What Is Vibe Coding & How Does It Apply to AEO & SEO?

AI can now impact technical SEO and site performance, transforming how brands operate online. This is where “vibe coding” comes into play; a new approach of guiding AI to generate and refine code.

While rooted in software development, the principles of AI prompting are crucial for today's marketers. Mastering vibe coding allows marketers and SEO professionals to automate and optimize technical SEO and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), delivering a competitive edge.

What Is Vibe Coding?

A new practice has emerged in the programming world: vibe coding. Vibe coding is the practice of using AI to generate functional code directly from natural language prompts. It accelerates development and makes app building more accessible.

The term was coined by AI researcher and OpenAI founder Andrej Karpathy in early 2025. Vibe coding is a conversational, iterative process where you guide AI to generate, refine, and debug code. The newfound practice negates the need for extensive coding knowledge to communicate your desired outcome effectively.

A key distinction of vibe coding compared to general AI tools lies in its philosophy. It involves "fully giving in to the vibes, embracing exponentials, and forgetting that the code even exists," according to Karpathy. The focus is on iterative experimentation to achieve a functional result, particularly useful for quick prototyping or generating repetitive code structures.

At its core, vibe coding thrives on a conversational loop:

• You describe your goal in natural language.
• The AI generates the corresponding code.
• You execute and observe the output.
• You then provide feedback and refine your prompt based on the results.
• The cycle repeats until the desired outcome is achieved.

This continuous interaction enables more tailored code generation, minimizing the need for meticulous line-by-line coding. 

Is “Vibe Coding” a Real Job? (& Why it Matters for Marketers)

"Vibe Coder" isn’t a formal job title yet, but the underlying skills are in high demand. The ability to effectively guide and refine AI-generated code and technical configurations through prompting is becoming a sought-after capability across diverse fields, especially within digital marketing.

The practice of vibe coding directly aligns with the broader discipline of prompt engineering. Prompt engineering is the art of crafting precise and strategic inputs for AI models to achieve desired results. For marketers, this represents a crucial practical application: leveraging AI for generating and optimizing complex technical elements of their digital assets.

Why is this skill now indispensable for marketers and SEO professionals? As AI integrates into technical implementations, mastering prompt engineering empowers you to become the "director" of your AI's technical output, enabling you to:

• Generate compliant and optimized code for site structure, schema markup, and performance.
• Streamline complex technical SEO and AEO tasks, from core web vitals adjustments to crawl budget optimization.
• Maintain brand integrity within AI assisted technical deployments.

Vibe coding can be harnessed for the technical SEO framework that drives online visibility, search engine performance, and Answer Engine Optimization.

How to Vibe Code for SEO

Instead of manual coding or configuration, marketers can now leverage AI for code generation and modification. This section explores practical applications, demonstrating how to prompt AI for optimal site performance and visibility.

Optimizing Core Web Vitals With AI-Generated Code

Improving Core Web Vitals often requires direct code adjustments. Vibe coding allows you to prompt AI to analyze site speed and suggest code-level optimizations.

• Prompting for Speed Improvements: Guide the AI to identify performance bottlenecks and change necessary HTML, CSS, or JavaScript code. You can also request server configuration suggestions.

Example Prompts

• "Analyze the loading speed of [URL] and suggest specific HTML/CSS/JS code changes to improve Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)."
• "Provide .htaccess directives to enable browser caching for static assets."
• "Generate JavaScript code to lazy-load all images on [URL]."

Automating Structured Data Generation & Refinement

Structured data (schema markup) enhances how search engines understand your content, directly impacting rich results, AI Overviews, and LLMs like ChatGPT and Gemini. But now, AI can automate its creation and refinement.

• Automating Schema Markup Generation: Use AI to generate accurate JSON-LD Schema.org markup (e.g., Product, Article, FAQ, LocalBusiness) based on your specific requirements.
• Iterative Correction of Schema Code: The vibe coding loop is perfect for refining schema. Provide feedback to the AI when the generated code is incorrect.

Example Prompts

• "Generate JSON-LD Schema code for a 'Product' on [URL] including price, availability, and review ratings."
• "The generated schema for [URL] is missing the 'aggregateRating' property. Please add the valid JSON-LD code for it."
• "Update the 'Article' Schema on [URL] to include datemodified and author properties."

Streamlining Crawling & Indexing Management

AI can assist in generating and modifying configurations that control how search engines crawl and index your site, preventing issues and improving efficiency.

• Robots.txt & Canonical Tag Optimization: Prompt AI to suggest robots.txt directives or canonical tag implementations within the HTML <head> for content types or duplicate content issues.
• Harnessing AI for Code-Related Error Resolution: Leverage AI to interpret crawl errors from Google Search Console and suggest code fixes or structural changes for redirects, server responses, and other technical problems.

