SEO priority for the latter part of 2026
How to make existing websites extremely easy for both people and search systems to understand?
Since my earlier articles on SEO, Google has changed things a bit. Again.
The really significant change is this:
January’s strategy was increasingly about understanding the new AI/search environment.
September’s strategy can be much more grounded in what Google has now actually documented.
Google itself says its generative AI features are grounded in the Search index and that existing SEO best practices remain relevant. It also explicitly says there are no additional technical requirements for AI Overviews or AI Mode beyond the normal Search requirements.
So, until Google publishes new guidance, my core message is:
Don’t build a second SEO strategy for AI. Build a better website.
That is probably the strongest, and most defensible, message to carry forward from the January articles.
| Priority | What I’d focus on now |
|---|---|
| 1. Technical SEO | Crawlability, indexation, canonicals, internal links, mobile, performance |
| 2. Existing content | Refresh weak/commodity content and strengthen useful pages |
| 3. First-hand expertise | Case studies, real projects, examples, screenshots, lessons learned |
| 4. Service pages | Make each service page genuinely useful and conversion-focused |
| 5. Local SEO | Google Business Profile, local relevance, reviews, location/service information |
| 6. Structured data | Keep appropriate schema accurate; don’t chase “AI schema” |
| 7. Search Console | Use Google’s own data as the primary performance reference |
| 8. AI visibility | Monitor it, but treat third-party scores as estimates rather than Google measurements |
| 9. Content expansion | Add content where there is a genuine customer/search need—not simply to increase URL count |
| 10. GEO/AEO services | Evaluate each proposed tactic against Google’s actual documentation before paying for it |
Read my new article on Google’s AI and SEO Guidelines.
