The world of SEO has completely shifted in just a few years. The reason for this? The rapid growth in the use of Artificial Intelligence to rank higher on search engines.
Many SEO agencies and bloggers have already begun using AI to increase their productivity and to get their clients’ websites ranking higher.
If you’re still scratching your head about how to implement AI assistance into your SEO workflow safely, you’re in the right place!
A lot of people have been asking doomsday questions like, ‘will AI kill SEO?’, or ‘is this the end of SEO?’.
These are the wrong questions to be asking. A far better question would be: ‘how can I use AI to get websites ranking faster?’.
This blog is all about exploring how to safely harness the power of AI in SEO, guiding you through the opportunities, the potential pitfalls, and the best practices to use AI in SEO safely.
Have you ever wondered how Artificial Intelligence, or AI, intertwines with the world of Search Engine Optimisation? If you haven’t, it’s time to sit up and take notice.
Let’s get the basics down first.
AI, in a nutshell, is a branch of computer science that creates systems capable of learning from data, making decisions, and improving over time without being explicitly programmed to do so.
Now, SEO, on the other hand, is the bread and butter of digital marketing – the art and science of optimising your online content so that a search engine likes to show it as a top result for searches of certain keywords.
Now, imagine bringing these two powerhouses together.
That’s like adding a turbocharged boost to your already powerful marketing engine. It’s about using AI to make algorithms work for you, rather than you for them.
This is where the real magic happens in today’s digital marketing landscape.
The marriage of AI and SEO is no fleeting trend. In fact, it’s rapidly becoming a necessity for digital marketers who want to stay ahead of the curve.
AI is revolutionising SEO, from streamlining tasks like keyword research to providing valuable insights into user behaviour.
When combining AI and SEO, several potential dangers and challenges can arise, both from an industry and an ethical perspective.
We’ve listed a few of these potential dangers below:
While AI can create content and optimise SEO strategies, it may not always understand the nuances of human language, context, or cultural references.
This can lead to content that doesn’t fully address user intent or lacks depth and originality.
Users value high-quality, unique content, and an over-reliance on AI could damage the quality of content.
AI could be used to manipulate SEO rankings in unethical ways, leading to a degraded user experience.
This includes techniques like keyword stuffing, creating spammy backlinks, or generating low-quality content solely for the purpose of ranking.
AI typically relies on vast amounts of data for training and decision-making. This can present privacy concerns if sensitive information is mishandled.
While AI can mimic human behaviour and language to a certain extent, it lacks the emotional intelligence and human touch in content creation and customer engagement.
This can lead to less compelling content and lower user satisfaction.
AI and machine learning models heavily depend on algorithms and data inputs.
If the data is biased, incomplete, or inaccurate, the output will reflect those issues.
AI isn’t sentient, it can’t figure out the real truth about something, it can only reframe existing ideas.
Also, SEO algorithms change frequently, and AI models may struggle to keep up without regular updates.
AI is turning into more and more of a “black box”, which means it is becoming more and more difficult to understand how AI makes decisions.
This can make it hard to understand why a certain SEO strategy worked or didn’t work, making improvements and learning opportunities hard to come by.
There’s a risk that relying on AI could lead to job losses in the SEO industry.
While AI can automate certain tasks, there’s still a need for human experts to guide strategy and ensure the best results.
It’s important to remember that AI is a tool that can help improve SEO strategies, but it isn’t a replacement for a comprehensive, human-led SEO strategy.
With such a new technology, it can be difficult to maximise the positive opportunities that AI presents to the SEO industry while also minimising the negative side to AI.
Fundamentally, balancing the use of AI and human expertise is essential to address these concerns.
Let’s take a look at some of the ways we can use AI in a more safe and ethical manner:
With great power comes great responsibility.
With the rate at which AI can perform tasks, it might be tempting to fill a page with keywords through AI generated content.
That’s a great way to get de-indexed, avoid using AI for unethical SEO tactics like keyword stuffing or generating spammy backlinks.
Such practices can lead to penalties from search engines and damage your brand reputation.
Use AI responsibly with respect to user data. Any data used to train or inform your AI tools should be collected and processed in compliance with all relevant privacy laws and regulations, such as GDPR (if you’re in the UK or EU).
Users should be informed about how their data is used and have the ability to opt-out if desired.
Always have humans involved in the content generation process.
While AI can automate certain tasks, human expertise is needed to ensure the quality and effectiveness of the SEO strategy.
Humans can catch nuances, interpret context, and make strategic decisions in ways that AI can’t. AI is still in its infancy, and occasionally making silly mistakes that could cost you repeat visitors.
Google has gone back and forth on whether or not they reward or punish AI generated content on websites trying to rank highly.
Currently, it appears that Google has no problem with AI generated content so long as it is of high value to the reader.
Google values expertise, regardless of if it comes from a human or a machine.
WIth a constant stream of updates and changes being made to AI everyday, it is important you keep your eye on new plug-ins and updates that can help improve the rate and quality of your SEO content.
In conclusion, AI presents fantastic opportunities for increased productivity and creativity in the world of SEO.
It’s still early days for the technology, so it’s important to identify issues with the technology and attempt to use SEO in a safe, ethical manner that helps you rank at the top of the search results.
