As you’re probably already aware, the sources of online traffic are changing. Consumers increasingly use large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT or Claude to inform their purchases, and are making less searches on traditional search engines such as Google.
Compounding this shift from organic search to AI are AI overviews featured within the search engine ranking page (SERP). These provide immediate information for users, and decrease the likelihood of them clicking to a website.
This raises the question; how can your brand feature more prominently within these AI responses?
The context: A new search environment
As of April 2026, ChatGPT is used by almost a billion visitors every week, and Google’s AI overviews are displayed to 1.5 billion users a month. Whilst traditional search engines are still crucial for marketing your brand, their click through rate has declined steeply. As Ahrefs show, AI overviews can reduce the CTR for top-ranking pages by up to 58%.
This means that AI-visibility is increasingly important for most businesses, as users make more commercial decisions via LLMs. Just like content and websites can be optimised for search engines (SEO), we can now engage in generative engine optimisation (GEO) to help surface brands on tools like ChatGPT or in Google’s AI overviews.
How AI visibility works: RAG and agentic search
Before trying to improve your AI visibility, it can be helpful to understand how and why AI tools surface certain brands and not others. Most LLMs are trained on data with a cut-off date of over a year ago, and this data will contain built-in assumptions about your brand. However, when a user makes a query that requires up-to-date information, the LLM will engage in retrieval augmented generation (RAG). To put it simply, this means that the model will search the internet for relevant content which it can rework into a response.
As they do this, LLMs engage in agentic search, meaning that they send out an AI agent to navigate through websites and report back with the most valuable information. These agents consider the content within pages, the underlying code of the website, and the way other websites link towards it. Importantly, accessible websites will be easily found and navigated by AI agents, and will receive increased mentions in AI answers as a result.
How accessible design can boost AI visibility
One way that your business can improve visibility on AI platforms is via an accessible website. Digital accessibility refers to websites and other platforms that are designed to include every possible user. To meet accessibility guidelines, websites must have a logical layout of content, semantic descriptions of components, and high levels of technical performance.
Fortunately, all of these elements also make your website more attractive and enticing for AI agents. When content is laid out in a clear manner, it is easier for AI tools to access and retrieve responses, and this will improve your visibility on prompts related to your brand and industry.
In fact, as we’ve noted previously, AI tools are already rewarding accessible solutions. In November 2025, OpenAI announced that their new AI search engine, Atlas, would interpret websites via ARIA tags, and would navigate through content using similar pathways as assistive technologies like screen-readers.
In other words, websites which are designed to welcome disabled users perform better when navigated by AI agents seeking information. In return, these websites rank higher and feature more prominently in AI responses.
The value of digital accessibility
Of course, digital accessibility was already worth investing in, but this benefit of AI-visibility provides yet another incentive. As we’ve always argued at Kooba, good design is accessible design, and inclusive digital solutions provide significant business advantages via smoother user journeys and improved performance.
Crucially, over 28% of users experience some form of a disability, and an accessible solution ensures that these users are included and welcomed by your brand. Focusing on an inclusive design is a win-win for both your business and these valuable users.
Find out more
At Kooba, we love working on accessibility projects and AI visibility campaigns. To learn more about these topics, you can read some of our recent articles below:
How to Maximise AI Visibility in 2026
Digital Accessibility: Everything You Need To Know in 2026
Best of all, you can discuss your specific requirements with our expert team today. Just reach out to us via our project planner!
