Discover how to leverage AI and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) to drive traffic, generate leads, and increase sales for your jewelry store.
Article Highlights
- The digital marketing funnel is evolving. AI now does the research and makes recommendations to customers. You need to create content with AI in mind, not just your customers.
- Use clear and direct language, especially in your page headings, so that AI can understand what your content is about.
- Technical SEO, such as robots.txt, sitemaps, page headings, schema markup, and page structure, ensures that AI can properly read your content.
- Be a source of information. AI will find an answer to every question. If you don’t have the answer on your website, then AI will find it somewhere else.
- AI looks for valuable information from reputable sources. Assure that your content and authors prove their authenticity and expertise.
The New Digital Marketing Funnel
The digital marketing industry is shifting dramatically. We’ve always created content pages and asked ourselves, “Is this what I want my customers to see?” Now we create content pages and ask, “Is this good enough to convince AI to recommend us to customers?” The truth about digital marketing today is that less of your customers actually see your content because they trust AI to do the research for them. According to Google, the number of users who trust AI for their research doubles every quarter. It’s no longer enough to create good-looking pages. If you want to remain relevant, you need to put considerable effort into your page titles, writing style, meta data, schema markup, and over-all website structure.
How can you stay relevant and leverage AI to benefit your business? I’ve condensed my recommendations into 5 rules to leverage AI.
Rule #1: Use clear, direct language in page headings, copy, and bullet points.
Think of your content like an outline. Someone should be able to look at only your page headings and bulleted lists and get a good idea of what you’re trying to say.
For example, let’s say you’re creating content for your product pages and you want to advertise the advantages of lab-grown diamond earrings. Make sure you clearly state what you want customers to learn about while on your page.
- Bad Heading
- The Advantages
- Good Heading
- The Advantages of Lab-Grown Diamond Earrings
It’s also important to use industry-familiar terminology. Avoid branded and arbitrary terms if possible.
- Weak Terminology
- The Sparkling Elegance Collection
- Strong Terminology
- Lab-Grown Diamond Earring Studs
Furthermore, bulleted lists should be used to help further convey an idea or offer more detailed information.
Here’s a few more tips to keep in mind:
- Use proper HTML heading formats, such as <H2> and <H3>.
- Summarize and organize information into HTML bullet points, such as <ul>, <ol>, and <li>.
- Make sure to use the proper heading hierarchy.
Rule #2: Make sure your technical SEO is up to par, including robots.txt, LLMS.txt, sitemaps, page structure, URL taxonomy, and schema markup.
Robots.txt
Robots.txt is a basic file that all websites have to instruct bots and crawlers how to view your website. It should exist at the root domain of your website as YourWebsite.com/robots.txt. Learn more about Robots.txt through Google’s documentation.
LLMS.txt
Recently, the industry has invented a new similar filetype called LLMS.txt. LLMS.txt has a similar purpose as robots.txt but is specifically targeting LLMs and other AI crawlers. You can see what a typical LLMS.txt looks like by taking a look at Stuller’s LLMS.txt: https://www.stuller.com/llms.txt
Sitemaps
Sitemaps are simply a list of all public pages on your website. It helps bot crawlers to more easily find content on your website. You should link to your sitemaps in both your robots.txt and LLMS.txt files. XML (Extensible Markup Language) is the preferred format, but .txt sitemaps are also fine. If you have a WordPress website, you can simply install the Yoast SEO plugin and go through the setup to automate your sitemaps. If you do not have WordPress, you can find free tools to help you make XML or TXT sitemaps for your website.
Schema Markup
You and I view websites on a computer screen using our eyes. AI bot crawlers view websites through code known as schema markup. Schema markup is invisible code on your website just for these bots. It helps them understand various things on your website, such as articles, product pages, organization details, FAQs, testimonials, and more. I advise starting with your most important content — product pages, FAQs, testimonials, and blog posts — to get started with incorporating schema markup. Your developer can use the schema markup library for instructions on adding schema markup to your pages. You can test your pages for schema markup using the schema markup validator tool.
My top recommended schema markup focuses are the following types of content:
- Product
- FAQ
- Article
URL Taxonomy & Hierarchy
Imagine you walk into a library looking for a specific book, but all of the books have been thrown into one big pile in no particular order. You may either walk out of the library or give up trying to find the book. Now imagine walking into a library where all the books are properly organized and cataloged for easy reference utilizing the Dewey Decimal System. In this case, you are easily able to locate the book you’re looking for and can begin enjoying it.
URL taxonomy is essentially the Dewey Decimal System for websites. If your website does not follow proper URL taxonomy, bot crawlers are more likely to give up on finding information you have to offer. By organizing your pages into a URL hierarchy, bots will better understand where to find your content and the relational context between your pages.
- Create main directories for your different content types and group them accordingly.
- /about/
- /products/
- /services/
- Use keyword-rich URLs.
