The search for your project’s truth. 

By Rebecca-Louise Woods – Digital Account Director

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) might not be the first thing you think about when planning vital energy and infrastructure projects but ensuring that your messaging is discoverable by the right people at the right time is crucial for success in a digital age. 

As we approach the end of 2025, search behaviour is rapidly shifting due to an unprecedented growth in AI tools. This is creating new challenges that you will need to address within your project’s content. 

What is SEO? 

SEO is the process of optimising web and app content, so users can find it via search engines like Google and Bing.  

An SEO strategist typically identifies: 

• Key search terms defining your project or offering 

• What people are searching for around it 

• Which terms to prioritise based on volume and competitiveness 

This research forms the foundation of your SEO strategy, making sure you understand what your external stakeholders are asking, and provide the content they need.

We’ve outlined five ways SEO can help infrastructure and energy projects run smoothly.

1. Keep Content Updated 

Your website explains the project, but social media reflects real-time sentiment. Both matter. Knowing what search terms and questions users are asking helps you to create content that responds to your user and place that content effectively across your digital channels.  

Search engines and AI tools love brand new content. If something changes on a project, get it onto the website as quickly as you can. Fresh content will enable search tools to review the page anew and prioritise what’s interesting for users.  

2. Research Search Behaviour 

Understanding what your user wants is crucial when creating project content that they will read and engage positively with.  

Before creating this content, you need to understand what people are searching for online – go broader than just project-specific keywords to catch a wider audience. Tools like SEMRush and AHREFs (free alternatives are also available) provide insights into search trends and keyword suggestions. You never know what you might discover – and, crucially – be able to address.  

Once you know what users are searching for and have identified search terms, some quick wins include: 

• Updating meta titles with priority keywords 

• Adding key terms to headings and subheadings 

• Ensuring content answers user questions 

3. Address Misinformation Early 

Plan FAQs, myth-busters and explainer articles early to rank well and provide clarity. Use accessible formats like videos, accordion blocks, and short paragraphs. AI tools favour structured, scannable content – so you’ll please both users and algorithms. 

Providing timely content means more people will engage with it. Is the project changing? Get that information onto your website and social media as quickly as possible to spread the word and avoid misinformation. 

4. Be Technically Accurate 

Credible bylines and technical expertise boost trust. If it means the content takes longer to write, so be it.  

Code is another way in which you can provide technically accurate and up to date information in an accessible – and search friendly – manner. While you don’t need to have an in-depth understanding of code, understanding HTML helps. For example, there is code that exists that can help search engines and AI tools understand what a block of content is and what it is trying to achieve. This is called structured data.  

By putting this behind your content, search engines and AI tools scan this extra information and sometimes pull it through to the search results pages and AI summaries.  This can vastly improve the visibility of your project and help get information to users quickly and in an accessible form.  

5. Optimise for AI Search 

With 60% of EU searches now resulting in zero clicks due to AI summaries, your content must be easy to scan and summarise so that AI can summarise it for the AI Overview or chat tools. Use clear headings, HTML (not PDFs), shorter paragraphs, lists, tables, and signpost key information. 

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is emerging as a discipline – this involves optimising for tools like ChatGPT and Copilot. Content that is accessible and well-structured stands the best chance of appearing in AI overviews. 

Next Steps 

Optimising project content for search – across Google, Bing, and AI tools – has never been more important. Start by knowing your audience, researching their questions, and creating content that answers them in an accessible format. With the right data and strategy, you can build user journeys that lead to the success your Infrastructure & Energy project deserves.