Recently, a shared conviction has been emerging among search marketing experts: with the arrival of generative engines, the way a company is evaluated online has changed completely. AI no longer sees websites simply as containers packed with keywords, but evaluates brands as actual entities with a clearly defined identity and reputation.
What does this change mean for search? It means that new language models and search engines look for specific trust signals: firsthand experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness—the well-known E-E-A-T criteria. The algorithm no longer simply checks whether a text contains the exact word a user typed; it seeks to understand whether the brand is truly considered trustworthy and well known in its sector.
As a result, traditional technical SEO carried out solely within a company’s own website is no longer sufficient. If no one talks about the brand elsewhere—in newspapers, industry forums, or social media discussions—then, for AI, that company practically does not exist or, at least, does not deserve to be recommended among the best answers.
The solution Smartitaly offers companies in this landscape is therefore to combine SEO with media relations. Our work ensures that press office activities, digital PR, and online reputation management work together, becoming the engine that leads search algorithms to recognize the brand and recommend it to users organically.
Authors
Riccardo Fortuna
Junior Consultant