Beyond Keywords: How Affiliates Can Succeed in The Age of AI Search

Alessia Razzini

November 13, 2025

The digital landscape for travel is changing faster than ever. If you’ve seen shifts in your traffic or feel like the old SEO playbook no longer applies, you’re not alone. The rise of AI-powered search is a significant challenge, and we believe the best way to navigate it is together.

We’ve compiled our most effective recommendations and insights to help you understand this new reality. It’s not a list of permanent fixes as in this environment, there’s no such thing. It is, however, a practical guide to help you adapt your strategy for continued growth.

The paradigm shift: from ranking pages to answering questions

Traditionally, the main goal of SEO was to reach the top of the search results page. The metrics were clear: traffic, keyword rankings, and backlinks. Google’s official guidance is remarking that those metrics are still essential, as your content must first be seen as high-quality and helpful to be considered as a source for an AI Overview.

However, the emphasis has shifted. It’s no longer just about having the most backlinks or traffic. Once your content is in the running (for example, ranking on page one), AI adds its own set of preferences to decide which source to cite. This new strategy, which focuses on becoming a citable source for AI, is what many in the industry are now calling Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).

So, what does make an impact? The research points to two key factors:

Content depth: Word count and sentence count matter. LLMs favor comprehensive content that covers a topic in detail.

Readability: A high Flesch Reading Ease score is crucial. Content that is easy to understand, well-structured, and clearly written is more likely to be understood and cited by an AI.

Think of an AI as a research helper. It doesn’t just look for keywords; it reads and pulls information together to give a direct answer. Your articles are not just pages for people to visit; they are now sources of information for AI. Your new goal is to be the best and clearest source of information out there.

Crafting content for the AI era: what works now

To become a preferred source for LLMs, the focus shifts to building a library of high-quality, human-centric information that is also machine-readable. Here are the practical pillars of this approach:

Structure and readability

A logical structure is the foundation of comprehension .

Logical hierarchy: Use one H1 for your title and clear H2/H3 subheadings that reflect the content of each section.

Chunked paragraphs: Keep paragraphs focused, ideally between 3-6 lines, with each one conveying a single idea.

Lists and tables: Use bullet points, numbered lists, or tables to present data or steps for clear, scannable formatting.

Context and semantic coverage

Depth is about providing a complete picture.

Provide complete background: Offer context, clear definitions for key terms, and illustrative examples.

Embrace semantic keywords : Move beyond a single focus keyword. Naturally incorporate supporting keywords, synonyms, and proper nouns. For example, if “Rome Colosseum tours” is your focus keyword, instead of repeating it throughout your article, your paragraph could be: “Planning your Rome Colosseum tour? Make sure to consider skip-the-line Colosseum tickets to maximize your time at this incredible archaeological site. Many guided visits also include the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, giving you a complete picture of ancient Rome.”

Entity clarity: When you introduce a key concept, define it clearly. This helps the LLM understand the term and connect it to its broader knowledge graph.

Language Style

Natural, conversational tone : Write as if answering a direct question, concise, avoiding robotic or keyword-stuffed language.

Clear definitions: Avoid jargon (too specialized language) and metaphors without explanation; define terms on first use. Avoid generic, cliché phrases, filler words, and overly descriptive or hyperbolic language.

Authority and trust signals

Proving your credibility is crucial.

Original data and research: Incorporate unique statistics, original case studies, or proprietary findings to stand out.

Cite credible sources: Back up your claims by referencing reputable studies, including expert quotes, and linking to authoritative domains.

Demonstrate E-E-A-T: Align your content with the principles of Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Showcase author credentials and maintain factual accuracy.

Formatting and technical foundation

The right technical signals provide clear context for search engines.

Use semantic HTML: Use proper headings ( – ), for emphasis, and descriptive alt tags for images.

Incorporate FAQs: Add formatted FAQ or Q&A sections to answer common user questions directly.

Leverage structured data: When possible, include schema markup (e.g., FAQPage, HowTo, Article) to provide explicit context about your content’s purpose.

A quick technical note: what not to do

If you want your content to appear in AI Overviews and be used by LLMs, you must not block search engine crawlers (like Googlebot) in your website’s robots.txt file (you can find a list here ). To get traffic from AI-powered search, you need to allow your site to be crawled. This means search engines may use your content to train their models and feature it in AI results.

