Doing less of the wrong thing frees time for the loop. These are common habits worth dropping in 2026.
Stop
- Mass-producing thin AI-written pages. They add nothing new, so they are rarely cited, and they can drag down how a site is judged.
- Chasing single prompt screenshots. One answer proves little. Report trends across many runs.
- Hiding prices and key facts. Assistants will fill the gap with someone else's version.
- Astroturfing reviews and forums. It breaks platform rules and damages trust when found.
- Blocking crawlers by default. Decide crawler access deliberately.
- Treating AEO as separate from SEO. Most AI answers start from a search index. Weak SEO means weak AEO.
- Buying tricks. Hidden prompt text, fake schema and paid "AI ranking" schemes are short-lived at best.
Keep doing
Clear pages, real evidence, honest comparisons, earned mentions and patient measurement. None of it is new. It just matters more now that answers are written for people rather than listed.