Content Strategy for SEO, AEO & AI Search

If your content isn’t bringing in the traffic, leads and sales you expected, you probably need a content marketing strategy, not more content. Buyers research in both Google and AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, and many companies overlook (or are simply unaware of) the data available to them to build a strategy that works in both places.

Kern Media® has created content strategies for companies of all kinds (lead generation, eCommerce, online publishers, B2B software and financial services) and has over 20 years of SEO experience. Learn about our approach below.

Benefits of a Content Marketing Strategy

• Increase traffic from your content marketing efforts by targeting the topics and questions your audience searches for in Google and asks AI tools.
• Increase conversions by giving every piece of content a clear call-to-action (CTA) and a path to your service or product pages.
• Expand your keyword rankings and AI visibility with a data-based plan for which keywords and prompts to target, and content quality that competes in search engines and AI answers.
• Improve ranking of your entire website by attracting links, mentions and citations that build authority with search engines and AI tools.
• Earn more AI recommendations by answering the specific questions buyers ask right before they choose, like cost, comparisons and who you’re the best fit for.
• Become the answer (AEO) by structuring pages with clear questions, direct answers, FAQs and schema that Google’s AI Overviews, featured snippets and AI tools can quote.

Creating Your Content Marketing Strategy

Kern Media builds content strategies from data at every step, from Google Search Console and keyword tools to AI visibility tracking.

Audience Personas & Your Brand Story

Kern Media can help create detailed audience personas for your content marketing efforts. We combine your staff’s knowledge of your customers with data from Google Analytics, Search Console and other sources to build a complete picture of who your target audience is, what their goals and pain points are, and how you solve them. Personas also shape which prompts we track in AI tools, so we can see how you show up for each type of buyer. If your company already has audience personas, we’ll review them and build them into the strategy.

Once your target audience is clearly defined, you need to decide how to communicate your brand story to them before you plan specific content. What messages do you want to convey? How do you differentiate your brand from the competition? This matters even more with AI tools, since LLMs repeat how your brand is described on your site and across the web. Get this right from the start, and you’ll improve your chances of connecting with prospects (and being described accurately by AI) when they engage with your content.

Content Marketing Goals

Your content marketing efforts need to be aligned with goals. Your end goal is probably revenue, but how will you get there? Good content marketing strategies address different stages of the buying cycle with different types of content, and each stage needs its own goal.

Prospects who are early in the buying cycle may not know they have a problem yet, let alone what the solutions are. They need education and nurturing before they’re ready to convert. Prospects in the middle may need to learn which products or services are right for them. Prospects who are later in the buying cycle may simply need to gain confidence in your brand to decide to do business with you. Late-stage questions (like cost, comparisons and reviews) are also where AI tools make direct recommendations, so this content often matters most for AI visibility.

What Works in Your Industry

Knowing what already works in your industry shows what it will take for your content to succeed. Tools like BuzzSumo show which content earns the most shares and links, and AI visibility tracking shows which brands and sources AI tools recommend and cite for your topics. Together, they give an insider view into factors such as:

• Content types that earn the most shares, links and citations
• Which competitors and third-party sites AI tools cite for your topics
• Topics where competitors win the top AI recommendation, and why
• The social networks that see the most activity in your industry
• The most shared and most cited domains within your industry

Keyword & Prompt Research

Keyword research (aka “topic research”) is quite possibly the most important part of a content marketing strategy, as it clarifies which topics your prospective customers or clients search for most, and makes sure your content is aligned with them. Kern Media uses tools like Ahrefs, Semrush and Google Search Console, depending on the client, to identify keyword gaps against your competitors. We also research the longer, conversational prompts buyers use in AI tools, so your content answers the questions that lead to recommendations.

We consolidate the keyword and prompt gaps into a prioritized list of recommended topics for your staff to review for relevance and viability. Once approved, the topics go into an editorial calendar for detailed planning and content creation.

Editorial Calendar

Once the initial research is complete, we organize the topics into an editorial calendar that sets the schedule for your content. This keeps publishing consistent and sequenced for the most visibility.

Kern Media can build an editorial calendar for your business, or improve your existing calendar so it includes:

• Suggested content tactic
• Primary keywords + search volume
• Semantically related keywords
• Suggested metadata
• Suggested H1 titles
• Suggested URLs
• Scheduled publish dates
• Questions buyers ask Google and AI tools
• Content briefs with FAQs and internal links

Which Content Works, and How to Optimize It

Certain content tactics work better in certain situations. For example, how-to content works well in hobbyist and technical industries. Buying guides, comparisons and curated product recommendations are the usual winners for eCommerce websites. For B2B lead generation websites, knowledge base hubs, “what is” and “why” articles, and pages built around each audience you serve often drive interest and engagement. Cost, comparison and “best for” pages are often what AI tools pull from when recommending a brand. Knowing which tactics work in your industry saves a lot of wasted effort.

Kern Media also provides on-page optimization tactics that increase visibility for your content in search engines and AI answers. Common recommendations include writing guidelines and landing page optimization tips, covering elements such as:

• Metadata optimization
• Content depth and clear, quotable answers (AEO)
• Content layout and formatting
• Supplemental content like imagery and video
• Internal linking
• FAQs and schema markup

A Personalized Content Marketing Strategy

We organize and explain all of the recommendations above so your team can understand and use them. We can also add recommendations for knowledge base taxonomies, offsite profile updates, gated content, email acquisition and marketing automation to create a complete strategy that nurtures your prospects along their journey. Dan builds every content strategy around your business goals.

What Our Research Means for Your Content

Our AI search citation study shapes how we plan content:

Content Strategy Results

Content Strategy FAQs

Ready for a Content Marketing Strategy?

We’ll start with the questions your buyers ask and the pages that can win them. Request a free consultation.