Yes. Technical SEO remains the foundation for AI visibility. Elements like crawlability, metadata, site structure, and indexability help search engines and AI systems find and understand your content. The difference is that SEO is now the starting point—not the entire strategy.

While traffic and clicks are still valuable, they no longer tell the whole story. As buyers conduct more research within AI experiences, marketers should also monitor visibility, branded search growth, lead quality, direct traffic, and sales conversations to understand how AI is influencing the buyer journey.

Citations increase your brand's visibility during the research phase of the buyer journey. Even if a buyer doesn't immediately click through to your website, seeing your brand referenced in AI-generated answers can build awareness, credibility, and consideration before they decide to engage.

Instead of visiting multiple websites to compare vendors, buyers are increasingly asking AI tools for recommendations and using those responses to build a shortlist. This means brands need to be visible earlier in the research process, before prospects ever reach their website.

Start by strengthening your technical SEO foundation and understanding how visible your brand is in AI search today. Once your website is technically sound, focus on creating content that clearly answers buyer questions and monitor how AI platforms are surfacing, citing, and recommending your brand.