As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the digital landscape, we know many of you are thinking about how to optimize your websites for AI. This practice, often called GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), is about ensuring your content is well-positioned to be surfaced and cited by AI tools, not just traditional search engines. We appreciate the thoughtful work many of you are doing as you consider the implications of this technology on your website and Brown at large.

The rapid emergence and widespread impact of AI has led to a flood of third-party services, commercial products, and vendor-published articles advocating for the restructuring of websites to accommodate AI models. Many of these claims do not appear to be backed by solid evidence and often serve a promotional purpose rather than reflecting established standards.

Google, the creator of Gemini, recently published an official guide for optimizing websites for generative AI features. Much of what is outlined in this update is directly based on Google’s recommendations, including some mythbusting regarding content practices for AI.

Starting From a Position of Strength

First, we want to share that Brown’s websites are well positioned for AI optimization. A recent review conducted by a third-party firm with GEO expertise confirmed that our websites are well structured for AI optimization. Our team continues to monitor for any code- or system-level changes needed to keep it that way.

Thanks to the ongoing enhancements to the Drupal Cloud platform and the diligent, day-to-day work of site editors like yourself, Brown's websites are largely built around established best practices that naturally optimize for AI, including:

• User-Centered Design: Websites built around clear language and genuine user needs read well for humans and AI alike.
• Accessibility: Creating an accessible website (clear structure, proper use of headings, descriptive links, and alt text) also benefits AI models.
• Search Engine Optimization: Ongoing efforts made toward standard SEO also have positive impacts on your site’s visibility and standing with AI models.

Data from Brown’s cloud hosting providers indicates that AI models are actively discovering and indexing our content—the visibility of our website to AI is not an issue at this time.

Instead, our primary challenge lies in our continuing efforts to ensure that our website content:

1. Answers key questions: Content should provide direct and relevant information to the questions users may be leveraging AI to answer. Note: this doesn't mean restructuring pages as FAQs — more on that below.
2. Is clear and consistent: Content should not contradict itself or conflict with related content found across the broader Brown web environment.

We should be creating websites for people — this hasn’t changed. Aligning content for AI tools does not require sacrificing user-first thinking. Employing content best practices thoughtfully and consistently — and not chasing algorithm-specific tricks — remains the most reliable path to strong AI optimization.

Content Considerations in an AI Environment

You may have heard claims that AI places a higher value on content structured as Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). While there can be truth to this in specific contexts, FAQs are not always the best solution for our users or for AI optimization.

Google's guide for optimizing websites for generative AI emphasizes the importance of creating content that delivers a good experience for humans. They specifically state that it is not necessary to structure or "chunk" content in a specific way for AI (such as FAQs). Generative AI models are engineered to evaluate the same attributes valued by human readers: relevance, completeness, clarity, and scannability.

• Avoid the temptation to add FAQs solely to accommodate perceived AI preferences.
• Avoid duplicating content from elsewhere on your site when you do incorporate FAQs (duplicate content carries many technical and usability downsides).

Instead of reworking your content to fit the latest theories about what AI wants, keep your energy focused on your users:

• Provide context: Don't assume users already have background knowledge — include foundational information alongside more detailed content. Users don't typically browse a site page-by-page; any page could be the first one they land on.
• Focus on clear writing: Content should be concise and easy to follow; avoid unnecessary jargon or overly dense blocks of text.
• Organize content in a logical order: Structure content logically within both your main site navigation and within individual page layouts.
• Use headings and lists appropriately: Use standard headings (H2, H3) and bulleted lists to emphasize content structure and increase scannability for humans and for AI.

Following these best practices will naturally strengthen content for both human users and AI. Be wary of claims that your content needs to be restructured wholesale in order to perform effectively for AI. Instead, aim for content that's authoritative, well-structured, and user-centered.

Updated Ambient Video Guidelines

Earlier this summer we published an updated version of our Ambient Video Guidelines. Changes include updated file specifications so be sure to check it out if you intend on using ambient videos on your site. If you work with vendors to create ambient videos, you’ll need to share these specifications with them.