Will Conversational Search replace the classic keyword search in personnel marketing?

Part of our agency work always revolves around recruiting and employer attractiveness. Since the roll-out of AI answers, the SEO rules of the game have changed and so has the way in which potential candidates find suitable companies. To return to the title of the blog post: Will conversational search replace traditional keyword search in recruitment marketing? Our short answer: Not completely - but it will dominate in many areas. Especially in job search and employer branding.

Introduction: What's behind Google's new AI search mode?

In a Handelsblatt article from May 21, 2025, it becomes clear: Google has introduced a radical AI mode that completely redefines the conventional search experience. CEO Sundar Pichai describes how Google is being "completely repositioned" - moving away from purely list-based searches to an AI assistant that proactively provides contextual answers.
This innovation is a clear response to the trend of more and more users using chatbots such as ChatGPT in parallel with search. Google is aiming to position itself as an integrative AI search assistant in this environment.

Google's Search Central blog (May 2025 ) also provides specific recommendations on how websites can survive in the new search reality:

1. Focus on high-quality content: Content must be useful, up-to-date and trustworthy. In particular, content with clear added value for users is indexed and displayed preferentially.
2. Use structured data: Information such as job title, salary or location should be marked up using Schema.org markup. This improves semantic comprehensibility for AI systems.
3. Technical indexing control: robots.txt, meta tags and targeted URL architecture should ensure that content is captured efficiently by crawlers and categorized correctly.
   These insights are essential for recruitment marketers who want to maximize their reach via AI-driven search experiences.

What does this mean for job ads and career content?

1. search intent instead of mere keyword optimization

What does the new focus on conversational search mean for my job ads? Standardized, generic or copied ads lead to homogeneity, lower information quality and less interest from applicants. Current AI and embedding-based models are able to detect this. Only independent, authentic content can still achieve a differentiating effect today - for both humans and machines. How can a genuine employer culture be conveyed, how can AI differentiate between offers? In short, it is deadly to copy from other advertisements - a well-known issue in SEO. So make sure that important questions are answered directly and as individually as possible - e.g. on working time models, salary or development opportunities. Use clear sections. Many platforms already offer fields for structured information. Use these consistently to maximize your reach via AI-supported search systems and, if in doubt, seek advice from external experts, i.e. SEO agencies like us who have already specialized in optimizing for AI search systems.

Questions that need to be answered:

• What does the job really offer?
• Why should I apply to this employer?
• What is the salary? What is the corporate culture like?
• Are there home office or flexible working models?
• What development opportunities do I have?

Practical tip: If you want to place a job ad, you should make sure that your content is not only keyword-optimized, but also conversational. An ad - e.g. on StepStone - should not only contain the right keywords, but also answer questions such as: "What flexibility does the employer offer?"

2. content must be AI-readable and conversational

This includes

• Lists & bullet points
• Clearly named sections (e.g. "What we offer")
• Simple language for natural language models (LLMs)

3. structured data is mandatory

Use Schema.org markup (e.g. JobTitle, Description, Salary, Location) to:

• make your content visible in AI Overviews and the job snippet
• ensure optimal indexing
• perform better on Google and platforms such as LinkedIn, Indeed

If someone searches for a job as a nurse in Rostock, our client MeckCura is placed as the third hit in Google's job offer snippet. We can only do this because the job advertisements on the website also have the corresponding schema markup. When I consider how many jobs are advertised for Rostock, this placement is a great SEO success.

4. from text to experience

A good text is no longer enough, you need tangible content:

• Tone of voice to suit the target group
• Authentic insights into everyday working life
• Images, videos & quotes from real employees
• Examples instead of empty phrases

5. consider multi-platform capability

Applicants use many channels, including Google search, chatbots on your career site and job boards & social media. We have even successfully collected applications for our clients via Ebay classifieds.

Tip: Plan modular content:

• Text block for Google
• Consider response logic for chatbots
• Teaser for social media
• Long form for the careers page
• Specific modules for placing job ads, e.g. with StepStone

The keyword-based search with its literal terms is extended by the conversational search for context and intent.

FAQ: Frequently asked questions about conversational search in recruiting

What is the difference between keyword and conversational search?

Keyword search is based on individual search terms that the algorithm combines to find relevant content. This still works well technically, but is not optimal for more complex search intentions. Conversational search, on the other hand, processes queries in natural language and recognizes their semantic context. As a result, AI systems such as Google AI Mode or ChatGPT provide precise, often directly usable answers.

Why is conversational search relevant for HR marketing?

Applicants today are no longer just looking for job titles, but for answers to specific life realities: "Which jobs are compatible with family life?" or "Which companies offer a hybrid working model?". Companies that address these questions in their job advertisements or career pages demonstrate relevance, empathy and user orientation - key factors for modern employer branding.

How do I make my content conversational?

Conversational content is characterized by clarity, structure and substance. Use clear question-and-answer formats (e.g. in FAQ sections), avoid generic phrases and provide real information: Figures, processes, experience reports. The more concrete and helpful the content, the higher the chance of being placed prominently in AI overviews and chatbots.

What are the specific benefits of using structured data? Structured data according to Schema.org enables Google and other AI systems to interpret content in a machine-readable way. For job offers, this means that the title, location, salary range or application deadline can be extracted in a targeted manner and displayed in features such as the AI Overview. This improves visibility and click rates, even without users explicitly visiting your site.

How do I use conversational search specifically for my employer branding?

Tell stories - not just about products, but about people, values and visions. Offer insights into the world of work, e.g. through employee interviews, day-in-the-life videos or blog articles on cultural topics. Conversational search prefers content with depth and authenticity. The more credible and relevant the content, the greater the impact on potential applicants.

It is worth expanding content specifically for the needs of AI response systems. And ultimately, the measures to do this are not so dissimilar to what we have always done anyway as part of search engine optimization. In any case, we are benefiting from this approach and are seeing growing visibility in our AI tools.

Google's new AI mode shows: The search engine is becoming an assistant that answers questions instead of showing hit lists. Companies that now rely on conversational search are securing visibility and relevance at a time when traditional keyword strategies alone are no longer enough. The new formula for recruiting content:

• From keyword lists ➞ to semantic clarity
• From empty phrases ➞ to real answers
• From rigid pages ➞ to dialog-capable information architectures

Those who act now will also ensure visibility for their job advertisements in the future. If you need help making your website ready for AI Search, please feel free to contact us.