Google does not care if content is AI generated, so long as it is of high value to the reader.
This may mean you have to edit the AI generated content, so as to differentiate it from other articles and blogs online.
AI will help increase the productivity of SEO experts, allowing them to get sites to rank faster than ever before, whilst still providing value to the site visitor.
On May 10th, Google announced their generative AI (SGE), which is attempting to change the way that people use the internet.
SGE stands for ‘Search Generation Experience’, it is Google’s name for the evolution of their search engine using Artificial Intelligence.
Now, many supposed ‘SEO gurus’ and bloggers have begun freaking out about the changes, but we’re here to tell you why this development is something to embrace, and share some of the opportunities it may bring.
– SGE stands for ‘Search Generation Experience’ and is Google’s name for the evolution of their search engine using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
– Google’s changes to searching may not be exactly as they claim. SGE will have a significant impact on informational (research) searches.
– Google will likely start removing AI snippets when they are not necessary.
– Adaptability is crucial in the age of AI.
– We’ve used AI since ChatGTP 3 to improve the way we do research and speed up the way we analyse content.
– We believe that the commercial snippets will be more minimal than information snippets, but they offer better opportunities for ranking and improved user experience.
– AI-generated commercial product listings will be more trustworthy and increase customer trust and conversions.
– The implementation of SGE may differ from what was shown in demos, as tech projects often face backlash and undergo changes.
– The progression of AI brings opportunities for growth and success in SEO, especially for commercial products and B2B services.
– Embracing AI and adapting to change will be key.
Much of the worry and doomsday predictions surrounding generative AI in the SEO industry is coming from people who aren’t actually experts in the industry.
We’ve made a few key realisations about how we should view AI in the SEO industry:
– The mark of an expert in any given field is adaptability.
– Those who have a limited understanding of how SEO really works are probably going to really struggle to implement AI into their SEO repertoire.
We’ve already embraced the power that AI brings to the table.
It’s revolutionised the way we write and answer FAQs, allowing us to deliver results to our clients faster and more efficiently than ever.
By viewing AI as what it really is: a productivity tool, we don’t have to concern ourselves with misplaced doomsday predictions.
So, what is Google’s Generative AI (SGE), and what does it mean for SEO marketing?
Let’s break it down in a relaxed and sensible manner, without all of the constant doom and gloom that permeates most AI speculation online.
In Google’s presentation, they showcased the next logical step in generative AI technology – functional implementation into traditional searches.
Like all generative AI models, SGE will be using an advanced language model and the internet, to deliver a clear, easy to understand answer to search queries.
As seen at the bottom of the Google snippet, searchers will be able to continue their line of enquiry with the generative AI.
Or they can select from a handful of blogs and articles from the top of google’s rankings. This is quite a big deal, and it will likely change the landscape of more information based websites on Google.
A lot of people in the SEO community began worrying upon viewing the presentation.
Many incorrectly assumed that this technology would mark the death of SEO as an industry, Google has made it abundantly clear that this isn’t the case:
Though, it is true that we can’t predict how aggressively Google will push and expand this technology over the next decade, we can say with confidence that a large portion of consumers do not trust generative AI and will want to visit actual organic sites.
Google knows this, and is definitely not foolish enough to push traditional blogs and websites out when it comes to information.
Google’s generative information snippets will have a big impact on a lot of traditional blogs and more informative sites, but what about commercial stores and websites?
Google has recognised that searchers don’t want a lot of ads, so the commercial query snippet section is far more minimal than the information query snippets.
We do think these commercial snippets will be useful though.
We’re happy to say, it is looking very promising. Unlike the information based searches, the commercial AI snippets offer a ton of space for ranking, and the beautiful UI really makes it pop.
From the demo, it is clear that commercial searches and queries won’t be as boxed into the snippet section, and commercial browsing will likely stay fairly familiar after the update.
We see the changes made to how commercial products are displayed on Google as a welcome upgrade, that is going to get our clients products seen by more people.
AI generated commercial product listings are likely to be much more trustworthy, with Google using their AI with their existing Google shopping graph to provide a constantly updated selection of products.
This will increase customer trust in the commercial snippets section of Google search results and will likely lead to more conversions – not bad, Google.
‘By looking at the past, we can more accurately predict the future.’
Everyone has heard some version of this saying, but when it comes to AI, no-one seems to be following it.
It is foolish to assume that SGE will be implemented exactly as it has been shown in demos.
The tech industry, and Google in particular, have a bad habit of announcing something, receiving incredible backlash for that thing, and then minimising the actual effect of the project.
This could undoubtedly be the case with SGE, it has already completely divided the internet and AI, as a whole, is a contentious topic.
We don’t know how things are going to work out, but we imagine it won’t be exactly what was shown in the marketing demos.
With the constant progression of AI, there are more opportunities for growth and success than ever.
The doomsday predictions surrounding Google’s SGE system are absolutely misplaced when it comes to SEO – especially for commercial products, which we believe are going to skyrocket from this new generative system.
We’ve already adapted to AI, and we’ll continue to do so, as long as it is helping us provide great results for our clients.
Change brings opportunity, and we’re so excited for the future of SEO.
