Global e-commerce platform Cafe24 said on Wednesday it has upgraded its SEO features for the AI era to help online businesses improve search visibility on AI search engines and in global markets.

The search environment is rapidly being reshaped around AI. According to global clickstream data provider Datos, 58.5 percent of Google searches in the United States in 2024 ended on the search results page without clicks to external websites. The expansion of the "AI Overview" feature, which summarises results and provides direct answers, is expected to reinforce this trend.

As a result, generative engine optimisation, or GEO, is emerging as a new task, going beyond traditional search engine optimisation to optimise site structures and information for AI search engines.

Cafe24 introduced "llms.txt" to its SEO service as part of its GEO response. llms.txt is a file that helps AI search engines understand online shopping mall information in a structured form. It automatically generates and optimises, in an AI-friendly format, elements such as mall structure, policy information, product catalogues, brand stories and operating policies without additional work by mall operators.

It also strengthened international SEO features aimed at global markets. Cafe24 automatically optimises metadata by language, including shopping mall titles and descriptions, and supports settings tailored to the characteristics of country-specific search engines such as Google and Baidu. It also automatically manages "hreflang" tags so that Korean, English and Japanese pages for the same product are shown accurately to users in each country.

Cafe24 explained that structuring multilingual content can also work in favour of AI search engines understanding site information.

Cafe24 expects the SEO upgrades to expand AI search exposure for online businesses using its platform and increase inbound traffic from overseas markets. It said llms.txt is spreading rapidly, led by global technology companies, and it judged that early adoption is likely to translate into a competitive edge in the AI search market.

Cafe24 CEO Lee Jaeseok said the paradigm shift to AI-based search could be a new opportunity for online businesses. "We will continue to support strengthening the global competitiveness of K-brands through proactive adoption of technology and continuous innovation," he said.