How should we handle informational intent now that AI answers those queries directly?

This is THE strategic question for content teams right now.

The reframe:

Old question: “How do we rank for informational queries?” New question: “How do we build authority and be cited for informational topics?”

Why informational content still matters:

1. Authority building - Topic coverage signals expertise
2. AI training - Your content influences how AI understands topics
3. Citation source - When AI answers, who gets cited?
4. Journey support - Users still need depth after AI summary
5. Brand awareness - Even without clicks, brand visibility in AI responses

What changes:

Before: Traffic → Leads → Revenue Now: Authority → AI visibility → Brand awareness → Leads → Revenue

The funnel is longer and harder to measure, but informational content still feeds it.

The strategic shift:

Don’t measure informational content by traffic. Measure by:

• AI citation rate
• Brand mentions in AI responses
• Branded search volume (awareness indicator)
• Topic authority (do we get cited as experts?)

Keep creating informational content, but optimize for citations, not clicks.

The portfolio approach to search intent.

How we’re allocating resources:

Informational (30% of effort, down from 50%):

• Focus on topics where we want authority
• Optimize for citation, not traffic
• Create content AI systems want to cite
• Accept lower direct traffic ROI

Navigational (20%, stable):

• Protect branded terms
• Knowledge panel optimization
• Brand search experience

Transactional/Commercial (50%, up from 30%):

• These still drive traffic and conversions
• AI helps but doesn’t replace purchase decision
• Higher direct ROI, prioritize here

The rebalancing:

We’re not abandoning informational. We’re right-sizing investment based on realistic outcomes.

What we stopped:

• Chasing every “what is” keyword
• Traffic targets for educational content
• Judging informational content by conversions

What we started:

• Monitoring AI citations for informational topics
• Creating for authority, not traffic
• Connecting informational to transactional content paths

Brand perspective on informational content.

The awareness value:

When ChatGPT explains a concept and cites your brand, that’s brand impression. Even if users don’t click:

• They see your brand name
• They associate you with the topic
• Later, when buying, your brand is familiar

The measurement challenge:

This is classic top-of-funnel awareness. Hard to attribute, but valuable.

How we’re tracking:

1. Branded search volume - Trend over time
2. Brand mention sentiment in AI - How are we described?
3. Survey data - “How did you first hear about us?”
4. Attribution window - Extend attribution to capture delayed conversions

The honest answer:

Some informational content value is faith-based. We believe awareness drives eventual conversion, even if we can’t always prove it.

But the alternative - ceding all awareness to competitors - seems worse.

Data approach to informational content ROI.

The analysis we did:

Tracked users who first touched informational content (historical, before AI impact) through to conversion.

Findings:

• 34% of eventual buyers first touched informational content
• Average 4.2 touches before conversion
• Informational content was touch 1-2 for most
• Removing informational from journey reduced predicted conversions by 18%

The implication:

Even if traffic to informational content drops, users still encounter it through:

• AI citations (with our brand mentioned)
• Internal site navigation
• Social sharing
• Direct search later

Current measurement:

We’re now tracking:

• AI mention → branded search → conversion path
• Time from first AI exposure to conversion
• Assisted conversions where informational was any touchpoint

The ROI shift:

Informational content ROI isn’t direct traffic → conversion. It’s awareness → brand recognition → eventual conversion. Longer, harder to measure, but real.

Competitive perspective on informational content.

What happens if you abandon informational:

• Competitors become the cited authorities
• AI learns to associate topic with their brand
• When users buy, competitor brand is familiar
• You lose category association

What we monitor:

Share of voice in AI responses for category-defining topics.

Example: “What is [your category]?”

If competitor is cited first and you’re not mentioned, they own the category in AI’s understanding.

The defensive value:

Some informational content is defensive. You create it to maintain category presence, not drive traffic.

The investment question:

Don’t ask: “What’s the ROI of this informational content?”

Ask: “What’s the cost of competitors owning this topic in AI responses?”

Frame it as brand defense, not traffic generation.

Startup perspective - we went all-in on transactional.

Our experiment:

6 months ago, stopped creating informational content. Focused only on bottom-funnel transactional.

Results:

Good:

• Content team more focused
• Higher conversion rate on content we created
• Short-term efficiency improved

Bad:

• Branded search volume declining
• AI visibility score tanking
• Competitors now own the educational narrative in our space
• Sales team reports prospects arrive less educated

My conclusion:

Pure transactional focus is short-sighted. Informational content builds the awareness that makes transactional content work.

We’re now re-investing in informational, but with AI-first approach: optimizing for citations, not traffic.

How to optimize informational content for AI era.

The goal shift:

Old: Write informational content → Rank → Get traffic → Convert New: Write authoritative content → Get cited → Build awareness → Convert eventually

Optimization for citations:

Structure:

• Clear question-answer format
• Extractable key statements
• Comprehensive topic coverage
• Expert credentials visible

Content:

• Original insights AI can cite
• Specific data points
• Clear definitions
• Unique perspectives

Authority:

• Expert authors with bios
• Source citations
• Industry recognition
• Consistent topic coverage

Measurement:

Monitor with Am I Cited:

• How often cited for topic?
• In what context?
• What’s cited (quotes, data)?
• Competitor comparison

The mindset:

You’re writing for AI to reference, not just for humans to read. Same content can serve both, but optimization includes AI citation potential.

Operational approach to informational content.

How we’ve restructured:

Informational content categories:

Category A: Authority essential

• Core topics defining our expertise
• Create comprehensive, authoritative pieces
• Invest heavily, measure by AI visibility

Category B: Supporting content

• Related topics supporting Category A
• Lighter investment
• Links to and supports main authority pieces

Category C: Deprecated

• Topics where we have no unique value
• Commodity informational content
• Not investing

The triage:

Not all informational content deserves equal investment. Focus on topics where:

• You have genuine expertise
• Authority matters for your business
• You can create unique value AI will cite

Abandon commoditized informational where you’re just one of many voices.

This thread reframed how I think about informational content.

Key takeaways:

1. Informational still matters - For authority, AI training, and brand awareness
2. Metrics must change - Citations and visibility, not traffic
3. ROI is indirect - Awareness → brand recognition → eventual conversion
4. Portfolio approach - Right-size investment, don’t abandon
5. Optimize for AI - Structure for citation, not just ranking

Our new approach:

• Reduce informational content volume by 30%
• Increase quality and authority focus
• Measure by AI visibility metrics (setting up Am I Cited)
• Defend category-defining topics
• Accept traffic decline, focus on citation success

The leadership conversation:

“Informational traffic will decline regardless of what we do. Our choice is whether we get cited and maintain brand presence, or we disappear and competitors own the narrative.”

Thanks for the perspectives!