How to Increase Your Website Visibility in 2025

Back in the day, ranking #1 on Google was the holy grail.

With your result in the top spot, you’d rake in clicks, impressions, and sales.

But the Google SERP has changed big time.

Today, the traditional “#1 result” often appears halfway down the page, buried under AI Overviews, Featured Snippets, People Also Ask boxes, and carousels.

That’s why the new SEO challenge isn’t just about conventional rankings. It’s about visibility.

Let’s break down how you can increase your website visibility and win in the new era of SEO.

Top Highlights for Boosting Website Visibility

• Prioritize high-visibility SERP features like AI Overviews and Featured Snippets
• Use Semrush to uncover missed SERP feature opportunities
• For AI Overviews, provide high-quality content with concise answers and statistics
• Use summary headings and declarative sentences to win Featured Snippets
• Add question-based headings and clear answers for PAA boxes
• Improve site and content structure to trigger Google sitelinks
• Use original media and optimize videos for visual carousels
• Target audiences on social platforms and AI search engines for added visibility

Claiming Prominent SERP Features for Optimal Visibility

SERP features in SEO refer to any elements on a Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP) that go beyond the traditional blue link listings.

These features are designed to enhance the user experience by providing quick, rich, and interactive answers directly on the results page.

Ranking in SERP features can boost your website visibility on Google, even if you're not in the traditional top 3 organic results.

Below, I’ll share the step-by-step process we used to grow our SERP feature presence by 149% in the past 5 months.

1. First, Find SERP Feature Opportunities

Before you start optimizing, you need to discover your highest-impact SERP feature opportunities for maximum visibility.

You can use the Semrush Organic Research tool to quickly uncover these opportunities.

Enter your domain in the field under Organic Research and hit “Search”

Click on the “Positions” tab next. This will show you the list of all keywords your domain ranks for.

Once inside the “Positions” report, click on the “SERP Features” dropdown and select “Domain doesn’t rank”.

Choose one of the SERP features from the menu, such as “Featured snippet”.

This will show you all the keywords where Google shows featured snippets for other sites but not yours.

You can select other options from the dropdown to gather the same information for other types of SERP features like AI Overviews, People Also Ask, and more.

Since different keywords trigger different features, it’s crucial to know which ones appear for each query

Otherwise, you’d be wasting time chasing an AI Overview for a keyword that Google doesn’t even show one for.

2. AI Overviews

Website visibility: Very high

An AI Overview is a Google-generated summary that appears at the top of some search results. It uses AI to answer queries by synthesizing information from multiple web sources. It often precedes traditional organic listings and can significantly impact visibility and click-through rates.

When they appear, AI Overviews are the most prominent of the SERP features.

That’s because they’re the first to appear on a page and take up a lot of space. So if you rank in an AI Overview, you can boost your visibility.

Depending on the nature of your query, an AI Overview can take the form of a mini-article, a step-by-step guide, or a list, etc.

It’s one of the most dynamic SERP features that adapts its format to match user intent in the best way possible.

Optimizing for AI Overviews to Increase Site Visibility

AI Overview optimization is not an exact science. We’re still learning how Google picks content to cite and link in AI Overviews.

That said, here are a few patterns we’ve observed looking at AI Overviews where Exploding Topics shows up in:

• Answer information queries concisely: AI Overviews usually show up for informational searches. Focus on answering questions immediately and precisely with short sentences and simple language.
• Structure your content: Well-structured content is easy to read both for humans and Google alike. Use headings, subheadings, lists, tables, etc. to break up the flow of your content. Highlight the most important bits near the top of your page.
• Use statistics: Incorporate concrete numbers and quantitative data where it makes sense. Google likes quoting facts and figures in AI Overviews.
• Cite your sources: Use authoritative sources for statistics or factual statements and cite them clearly. If the data comes from your original research, make sure to clarify that.
• Build brand reputation: Gather positive user reviews, earn backlinks, and get featured in third-party blog posts and reviews. Even unlinked brand mentions can help Google see you as a trustworthy source worthy of citing in AI Overviews.

3. Featured Snippets

Website visibility: Very high

Featured snippets are short excerpts, such as paragraphs, lists, or tables, taken directly from a webpage. Featured snippets appear at the top of search results (or under an AI Overview), with a single link to the source underneath. Unlike AI Overviews, a featured snippet only includes content from a single page.

Ranking in a featured snippet gives you the lion’s share of visibility because the entire box is dedicated to your page alone.