Key technical checks for AI visibility

Beyond the on-page content, your site’s technical health is critical. As noted by the agency Search Logistics, AI Overviews prioritize sites with good speed and usability. You can check both of these by adding your URL to Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool.

1. Check PageSpeed (performance & accessibility)

When you run a report on your URL, check two main areas:

Performance: Slow websites rarely appear in Google AI Overviews. The goal is to offer users faster answers, and a slow site goes against that goal. Aim for a Performance score of 90+ and pass all Core Web Vitals. If your score is low, common fixes include:

Compressing images

Serving images as WebP or AVIF

Enabling browser caching

Removing unused CSS, HTML, and JS

Implementing Lazy Loading

Minimizing redirects

Accessibility: Google uses the mobile version of websites for its AI Overviews. In the Accessibility report (part of the same PageSpeed test), look for major issues like:

The text is too small to read

Links or buttons are too close together

Areas where content is wider than the screen

A high score (90+) in both Performance and Accessibility is a strong technical signal.

2. Verify your content is rendered as HTML

A critical technical check is to ensure Google can see your text. Some websites use JavaScript to load content, which can make it difficult for search crawlers to read.

You can check this easily:

Go to one of your blog posts in your browser.

Right-click and select “View Page Source”.

Search for a specific sentence from your article (press “CTRL + F” or “CMD + F”).

If you can find your sentence in the source code, it means your content is in the basic HTML and is easy for Google to read and index. If you can’t, your site may be hiding its content within JavaScript, which adds an extra step for Google and could hurt your chances of being cited.

The human differentiator: avoiding “AI giveaways”

In an age where AI can generate content, your authentic, human voice is your most valuable asset and a key commercial differentiator. As the SEO agency iPullRank reports : “For queries involving troubleshooting, product comparisons, lived experiences, or niche use cases, user-generated content (UGC) and forum discussions are often prioritized by AI systems. Generative models value this type of content because it reflects authentic, diverse, and situational insights that can’t always be found in more polished corporate content.”

Basic AI-generated text often contains “giveaways”, tell-tale signs that it was written by a machine. Avoiding these markers is critical to signaling quality and personality.

Watch out for these common patterns:

Repetition: Repeating the same word or phrase in close proximity.

Constant “whether” phrases: Overusing constructions like, “Whether you’re traveling with family, friends, or as a couple…”

Cliché sales phrases: Using tired lines like “but wait – there’s more!”

Overly descriptive language: Flowery sentences like “tantalize your taste buds while you relax in Mother Nature’s lap.”

Exaggerated sentiment: Phrases like “adventure of a lifetime” or “make memories that will last forever.”

Rhetorical questions: Ending with a weak call to action like, “What are you waiting for? Book today!”

The writer’s watchlist

Below is a list of overused words and phrases often found in generic, AI-generated content. Try to replace them with more precise and original language.

A – F

G – M

N – S

T – Z

A drenaline, adrenaline-pumping (-boosting), admire, ascend, aroma, awe-inspiring

G et set to / get ready to

N estled

T antalizing, tapestry (“rich historical tapestry”), thrill, thrilling, tranquil, treasure trove, thrill, thrust, thrusting, tranquility

B ehold, breathe, breathtaking

H eart (“in the heart of” or “beating heart” ), harness

O pulent / opulence

U ncover, uneart

C aptivating, charm / charming

I mmerse, immersive, indulge, inspect, intimate, intriguing, idyllic

P anorama, panoramic, penetrate, pulsating, picturesque, plunge

V erdant, vibrant, vistas

D ive, delectable (replace with “delicious”), delve, delicious, dazzling, discover

J ourney, jaw-dropping

Q uaint, quench

W itness, winter wonderland, Whether you are X or X, ___ has something for everyone [all ages] (entire phrase/sentence structure)

E mbark, experience (when used as a verb), enjoy, enhance, engage, enchanting, ensconced, exotic, exhilarating, explore

K aleidoscope

R elish, remarkable, revel, riveting, romp, rich, reveal

Z esty / zestful

F orge, fairytale (“stepping into a fairytale”)

L oved ones

S avor, scent, secret, smell, spectacle, stunning, stroll, serenity, splendor, “Step right up!” or “Step into…”

M esmerizing, memorable moments, memories, marvel, marine life, majestic, magic, magical

The rules for online content are changing, but the value of high-quality writing remains the same. The best strategy is to focus on creating detailed, easy-to-read, and trustworthy articles. As AI search continues to develop, we’ll keep working together to find the best ways to adapt and grow.

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