AI Search Needs Situation Pages

Two fresh AI-search pieces from HubSpot and Semrush point to the same practical shift: businesses need content that answers the situation a buyer describes, not just the keyword an SEO tool reports. If you run a service business, ecommerce site, SaaS product, or lead-gen funnel, the useful move is to build pages for the messy problems customers now ask AI systems to diagnose.

The change is not “write for robots”#

Google's own guidance for AI features in Search is deliberately boring: the fundamentals still matter, and there are no special requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. That is important because it cuts through a lot of "GEO" theatre.

But boring fundamentals do not mean nothing changed. The query shape changed.

In traditional SEO, you might plan around a phrase like how to increase organic traffic. In AI search, the buyer can describe the real situation: "our organic traffic has dropped 30% over six months and we cannot tell whether it is an algorithm update, AI Overviews, or our own content slipping." Semrush's fresh post on category entry points in AI search argues that those situations are the new planning unit.

That makes sense for operators. People do not wake up wanting a keyword. They wake up with a sales dip, a checkout leak, a booking calendar that is not filling, or a quote form that attracts the wrong jobs.

Keywords still help, but they are not the brief#

A keyword can tell you that demand exists. It is a weak brief for what to write.

HubSpot's updated guide to ranking in AI search results pushes several familiar but useful actions: make pages crawlable, structure content clearly, use schema where it matches the page, and add proof that a real expert is behind the advice. Those are good hygiene steps. They are not the differentiator by themselves.

The differentiator is whether the page matches a decision moment.

For example, a local accountant probably does not need another generic page called "small business tax accountant Sunshine Coast." They may need pages that map to situations such as:

• "I am hiring my first employee and do not know what payroll systems I need."
• "My BAS is late and I am not sure what the penalty risk is."
• "My ecommerce store is profitable on paper but cash is always tight."

Those pages can still target keywords. The difference is that the content starts with the operator's context, then gives the reader a path to diagnosis, options, trade-offs, and a next action.

Build a situation-page map#

A simple workflow works better than chasing every AI-search tactic:

1. List the five to ten situations that usually happen before someone buys from you.
2. For each situation, write down the symptoms, fears, constraints, and decision criteria.
3. Check Search Console, site search, sales calls, support tickets, reviews, and chat logs for the exact language customers use.
4. Turn each high-intent situation into a page, guide, calculator, checklist, or comparison.
5. Add the proof an AI answer should trust: author details, examples, screenshots, data, case notes, FAQs, and clear dates.

This is especially useful for service businesses and ecommerce operators because the buyer's question is often diagnostic. They are not always ready to choose a vendor. They are trying to work out what is broken.

A website audit page, for example, should not only say "Core Web Vitals audit." It should cover situations like "my ads are getting clicks but no enquiries," "mobile users abandon the quote form," or "traffic is up but bookings are flat." Those are the prompts a buyer is likely to ask a person, a search engine, or an AI assistant.

Do the technical hygiene once#

The technical work is still worth doing because AI search does not rescue unclear pages.

Google says site owners can control how content appears in AI features using normal preview controls such as nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet, and noindex. That means your existing search governance still matters. Do not accidentally block the pages you want discovered, and do not expose content you would not want summarised.

For most small sites, the checklist is straightforward:

• confirm important pages are indexable and linked from the main site structure
• use descriptive titles, headings, and summaries that match the situation
• add relevant structured data for articles, products, FAQs, local business details, reviews, or breadcrumbs where appropriate
• keep author, business, contact, and service-area information visible
• monitor Search Console and analytics for pages that gain impressions but lose clicks

None of that guarantees an AI Overview citation. It does make the page clearer for humans, crawlers, and retrieval systems.

The operator takeaway#

If your SEO plan is still a spreadsheet of keywords, add a second column: the buyer situation behind each term. Then decide whether your site actually helps with that situation.

The businesses that win from AI search will not just publish more generic advice. They will make their expertise easier to retrieve, easier to trust, and easier to act on when a customer describes a real problem in their own words.