However, some searches trigger both an AI Overview and a featured snippet. This can affect your featured snippet visibility in unpredictable ways.

How to Rank in Featured Snippets for Increased Visibility

Techniques for ranking in featured snippets are similar to the ones I’ve used successfully for AI Overviews. In addition to that, here are some additional tips that can help you grab a featured snippet:

• Use summary headings near the top: Add a concise summary of your article in a paragraph or list format.
• Direct introductions: Consider the search intent and aim to satisfy it right in your introduction with a short answer, avoiding any fluff.
• Use declarative sentences: Most sentences that end up ranking in featured snippets are information-dense and declarative. Use a compact subject-predicate-object structure when optimizing a section for featured snippets for the maximum chance of getting picked up by Google.
• Match existing featured snippets: Study the format, tone, and structure of the current snippet and match it while aiming to provide a more informative response.
• Use tables: Sum up complex data and comparisons in a table, especially in product roundups and reviews.

4. People Also Ask

Website visibility: High

People Also Ask (PAA) is a Google SERP feature that displays a list of related questions users commonly search for. Each question is expandable to reveal a short answer and link to a single source page.

Boost Your Visibility by Ranking in People Also Ask

• Use question-based subheadings: Many of the answers Google pulls into PAA come from H2 or H3 subheadings that directly match the question shown in the PAA box. Use tools like AlsoAsked and other top SEO tools to find common follow-up questions around your topic and add relevant ones as subheadings throughout your article.
• Write clear, concise answers right after the heading: Immediately follow each question-based heading with a short, direct answer. Where possible, mirror the phrasing of the question in your answer.

5. Sitelinks

Website visibility: Medium to high

There are two types of sitelinks:

Related pages that appear under your main result for branded queries:

These are great for satisfying searches with a navigational intent.

You may also see horizontal sitelinks under blog posts. These are internal jump links to sections within the same page

Both kinds of sitelinks are good for your website visibility.

They occupy extra SERP space and offer more clickable links than competitors without sitelinks.

How to Appear in Sitelinks for Enhanced Visibility

You can’t manually choose which sitelinks appear. But you can influence Google’s choices by improving your site structure, content structure, and internal linking.

• Use clear, unique page titles: Make sure every page title accurately reflects the content of the page. For example, avoid simply labeling your homepage as “home”.
• Clean site architecture: Create logical hierarchies and generate links to important pages from other relevant pages as well as from your main navigation.
• Optimize anchor text: Use consistent, descriptive anchor text and link to core pages frequently across your site (such as your pricing, features, blog, etc.).
• Insert table of contents within blog content: Sitelinks under ranking articles usually appear when Google picks them from your table of contents headings.
• Avoid duplicate titles: Try not to use similar titles for pages targeting different intents. This can confuse Google and hurt your chances of sitelinks showing up.

6. Image and Video Carousels

Website visibility: High

Google often places image and video carousels near the top of the SERP for visually focused queries.

Getting featured in these carousels can instantly boost your visibility, especially on mobile, where they take up prominent space and invite interaction.

How to Optimize for Image and Video Carousels

• Host videos on YouTube: YouTube-hosted videos are more likely to appear in Google’s video carousels than self-hosted ones. Ideally, you should embed your videos across all properties where relevant (website, social media, video platforms, etc.)
• Use original media: Stock visuals are less likely to get picked up. Google tends to favor unique, high-value media that complement your content.
• Optimize titles and thumbnails: For YouTube videos, make sure to use concise titles that describe your video, along with catchy thumbnails representative of your topic.
• Add transcripts and closed captions: Transcripts help Google understand deeper context, increasing the chances of getting featured for multiple relevant queries.

Multiplying Website Visibility Beyond Google

Despite Google’s dominance, it’s not a viable strategy to concentrate your efforts entirely on Google alone.

Searchers today look for content and products on many platforms apart from Google.

You can’t attain maximum website visibility if you ignore these channels.

AI Search Engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity)

AI tools with search capabilities like ChatGPT and Perplexity are discovery platforms in their own right.

Many users now rely on AI chat tools to ask questions, compare products, and get recommendations, bypassing Google entirely.

Even though Google still dominates both the traditional and AI search engine markets by a massive margin, ChatGPT can still be an important source of visibility and referral traffic for your website.

The strategies for increasing your chances of ranking in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other tools are very similar to those I recommend for AI Overviews.