Example Prompts

• "Suggest a robots.txt entry to disallow crawling of [path] and block specific user agents from specific directories."
• "Given this crawl error: [error message] related to a redirect loop on [URL], provide the Nginx/Apache configuration lines to fix it."
• "Generate HTML code for a noindex meta tag for pages under https://www.higoodie.com/."

Enhancing Mobile Optimization & Accessibility 

Mobile-friendliness and accessibility are significant technical SEO factors. AI can generate code to improve both.

• AI for Responsive Design Code: Guide AI to generate responsive CSS or modify existing HTML/CSS templates for better mobile display across devices.
• Accessibility Improvements: Prompt AI for ARIA attributes or semantic HTML suggestions to enhance site accessibility, which positively impacts technical SEO.

Example Prompts

• "Refactor the CSS for [element] to be responsive for mobile devices across various screen sizes and orientations."
• "Suggest ARIA labels and roles for these interactive elements: [list elements] to improve accessibility in the HTML of [URL]."
• "Provide semantic HTML5 structure to improve the navigation section of [URL]."

Semantic SEO & Entity Recognition 

Semantic SEO is the approach of creating content that conveys its meaning and connections between entities to search engines. Vibe coding allows you to embed this semantic understanding directly into your code.

• AI for Entity Markup: Guide AI to generate or modify HTML and schema markup to identify and describe key entities within your content. This ensures search engines grasp the subjects, people, places, and concepts your page discusses.
• Building Code-Based Topical Authority: Use vibe coding to ensure that your site's underlying code and structure signal a comprehensive coverage of related concepts and entities. This reinforces your authority to AI models, enhancing your topical relevance.

Example Prompts

• "Generate Schema.org AboutPage or Mentions markup for [entity name] related to this page's content: [URL]."
• "Suggest HTML improvements or additional Schema markup to better connect [entity A] with [entity B] on this page: [URL]."
• "Provide itemprop attributes for [specific data point] within the existing HTML structure on [URL] to enhance entity recognition."

How to Vibe Code for AEO

AEO builds upon SEO by focusing on how AI search engines and LLMs directly answer user questions. In the context of vibe coding, this means optimizing your site's underlying code and structure to make information machine-readable. The goal is to maximize your chances of appearing in synthesized answers in LLMs, AI Overviews, and voice search results by providing structured answers.

Optimizing for LLMs & AI Overviews 

AI Overviews and LLMs prioritize content that provides direct answers. Vibe coding helps you generate the specific code and markup needed to capture these SERP features.

• Structured Content Code: Leverage AI to generate or suggest HTML code that formats information in ways favored by answer engines. This includes proper list markup (<ul>, <ol>), table code (<table>), or definition lists (<dl>). It can also involve advanced semantic markup like Microdata or RDFa.
• Identifying Code Gaps for Direct Answers: Prompt AI to analyze existing pages and pinpoint opportunities where additional structural code or semantic markup could better serve direct answers to user queries.

Example Prompts

• "Generate the HTML code for a concise, ordered list summarizing the key benefits of [product/service] suitable for a synthesized answer in an LLM."
• "Analyze this page [URL] and suggest additional explicit questions that could be answered with HTML structure or Schema markup to target an AI Overview."
• "Provide the HTML for a definition list explaining these terms: [Term 1], [Term 2], [Term 3]."

Voice Search Optimization

Voice search queries are conversational and seek direct answers. Optimizing your site by vibe coding can improve your chances of being a voice search result.

• Prompting for Direct Answer Formats: Guide AI to structure information in a way that's easily digestible for voice assistants, often in concise, factual sentences or short lists.
• Optimizing for Q&A Structures: Use AI to generate HTML (like FAQ schema or simple <dl> elements) that presents information as questions and answers, a common format for voice responses.
• Microdata and RDFa for Clarity: While JSON-LD is popular, vibe coding can help generate older microdata or RDFa formats if specific platforms or legacy systems require them, ensuring machine readability for voice.

Example Prompts

• "Generate HTML for a concise, one-sentence answer to 'What is [topic]?' for voice search results from [URL]."
• "Provide FAQ Schema code for these common voice queries about [product] from [URL]."
• "Suggest HTML modifications to make the 'price' and 'availability' information on [URL] easily parsable for voice assistants."

Optimizing for Multimodal AI Search & Accessibility

Modern AI search extends beyond text, interpreting images, videos, and user experience. Vibe coding can optimize your code to cater for multimodal inputs and ensure accessibility.

