it is a reliable and trustworthy source of information, it checks your backlinks. If you have a number of high quality links from reputable sites then Google knows that your site is also reputable and trustworthy. However, if your links are from untrustworthy sites then this can harm your SEO performance and make sure that your site appears lower down the Search Engine Results Page.

Causes of Toxic Backlinks?

Toxic backlinks are created when links are acquired in an unnatural way. For example, people have been known to pay for large quantities of links. This is because Google takes the amount of links you have into consideration, a more reputable source will likely have more links. Therefore, many users were paying for their links from sources across the web. Google cracked down on this and now hands out penalties to anyone who is suspected of buying links.

Other ways people can acquire toxic backlinks is by listing their site on low quality directories, posting links on other sites and exchanging links with other users. Links need to be earned for Google to view it as a reputable link.

How to Remove Toxic Backlinks?

You can remove toxic backlinks by using the disavow tool. The disavow tool is a tool created by Google that allows users to add their ‘disavow’ list which tells Google you don’t want them to take these links into account when ranking your site.

To remove toxic backlinks you will first need to use a Backlink Audit tool. At Intelligency, we use the SERanking backlink audit tool that gives us all the in depth analysis of our backlink profile. Once you have audited your backlink profile, you can simply export your toxic backlinks and add them to the disavow list on Google Search Console. 

How to Gain Reputable Backlinks?

Reputable links are links that have been earned, one way to do this is by creating high-quality content for your website that is useful, that other sites can link to when talking about certain topics. You can also earn backlinks through digital PR. Running a digital marketing campaign that is impactful generates interest in your industry and is newsworthy is a great way to have other sites link to you.