To reiterate:

• Create factual, well-sourced content: These tools favor pages that cite reputable sources, explain concepts clearly, and are easy to break down into bite-sized summaries. If your content is vague or lacks references, it’s unlikely to be surfaced or cited.
• Use clear and structured formatting: Like Google, AI search engines prefer structured content they can parse easily. Use headings, numbered steps, bullet points, tables, and FAQs to increase your chances of being quoted directly.
• Target informational and comparative queries: Perplexity and ChatGPT often use sources from the web when they’re asked questions with informational or comparative intent like “best tools for…” or “how does X compare to Y?” Make sure your content addresses these angles with detailed breakdowns.
• Publish original insights: AI tools are more likely to cite content that includes original data or unique insights.
• Strengthen brand mentions: Even unlinked brand mentions in reddit threads, blog posts, or public databases can improve your authority in AI search engines.

Google Discover

Google Discover is a curated content feed that delivers articles and videos based on your interests. Unlike traditional search, Google Discover isn’t driven by keywords or search inputs. It only aims to push forward topics and news a user is likely to care about.

It’s another valuable channel to expand your content reach beyond Google Search.

If your content ranks on Google’s search and is also surfaced to relevant audiences on Discover, it usually results in a substantial increase in your reach.

Our blog articles regularly make it into Google Discover. We typically see a significant increase in impressions and clicks when that happens.

Here are a few tactics we use that help our content get picked by Google Discover:

• Produce newsworthy content: Trending topics and newsworthy content form the majority of the content appearing in Google Discover. Use tools like Exploding Topics and Google Trends for SEO to find relevant, newsworthy content you can create for your audience.
• Content freshness: Google Discover feeds change very rapidly, prioritizing the freshest content available. New articles or substantially refreshed articles are more likely to be surfaced in Discover.
• Use descriptive headlines: Make your headlines clear and descriptive. Avoid sensational language and focus on creating headlines that represent your content accurately while capturing attention through curiosity.

Reddit

A strong, organic Reddit presence can significantly enhance your content and brand visibility.

There are 3 reasons for that:

First, Reddit is a search engine in its own right (though not as user-friendly as Google).

According to Semrush data, nearly 1.6 billion visits to Reddit (which is about 40% of its traffic) come directly via the browser or app.

Posting on Reddit helps you reach segments of that audience who are actively searching for content in your niche.

Second, David from Detailed.com found Reddit appearing in 95.5% of product review searches on Google.

Usually, Google displays content from Reddit in the ‘Discussion and forums’ feature on SERPs.

You’ll find other forums like Quora in this feature, but Reddit dominates it by a wide margin.

Semrush data also shows that Reddit’s top 10 rankings have grown astronomically by 552.17% from May 2023 to May 2025.

Finally, many standard Google searches are appended with the term “reddit”.

People want user-generated insights from real people, not just marketers promoting their products.

I couldn’t find a methodical research exploring this trend. But based on my rough estimate using Semrush data, keywords that include the word “reddit” increased by 386% between 2023 to 2025.

Now, combine these three trends. It’s easy to draw the conclusion that Reddit can reward you with a tremendous visibility boost if you actively engage and participate in relevant threads.

LinkedIn Articles

In 2024, Google was heavily promoting LinkedIn articles on its organic SERPs.

This trend is declining in 2025.

But LinkedIn articles are still ranking well enough to warrant consideration for publishers aiming to enhance visibility.

In fact, LinkedIn holds top rankings for keywords that might surprise you:

There’s no secret hack to optimizing for LinkedIn.

In my experience, articles that rank well on LinkedIn usually clearly show good keyword optimization and content structuring.

The authors also tend to have a few hundred followers at the very least.

I don’t think your LinkedIn can be a replacement for your blog.

Rather, treat it as a platform for distributing LinkedIn-appropriate content, repurposed from your original blog. It can be effective to expand your visibility.

TikTok and Instagram

Younger shoppers are now using social platforms like TikTok and Instagram to find products more often than Google.

It’s the first time we’re seeing any generation prefer social media over Google for searching products.

As older populations age, this trend is likely to continue in the same direction.

That’s why it’s crucial for businesses to establish a presence on platforms where their target audiences actively spend time.

Grow Your Website Visibility and Outshine Competitors

The rules of visibility have evolved. But so have the opportunities for putting your content in front of the right audience.

Now more than ever, it’s important to take advantage of SERP features as well as distribute your content beyond Google.

Your chances of success are much higher if you monitor your visibility and keep an eye on SERP feature opportunities.

To get started, try the free Semrush trial and use its SEO reports to uncover high-impact opportunities and measure your visibility trends over time.