As business leaders and SEO experts prepare for the challenges of 2026, there’s one reality we can’t ignore: the way we structure our brands online is continuously evolving. Visibility spans beyond traditional avenues, moving into newer, smarter systems like wearables, voice queries, and artificial intelligence. Here is what executives must grasp to stay ahead, based on insights from Duane Forrester and industry findings.
Trends That Define 2026
AI Answers and Direct Engagement
Traditional website traffic is set to decrease as AI assistants like ChatGPT and Google Gemini offer direct answers to user queries. For brands, this marks a transition from optimizing “rankings” to ensuring credibility within the AI ecosystem.
To illustrate this shift, BrightEdge reports significant disagreement between AI engines during recommendations, brands achieve varied visibility across systems. This underscores the importance of aligning business content with machine-readable formats, similar to how Spotify customizes its song metadata for precise music categorization.
Machine-Driven Content Architecture
Content must cater not only to human audiences but to machines that evaluate structure, semantics, and expertise. Models analyzing millions of pages demand precision and clarity above all else. Microsoft's study into LLMs demonstrated significant improvements in results when accuracy in language tone and segmentation was incorporated.
Wearables and Emerging Query Mechanics
The widespread adoption of wearables like Meta’s AI Glasses introduces visual queries into SEO strategy. People asking, “identify this,” want on-demand answers. Businesses must adjust to increased instances where products and services are discovered visually or contextually, not through written searches.
Actionable Strategies for Executives in 2026
1. Focus on Topical Coherence
AI retrieval engines favor strong topical relationships across a content chain. Break up dense chunks into headers and subtopics for easier machine parsing. A good example is how Semrush’s SEO tools analyze topics holistically before ranking them.
2. Build Authority Beyond Backlinks
Authoritativeness in 2026 moves towards provable origin points. Digital markers proving your expertise, authenticity, and a visible social presence are what help you outperform competitors in AI-driven algorithms.
3. Adapt for Multimodal Search
If voice and image queries dominate as expected, invest in content formats aligning with these. Tutorials that pair visual and written guidance simultaneously will position brands better in multimodal searches.
4. Think Past Rankings
Traffic benchmarking now shifts to focus interactions within AI assistants. Investments should focus on optimizing keywords relevant to structured LLM layers.
5. Machine-Wise Optimization
Embed invisible signals optimizing intent clarity. Schema tagging and entity correlation consistently prove vital when targeting AI visibility, based on Google’s SEO Starter Guide.
Common Errors to Address
Misunderstanding AI Traffic
Many enterprises assume AI reduces web activity entirely. This misjudgment harms efforts to refine lead funnel paths originating in recommendation engines.
Late or Overdue Updates
Brand content is often left untouched for months. Outdated web copy works against relevance markers encoded by AI.
Leading Methods for SEOs to Validate Success
Instead of measuring traffic, establish new systems measuring visibility via platforms like ChatGPT Answer Engine visibility testing or Gemini tag parsing.
Final Takeaways
Shifting toward smarter platforms is unavoidable. For every decision, consider how machines interpret choices and what signals beyond algorithms carry weight. Whether through video-connected tutorials, direct question-relevant structures on websites, or semantic connected chains, the future of discovery measures precision above quantity.
To explore how brands are adjusting for this smarter pathway, learn more through insights published by Duane Forrester.
FAQ on SEO and Business Strategies for 2026
1. How will AI assistants like ChatGPT affect website traffic in 2026?
AI assistants will provide direct answers, reducing traditional web traffic significantly. Businesses should focus on visibility within these platforms rather than rankings alone. Explore insights from Duane Forrester
2. What is topical coherence, and why is it important?
Topical coherence refers to maintaining strong relationships between content segments. It helps AI engines parse and rank information easily. Learn about Semrush’s SEO tools
3. How can brands build authority in the AI era?
Authority is built through provable expertise, digital markers, consistent terminology, and authentic social presences rather than backlinks alone. Discover BrightEdge’s AI findings
4. How will wearables influence search queries?
Wearables like Meta’s AI Glasses are spurring visual query mechanisms, allowing users to ask, “What’s this?” or “How can I fix that?” Businesses must adapt to this shift. Learn more about Meta AI Glasses
5. What are multimodal searches, and how should businesses adapt?
Multimodal searches use voice, image, and text inputs across platforms. Businesses should create content formats that align simultaneously with these mediums. Discover Google’s Gemini insights
6. Why does content accuracy and clarity matter for AI visibility?
AI models favor content with clear segmentation, accuracy, and well-defined formats to ensure optimal retrieval and parsing. Explore Microsoft’s Copilot study
7. What metrics should SEOs measure in 2026 to track success?
Visibility within AI answer engines, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, should replace traditional web traffic measurements. SEOs can conduct visibility tests specific to these platforms.
8. How does schema tagging impact machine-driven SEO?
Schema tagging embeds invisible signals that clarify search intent, significantly improving visibility across structured data layers. Check out Google’s SEO Starter Guide
9. What new errors must businesses avoid in AI-driven SEO?
Misjudging the reduction of overall traffic due to AI and leaving content outdated for too long are critical errors that harm brand relevance.
10. How will digital agents transform commerce in 2026?
Digital agents will handle transactions, appointments, and purchases entirely based on machine-readable content, reshaping consumer interactions. Explore Duane Forrester’s detailed strategies
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.