News optimisation for publishers

News optimisation covers the systematic adaptation of editorial content for Google News, Google Discover, AI Overviews and language models such as ChatGPT. Publishers use it to increase reach, reader loyalty and ad revenue in daily operations.

On the Publisher SEO Podcast (in German) I talked with Anna Knaup of Trisolute about Google Discover, Google updates and AI for newsrooms. Anna also teaches at TU Dortmund in the department of journalism.

Definition

What is news optimisation for publishers?

News optimisation describes the adaptation of editorial content to the distribution channels of Google, AI Overviews and large language models. It is a core discipline in publisher SEO for publishers.

Which channels does news optimisation cover?

News optimisation covers four channels: Google News as a curated news offering, Google Discover as a personalised feed, AI Overviews in Google Search and LLMs such as ChatGPT.

Each channel has its own requirements for headline, lead image and structured data. Newsrooms have to decide per article which channel has priority.

How does news optimisation differ from classic SEO?

Classic SEO aims at stable rankings for transactional and informational keywords. News optimisation prioritises freshness, Discover readiness and Republishing; the optimisation cycle runs in hours, not weeks.

This logic determines the entire publisher SEO guide for news sites and structurally distinguishes publishing teams from classic SEO departments.

Google Discover

What does Google Discover mean for news optimisation?

Google Discover delivers up to 70 percent of Google traffic at many publishers and thereby decides the reach of entire newsrooms. Discover is therefore the central lever of every news optimisation.

Which topics work in Google Discover?

Discover favours topics with an emotional trigger, high freshness and a visually strong lead image. Celebrity news, pensions, consumer topics and crime stories typically achieve the highest click-through rates in publisher data.

Newsrooms check daily which topics from their own inventory can trigger new Discover waves. This analysis runs on CTR and impressions via Google Search Console.

What role does evergreen content play for Discover?

Evergreen content collects traffic in Google Discover outside acute news situations too. Newsrooms combine hard news and evergreens to cushion fluctuations in daily reach.

Newsroom and SEO

How does news optimisation support newsrooms?

News optimisation links three building blocks into a fixed process: data analysis from Google Search Console, topic development based on related entities and continuous newsroom training.

How do SEOs analyse Google updates?

SEOs compare clicks, impressions and Discover share before and after every update in Google Search Console. Competitive comparison and spot checks of individual URLs provide the hypotheses for the causes.

How do new topic areas arise?

New topic areas arise from related entities of successful articles and from seasonal or political occasions. Newsrooms test topics for two to four weeks before deciding on permanent maintenance.

How does newsroom training work?

Newsroom training teaches headline and teaser work, image selection and Discover logic directly in daily production. SEO for editors starts exactly here and makes the interlocking of SEO and journalistic work practical for everyday use.

Anna Knaup of Trisolute also teaches this content at TU Dortmund in the department of journalism. Moritz Serif provides structured formats in the SEO seminar for newsrooms.

Best practices

Which best practices apply to news optimisation?

Anna Knaup names five best practices: consistency on topics that work, tested new topics, W-questions in headlines, user focus and editorial interlocking.

Why is consistency more important than reach spikes?

Topics that work in Discover or the AI Overviews need permanent maintenance, otherwise the reach breaks off. Consistency beats one-off peaks in every sound competitive analysis.

Publishers build editorial routines for top topics with Republishing for Google Discover. These routines keep articles in the feed for days to weeks.

How do newsrooms structure W-questions?

Newsrooms take the most frequent W-questions from search directly into H2 headings and teasers. This structure increases the probability of being cited in AI Overviews and in LLM answers.

How does news optimisation interlock newsroom and SEO?

News optimisation belongs in the daily topic conference, not in a separate SEO department. Republishing, refreshing and image changes run from the moment of first publication.

Google updates

How do publishers respond to Google updates?

Publishers respond to Google updates in three steps: data analysis in Google Search Console, competitive comparison and cause research. Often details such as the lead image decide between gain and loss.

Which data show losses fastest?

Clicks, impressions and CTR in Google Search Console show Discover losses within 24 hours. Live tools such as Marfeel, Taboola or Kilkaya report the drop in real time.

Which image and content policies apply to Discover and Google News?

Anna Knaup stresses: suggestive or violent images can lead to content being excluded from Google News or Discover. Newsrooms check every lead image choice against Google's policies.

Discover images need at least 1,200 pixels width and the meta tag max-image-preview:large. These two values belong in every publisher CMS as a default.

AI and news

What role does AI play for news optimisation?

Hard news hardly appears in AI Overviews, evergreen content and explainers on the other hand often. This produces the strategic double track for publishers in news optimisation.

Which content do LLMs such as ChatGPT cite?

LLMs preferentially cite structured explainer and background content with a firm subject-verb structure, source references and stable URLs. Daily news appears less often, because models use older training data and not every real-time publication.

Which strategy follows from that for newsrooms?

Newsrooms build an evergreen layer in parallel to news production that LLMs can cite. This strategy secures reach when AI Overviews absorb part of the hard news.

Moritz Serif describes this path in detail under Publisher SEO as the key: how publishers survive the AI phase.

Getting started without an SEO team

How do publishers start without an SEO team of their own?

Publishers without an SEO team start with three basics: headline and teaser, lead image and internal linking. The lever lies in daily work, not in a strategy slide. Moritz Serif offers external support for this start with SEO for newsrooms.

How do editors optimise headlines and teasers?

Editors check every headline for the main keyword and the most important user question. Teasers name subject, verb and benefit in a maximum of two sentences.

What role does the lead image play?

The lead image decides together with the headline about the click-through rate in Google Discover. Publishers test at least two image variants per Discover article and swap the weaker image after 24 hours.

How do you build internal linking systematically?

Editors link two to three thematically matching existing articles with every publication. This internal linking strengthens topical authority and leads readers deeper into the publication.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about news optimisation +

Who is Anna Knaup?

Anna Knaup works at Trisolute and develops strategies for publishers. She teaches at TU Dortmund in the department of journalism and shows journalists how to integrate SEO into their daily work.

What is Google Discover and why is it important for publishers?

Google Discover is a personalised feed on mobile devices that shows users articles without an active search. At many publishers up to 70 percent of Google traffic comes from Discover.

How do Google News and Google Discover differ?

Google News is a separate news offering with curated sources and a freshness focus. Google Discover delivers content personalised into the mobile feed and also works with evergreen and background topics.

Which best practices apply to news optimisation?

Anna Knaup names consistency on running topics, tested new topics, W-questions in headlines, user focus and editorial interlocking as the five most important best practices.

What role does AI play for news SEO?

Hard news hardly appears in AI Overviews, evergreen content and explainers on the other hand often. Publishers therefore need a double strategy of daily operations and evergreen maintenance.

How do newsrooms respond to Google updates?

Newsrooms check clicks, impressions and CTR in Google Search Console, compare the values with competitors and examine image and content changes as possible causes.

Do publishers still have a future in the age of AI?

Publishers secure their future when they combine Discover reach, evergreen authority and brand trust. Editorial SEO remains indispensable for reach, brand building and monetisation.

Transparency

Sources used

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