Embracing Multimodal Content: Strategies for Format Testing and Diverse AI Outputs | GEO Plan

The way we find information online is changing right before our eyes. Gone are the days of just a simple list of ten blue links. Now, when you ask Google a question, you frequently get a rich, detailed summary at the very top, complete with images, videos, and key points pulled from multiple sources. This is the new world of AI Overviews (previously known as Search Generative Experience or SGE), and it’s a game-changer for every business with a website.  

In this new AI-driven landscape, just writing good articles isn't enough. Your content now needs to be understood, interpreted, and showcased by an artificial intelligence that thinks in multiple formats—text, visuals, and even audio. The challenge is no longer just to rank, but to become a trusted source that the AI itself chooses to feature. If your content strategy is stuck in the past, you risk becoming invisible.  

But this shift is not a threat; it's a massive opportunity. It’s a chance to connect with your audience in more engaging and diverse ways. This guide is your roadmap to mastering this new reality. We will explore how to create a strong multimodal content strategy, using a mix of formats to capture AI's attention. We'll show you how to use format testing to discover what truly works, and how to apply these learnings globally with a smart GEO Plan. As India's #1 Branding & PR Agency, we at Public Media Solution are here to help you navigate this evolution and attain unmatched supremacy in the digital world.  

Why Multimodal Content is the New King in the Age of AI

First, what exactly is multimodal content? Simply put, it’s content that uses a combination of different formats—text, images, videos, infographics, charts, and audio—to tell a story or explain a topic. Instead of just a plain blog post, think of an article enriched with a how-to video, a comparison table, and an infographic summarising the key points.

This approach is no longer a "nice-to-have"; it's essential for visibility in the age of AI. Here’s why:

• AI Thinks Multimodally: Modern AI systems, like Google's Gemini, are built to be multimodal. This means they can understand and process information from various formats simultaneously. They don't just read your text; they "see" your images and "watch" your videos to get a complete picture of your content's meaning and value.  
• AI Overviews Love Variety: AI-generated summaries are designed to be comprehensive and engaging. To achieve this, they frequently pull in images, videos, and well-structured lists directly into the answer box. A page with only text is at a disadvantage compared to a competitor's page that offers a rich mix of media.  
• Different Formats Match Different Needs: Users have different intentions when they search. Someone searching "how to tie a tie" will likely find a video more helpful than a long article. A query like "best smartphones under ₹20,000" is perfectly suited for a comparison table. By providing content in multiple formats, you cater to a broader range of user needs, which AI algorithms are designed to reward.  
• It Boosts Your Authority (E-E-A-T): High-quality multimedia enhances the user experience, a key component of Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) guidelines. Unique graphics and insightful videos establish a deeper level of expertise and effort, signaling to Google that your content is a credible and helpful resource.  

Crafting AI-Ready Content: A Format-by-Format Guide

To win in this new era, you need to create content that is not only valuable for your audience but also easy for AI to understand and repurpose. Here’s a practical guide to optimizing additional content formats.

Text Content: The Foundation of Your Strategy

Your written content is still the backbone, but it needs to be structured for AI.

• Structure is Everything: Use a clear hierarchy of headings (H1, H2, H3). Frame your subheadings as questions that your audience is likely to ask (e.g., "How Does Semantic SEO Work?"). This makes it easy for AI to identify specific answers on your page.  
• Adopt the 'Answer-First' Method: Start each central section with a direct, concise answer to the question posed in the heading. You can elaborate and add context in the following sentences, but that first sentence is often what AI will pull for a summary.  
• Use AI-Friendly Formats: Break up dense paragraphs with bulleted lists, numbered steps, and tables. These structured formats are straightforward for AI to parse and are frequently featured in AI Overviews and traditional snippets. An FAQ section at the end of your article is also a powerful tool.  
• Embrace Semantic SEO: Think beyond single keywords. Cover your topic comprehensively by including related concepts, answering adjacent questions, and linking to other relevant articles on your site (this is known as building topic clusters). This demonstrates your deep expertise on the subject.  

Images & Infographics: The Visual Hook

Visuals make your content more engaging and provide another layer of information for AI to analyze.

• Optimize Your Visuals: Use descriptive, keyword-rich filenames (e.g., multimodal-content-strategy-infographic.png instead of IMG_1234.png) and detailed alt text. Alt text is not just for accessibility; it’s a direct way to tell AI what an image is about.  
• Create Unique Graphics: AI Overviews tend to favor original, custom-made graphics and infographics over generic stock photos. A unique visual is a strong signal of quality and authority.  
• Prioritize Page Speed: Large, unoptimized images can slow down your website, which hurts both user experience and your rankings. Compress your images to provide your page loads quickly.  
• Use Structured Data: Implement Schema markup for your images to give search engines even more context around what they depict, increasing their chances of appearing in rich results.  

