SEO & GEO News Roundup: 6–18 August 2025 – Key Updates
Discover the latest SEO & GEO updates (6–18 August 2025), including Google Preferred Sources, AI-powered Flight Deals, OpenAI’s GPT-4o return, and the rise of semantic HTML for AI search.
📢 Your Weekly SEO & GEO News (6-18 August 2025)
1. Google Lets Users Prioritise Their Trusted News Sources
Google has launched Preferred Sources in the Top Stories section of Search for the U.S. and India. Users can click a star icon to choose outlets they want to see more often, with content highlighted in a new “From your sources” area.
Publishers should add clear calls to action and deep links so readers can set them as a preferred source. Google has also explored analytics to show how many users selected a publication.
Why it matters: Loyalty becomes a ranking advantage inside personalisation. If readers actively prefer your brand, visibility in Top Stories can increase – on top of traditional SEO signals.
Sources: Android Central, Search Engine Journal
2. Google’s AI-Powered Flight Deals Makes Booking Conversational
Google has introduced Flight Deals, an AI-driven feature within Google Flights that lets users describe trips in natural language (e.g. “a week-long foodie break this winter”). The system surfaces tailored bargains using real-time pricing and ranks results by savings percentage before price. It also adds an option to exclude basic economy fares in some regions.
Why it matters: Another clear shift toward conversational, vertical AI search. Travel strategies should optimise for natural-language discovery rather than relying only on filter-based journeys.
Sources: Lifewire, Investopedia
3. OpenAI Reinstates GPT-4o After GPT-5 Backlash
After criticism of GPT-5’s accuracy and “feel”, OpenAI restored GPT-4o for ChatGPT Plus subscribers and made model switching easier. The move underlines that reliability and user trust still trump novelty in production workflows.
Why it matters: For SEOs using AI as part of content ops, human oversight and editorial QA are non-negotiable. Consistent tone, accuracy, and citations are central to GEO success.
Source: Soci.ai
4. Structured Markup (Semantic HTML) Gains Ground with AI
Semantic HTML – proper use of elements like <article>, <main>, <nav>, and clear heading hierarchy – continues to prove its value for both accessibility and AI comprehension. Clean structure helps LLMs parse sections, extract facts, and attribute correctly.
Why it matters: As AI interfaces summarise and cite, sites with crisp semantics are more likely to be interpreted accurately and referenced in answers.
Source: Soci.ai
5. GEO & AEO: Redefining Search Optimisation Strategy
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) focuses on appearing – and being cited – inside AI-generated answers. Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) focuses on creating concise, conversational responses aligned to user intent. Together, they expand classic SEO beyond blue links.
Why it matters: Ignoring AI-first formats risks visibility erosion. Design content to be citable (clear facts, sources, authorship) and answer-ready (bullets, tables, FAQs, definitions).
Background: Wikipedia: GEO, Wikipedia: AEO
Key Takeaways for SEO Professionals
| Focus Area | What It Means for You |
|---|---|
| Preferred Sources | Build loyalty: prompt readers to set your site as a preferred source for stronger Top Stories visibility. |
| AI Flight Deals | Optimise for conversational discovery in travel—think intents and attributes, not just filters and keywords. |
| OpenAI Model Choices | Prioritise human review and consistent tone; reliability wins for AI-assisted content operations. |
| Semantic HTML | Use clean, accessible structure so AI can parse, summarise, and cite your content correctly. |
| GEO & AEO | Design content to be citable in AI answers (facts, sources) and answer-ready (bullets, FAQs, tables). |
What the Experts Are Saying
“AI search doesn’t kill SEO, it makes it more demanding. Structured, credible, and fast-loading content is now the minimum ticket to play.”
— Aleyda Solís, SEO Consultant & Founder at Orainti
“Preferred Sources is a double-edged sword: it rewards loyalty but risks narrowing diversity. Independent publishers need to get creative in building communities.”
— Barry Schwartz, Search Engine Roundtable
“Generative engines reward clarity. If your content can’t be understood by an LLM in seconds, it won’t be surfaced. Think bullet points, FAQs, and concise value.”
— Michael King, iPullRank
“SEO has always been about visibility, but in 2025 visibility means being cited, not just clicked. If AI doesn’t find you trustworthy enough to quote, your audience won’t either.”
— David Roche, The SEO Guide Book
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Google’s Preferred Sources feature impact SEO strategy?
Preferred Sources adds a loyalty layer to visibility in Top Stories. If readers actively choose your brand, your articles can surface more often for those users. Encourage loyal readers to set your site as a preferred source while keeping core SEO best practices in place.
How can a publication get readers to add it as a Preferred Source?
Add clear calls to action on-site and in newsletters and social posts, linking to the Google “star” flow where available. Explain the benefit to users: more of the coverage they already trust, surfaced directly in Top Stories.
Why does semantic HTML matter more in an AI-first world?
Semantic HTML helps search engines and LLMs understand section roles, headings, and relationships. Clean structure increases the chance your facts are parsed correctly, summarised accurately, and cited in AI answers.
How should travel sites adapt to Google’s AI Flight Deals?
Optimise for conversational intents (“family-friendly city break with museums”) and include structured, scannable content like lists, FAQs, and comparison tables. Reflect real attributes such as seasonality, budget ranges, and neighbourhoods.
How is Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) different from traditional SEO?
Traditional SEO targets blue-link rankings. GEO targets inclusion and citation inside AI-generated answers. That means concise, source-backed facts, clear authorship, and formats that are easy for LLMs to extract.
How do I make my content more “citable” by AI systems?
Present verifiable facts with clear sources, use bullet points and short paragraphs, keep headings descriptive, and avoid fluff. Add author bios, dates, and update notes to strengthen trust and eligibility for citation.
Why should AI-generated content be human-reviewed before publishing?
Human review catches factual drift, hallucinations, and tone issues. Editorial oversight protects brand trust and aligns output with compliance, accessibility, and house style—key factors for both SEO and GEO.
How can I measure the impact of AI search on my site?
Monitor server logs for AI crawlers, track branded and non-branded mentions in AI tools where available, annotate traffic shifts in analytics, and correlate content updates with changes in AI bot activity.
How should I structure news or blog posts for both SEO and GEO?
Lead with a concise summary, use descriptive subheadings, include key facts in bullets or tables, add FAQs, and maintain clean semantic markup. Keep linkable, source-backed statements easy to extract.
How often should I update content to maintain GEO visibility?
Refresh when facts change, when you gain new evidence, or after notable industry updates. Add an “Updated” note and changelog where appropriate so both users and AI systems see recency and reliability.