- /services/jewelry-repair-services-in-lafayette-la/
- /products/chains/14k-yellow-gold-figaro-chain/
Rule #3: Provide ALL important information. If you don't provide it, someone else will.
AI almost never says, “I don’t know.” It’s job is to provide an answer for the user. If you don’t have the answer accessible for AI to find, it will find the answer from someone else who does — possibly a competitor. If your customers are asking about the 4Cs of diamonds in search engines, you want to be the one to provide that answer with a blog post or product page content. If your customers want to know if you’re closed on Halloween, provide that answer through an FAQ.
Here’s a few more tips to keep in mind:
- Don’t get rid of old content. Instead of deleting old articles, remediate the content with updated information.
- Provide FAQs about your services, products, buying process, customization fees, and more.
- Create educational articles about modern trends and big topics in your industry.
Rule #4: Make your content accessible for AI to read publicly. If it's hidden behind a login or in a private group, it doesn't exist.
One common mistake people make is to create amazing content and then hiding it from AI without even knowing it. For example, if you create an amazing email breaking down the benefits of platinum jewelry, AI will not be able to find it. This problem also affects pages that are only accessible behind a login, such as gated articles and private Facebook groups. Another major setback is having your pricing hidden behind a quote request. If you elect not to show pricing on your website, AI is far more likely to recommend another website where pricing is more transparent.
Here are common types of hidden content to consider making publicly accessible:
- Gated Articles: Articles that require a subscription or login
- Product Info: Request-a-quote pricing or bulk-order information hidden behind logins
- Targeted Content: Banners or text boxes that only appear for targeted users
- Hidden Text: Accordion text boxes and infinite-load pages
- Private Groups: Private Facebook groups or forums that require a login
- Email Content: Valuable, information-rich emails that aren’t accessible to AI through a landing page or article
Rule #5: Establish your entity relationships and build cohesion across the web.
AI and LLMs like to construct what’s called Knowledge Graphs. Instead of blindly pulling information from various websites, AI prefers to synthesize related information from multiple sources that are connected through references, shared terminology, and consistency.
A knowledge graph is a structured network of real-world entities — such as people, places, concepts, or events — that connects data points using explicit relationships to give information context.
Here are a few tips that will help you enter into AI’s knowledge graph.
- Use distinct, consistent naming conventions: AI is able to connect information through consistent terminology. Ensure that your brand, people, and concepts are consistent across your website, LinkedIn, Google Listing, Wikipedia, social media profiles, press releases, and more.
- Earn citations from high-authority sources: AI models prefer to verify information before relaying it to the user. To do this, AI relies heavily on trusted third-party sources that confirm your information, such as industry publications, review platforms (Google, Yelp), news sites, and forums like Reddit.
- E.E.A.T.: Experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E.E.A.T.) is how AI confirms that the information you provide is accurate and worth sharing. For example, an article about the 4Cs of diamonds is far more trustworthy if it cites GIA as a source of information and is written by an author with GIA certifications, a relevant college degree, and plenty of clout in the jewelry industry.
Where do I start?
There are several expensive tools you can use to determine your standing with AI. But here’s a guide to get a quick glimpse at your AI presence.
- Open a new incognito tab in your browser.
- Ctrl + Shift + N on Windows
- CMD + Shift + N on Mac
- Open a new tab for both ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
- Make sure you stay logged out of ChatGPT and Gemini for more unbiased results.
We want to test ChatGPT and Gemini because they have the highest volume of users. ChatGPT has the most direct users, while Gemini is also used in Google Search.
Here are a few queries for you to ask AI:
- Tell me everything you know about [Your Business Name].
- Can I get [your top product or service] from [Your Business Name]?
- Can I get my watch repaired at Hunter’s Jewelry Store?
- Does Hunter’s Jewelry Store sell lab-grown diamond studs?
- Where can I find [your top product or service] in [your City and State]?
- Where can I find lab-grown diamond stud earrings in Lafayette, LA?
- Where can I get my watch repaired in Fargo, ND?
- Where can I get custom engagement rings near me?
- Here are other queries to consider in your research:
- Best jewelers near me
- Which products are offered by Hunter’s Jewelry Store?
- What are the most popular products and services from Hunter’s Jewelry Store?
- How can I make this website more prominent in AI? yourwebsite.com
- Give me a full AEO audit of yourwebsite.com with a clear to-do list to improve web presence and AI presence.
Once you’ve seen for yourself exactly where you have opportunities for AI visibility, you will have a much better idea of which types of content you need to create.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hunter Trahan
Senior Digital Marketing Specialist
Hunter Trahan is an experienced digital marketer, SEO/AEO expert, and data analysis professional. Born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana, Hunter attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and SLCC. Today, he leverages his deep passion for digital marketing and sharp analytical skills to craft successful, results-driven strategies that benefit both Stuller and our customers. Hunter holds professional certifications across major industry platforms, including Google Analytics, Google Ads, Semrush, and both Google and Bing Webmaster Tools.