• Optimizing Image & Video Code for AI: Guide AI to generate precise alt text for images, structured data for videos (VideoObject Schema), and appropriate captions, making visual content machine-readable for AI search.
• Generating Accessibility Markup: Use AI to suggest and implement ARIA attributes, proper heading structures, and semantic HTML elements that improve website accessibility. Accessible sites are not only better for users but also easier for AI to understand and process.
• Prompting for Page Structure for Visual AI: Consider how AI might "see" your page layout. Use vibe coding to ensure clear HTML divisions and logical flow that supports visual parsing by AI.

Example Prompts

• "Generate descriptive alt text for [image description] for an eCommerce product image, including [relevant keywords]."
• "Provide VideoObject Schema for this product tutorial video at [URL]."
• "Suggest ARIA labels and semantic HTML for the navigation menu on [URL] to enhance accessibility and AI understanding."

International AEO & Multi-Language Optimization

As people around the globe use AI search, optimizing your site's code for multiple languages and regions can help reach diverse audiences and ensure AI understands your content's geographic relevance. Vibe coding can streamline the generation of specific internationalization code.

• Generating hreflang Tags: Guide AI to create accurate hreflang tags for different language and regional versions of your pages, ensuring AI directs users to the correct content.
• Local Business Schema for AEO: Prompt AI to generate specific LocalBusiness or Place schema markup, which helps your business appear in local AI Overviews and map results.
• AI-Assisted Translation for Code Elements: Use AI to generate translated versions of meta descriptions, title tags, or structured data snippets, ensuring accuracy across languages.

Example Prompts

• "Generate hreflang tags for [URL] which has English (en-US), Spanish (es-ES), and French (fr-FR) versions."
• "Provide LocalBusiness Schema code for [Business Name] located at [Address], including phone, opening hours, and geo coordinates."
• "Translate the product description field within this JSON-LD Product Schema to German."

Best Practices for Vibe Coding for Technical SEO & AEO

Mastering vibe coding for technical SEO and AEO is less about coding expertise and more about prompting effective AI interactions. Adhering to these best practices will maximize the accuracy of your AI generated code, ensuring optimal performance.

1. Clarity & Specificity in Prompts for Code

When requesting code from AI, precision is essential. Ambiguous prompts lead to incorrect outputs.

• Be Explicit: Clearly state your objective, the desired output, and constraints.
• Specify Formats: Always include the target language or format, such as "in JSON-LD," "as Nginx config," "pure CSS," "Python script," or "HTML snippet."
• Define Scope: Indicate whether the code should be for a specific section, an entire page, or a global setting.

2. Iterative Refinement of Code

The foundation of vibe coding is its iterative feedback loop. The first AI output will rarely be perfect.

• Don't Just Accept: Always review the initial code generated.
• Test & Observe: Implement the code in a staging environment, or visually inspect its impact.
• Provide Specific Feedback: If the code is incorrect or incomplete, explain why and what needs to change in your next prompt. This dialogue refines the output.

3. Context Management for Code

AI models perform best when given sufficient, but not overwhelming, context.

• Provide Relevant Snippets: Include existing code sections that AI needs to modify or integrate with.
• Include Error Messages: If debugging, provide the error messages encountered.
• State the Desired Outcome: Clearly describe what the code should achieve functionally or visually.
• Avoid Extraneous Information: Keep prompts focused to prevent AI from "hallucinating" or misinterpreting your intent.

4. Human Oversight & Validation of AI-Generated Code

Remember that AI is a helpful tool, not a replacement for human expertise.

• Review Thoroughly: Marketers must review all AI generated code.
• Test Rigorously: Validate the code's functionality, accuracy, and performance in your actual environment.
• Ensure Compliance: Verify that the code adheres to SEO standards, brand guidelines, and security best practices. 

5. Ethical Considerations & Bias in AI-Generated Code

Be mindful of the potential limitations and issues with AI outputs.

• Potential Inefficiencies: AI generated code might not be the most optimized or elegant.
• Security Vulnerabilities: AI can inadvertently produce code with security flaws if not carefully prompted or reviewed critically.
• Algorithmic Bias: While less direct in code generation, biases from training data could manifest in subtle ways or influence suggestions.
• Mitigation: Human review must occur to identify and rectify potential problems, ensuring the code is secure and aligned with your objectives.

Conclusion

Vibe coding is a vital skill for modern marketers. By guiding AI to generate and refine code, you can enhance technical SEO elements like core web vitals and schema, and boost AEO.

This approach transforms you into an AI Director for your brand's technical presence, offering efficiency and scalability. To gain a competitive edge, start experimenting with AI tools for your technical SEO and AEO tasks today, and refine your vibe coding skills.