Video Content: The Engagement Powerhouse

Video is one of the most powerful formats for capturing attention and explaining complex topics.

• Optimize for Discovery: Just like with text, your video's title and description are crucial. Use appropriate keywords and write compelling descriptions that accurately reflect the video's content.  
• Answer Questions Directly: Create videos that address specific user queries, such as "how-to" tutorials, product demonstrations, or expert Q&As. Google's AI can analyze video content to find answers, so a video can be the primary source for an AI Overview.  
• Provide Transcripts: Including a full transcript of your video makes it accessible and gives AI a text-based version of your content to crawl and understand, increasing its chances of being featured.  

Finding What Works: The Power of Format Testing

Creating multimodal content is the first step, but how do you know which formats are most effective for your audience and your goals? The answer is A/B testing. Instead of guessing, you can use data to make informed decisions about your content strategy.  

A/B testing for content formats involves creating two or more versions of a page to see which one performs better. This isn't just for button colours anymore; it's a powerful tool for content strategy.

What Can You Test?

• Text vs. Video: For a guide on a complex topic, test a detailed blog post against a page featuring an explainer video. Which one keeps users on the page longer and leads to more conversions?  
• Different Visuals: On a product page, test a standard product photo against a lifestyle image of the product in use, or even a short video. Which one drives more sales?  
• Content Structures: Does a long-form article perform better than a page broken down into an interactive FAQ format? Test different layouts to see what your audience prefers.  
• Headlines and Thumbnails: For your blog posts and videos, test different headlines and thumbnail images to see which combination achieves the highest click-through rate (CTR) from search results.  

How to A/B Test Without Hurting Your SEO

When running A/B tests, it's crucial to follow best practices to avoid confusing search engines.

• Use rel="canonical": If you are testing two different URLs, use a canonical tag on the variation page that points back to the original. This tells Google which page is the primary version and prevents duplicate content issues.  
• Use 302 (Temporary) Redirects: If your test involves redirecting users to a different URL, use a 302 redirect, not a 301 (permanent) redirect. This signals to Google that the change is temporary.  
• Run Tests Long Enough for Significance: Don't end a test too early. You need enough data to be confident in the results. However, don't let tests run indefinitely, as this can send mixed signals to search engines.  

The GEO Plan: Taking Your Multimodal Content Global

Once you've identified the content formats that work best for your brand, the next step is to adapt them for a global audience. A successful GEO (Geographic) Plan goes far beyond simple translation; it requires deep cultural localization, especially for multimedia content.  

Localizing Your Multimedia Content

• Images and Infographics: Visual language is not universal. A gesture, symbol, or even a colour that is positive in one culture could be horrendous in another. For example, the "thumbs-up" gesture is an insult in some parts of the world. It's essential to use images that feature people, landmarks, and cultural references that are familiar and appropriate for each target market. Always consult with local experts to review your visuals.  
• Videos: Localizing video can involve subtitles, voice-overs (dubbing), or even re-shooting scenes with local actors. On-screen text, music, and the overall tone must also be adapted to resonate with the local culture.  
• Layout and Design: When translating text, remember that some languages take up more space than others (e.g., German is often longer than English). Languages like Arabic and Hebrew are read from right to left, which requires mirroring your entire page layout.  

The Technical Backbone: Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)

Delivering a rich, multimodal experience to a global audience requires a strong technical foundation. Heavy files like high-resolution images and videos can make your website slow for users who are far from your server. This is where a Content Delivery Network (CDN) becomes essential.

A CDN is a network of servers broadcast around the world. It stores cached copies of your website's content (especially large media files) in multiple locations. When a user visits your site, the CDN produces the content from the server closest to them. This dramatically reduces loading times, which is a critical segment for both user experience and SEO.  

Your Action Plan for a Winning Multimodal Strategy

The shift to AI-driven, multimodal search is here. By embracing it strategically, you can build a more powerful connection with your audience and achieve greater visibility. Here is your action plan:

1. Audit Your Existing Content: Identify your most important pages. Where can you add a video, an infographic, or a helpful table to make the content more comprehensive and engaging?
2. Structure for AI and Humans: Revisit your content structure. Implement clear, question-based headings, use lists and short paragraphs, and apply the "answer-first" principle.
3. Start Testing: You don't have to test everything at once. Pick one high-traffic page and run a simple A/B test. Try adding an FAQ section or testing a new, more descriptive headline and measure the impact on traffic and engagement.
4. Think Globally from the Start: When creating new visual content, consider its international appeal. Opt for universally understood imagery where possible, and plan for localization from the beginning to save time and resources later.

Navigating this new digital frontier requires expertise and a forward-thinking strategy. At Public Media Solution, our integrated teams of SEO, content, design, and PR experts specialize in crafting holistic, data-driven strategies that are ready for the future of search.