It’s no secret that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to change the world in a major way, and its influence has already drastically altered the way people work.
The technology has permeated virtually every facet of society, and while there are many positives to consider, the proliferation of Large Language Models (LLMs) has caused considerable anxiety and uncertainty across hundreds of different professions.
One area that has been significantly affected is Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which has undergone a considerable shift in the last few years. In this article, you’ll learn about 10 key ways SEO is changing (or has already changed) due to the exponential growth of AI.
1. The Modern Search Engine
Search engines have experienced a serious evolution. AI is now directly integrated into the most significant search engines, such as Bing and Google, to the extent that before a user even sees traditional search results, they’re presented with an AI-generated answer at the top of the page.
For those seeking greater online exposure, how AI summarizes your brand will need to be factored into your overall marketing strategy, as well as traditional SEO, to ensure that the immediate answer to a potential customer’s question reflects favorably on you.
2. Semantic and Entity-Based SEO
While keywords were the most crucial element of SEO in the past, brands now have to account for the fact that AI can understand meaning and intent, also known as entity optimization.
In this sense, someone with a website must ensure they’re being recognized for specific topics, people, or other brands. It is within the tightly woven network of these ‘entities’ that brands have the best chance of being seen and promoted by an AI model.
3. AI SEO Services
An increasingly important part of the AI SEO equation is the utilization of specific services that increase visibility.
Dedicated AI SEO services are specifically designed to address the gap by improving the frequency a brand is mentioned in the places AI models draw data from, which encompasses various forms of media (socials, news sites, video clips, and so on).
4. E-E-A-T
E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Autoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It’s a framework perpetuated by Google to assess the quality of a given piece of content found through their search engine.
In the AI era, significant changes have already occurred in this regard. AI models are trained to prioritize only the most reliable sources, and their ability to do so is improving year on year. This means that brands must be extra careful in their efforts to imbue their copy with a strong evidence base, citing sources and backing statements appropriately.
5. Differentiation of Information
When content has strong differentiation, it stands out from the crowd. While unique content has always been a key component of good SEO, AI makes it even more critical, given its ability to generate content independently.
Original research and unique ideas are promoted, so making the effort to go beyond the basics can really pay off.
6. Modern Link Building
Links have always been a crucial element of SEO, but the ubiquity of AI means that there’s greater scrutiny on context and relevance.
It used to be the case that sites could achieve reasonable results by peppering their posts with links without paying much attention to the quality of those links; however, that is no longer the case.
The more authoritative the site on which your brand is mentioned, the better, as credibility is a significant factor during the assessment AI makes.
7. User Experience
AI tools are now also able to assess the user experience of a page or site without requiring a human user to interact with it. They check for things like bounce rates and page loading to determine the quality of a site, so how your pages are designed is critical.
One of the best things you can do is make your pages mobile-friendly, as this is the most common way people will come to view them.
8. Content Structure
It’s not just about the type and quality of the content you put out there, but also how it’s structured. AI models will look for elements within a page that make it easier to read and understand, such as tables, graphs, lists, and proper heading formats.
AI will also check for grammatical structure and flow, and while most models aren’t quite up to scratch with that aspect yet, they’ll only get better over time.
9. AI-Driven Content Optimization Tools
Sometimes, you need to fight fire with fire, and AI-driven content optimization tools are there to help you do that.
These platforms work by analyzing vast data sets to gain deeper insight into how current models make decisions, and then relay this information back to you in the form of strategic content suggestions.
Having taken the other key strategies from this list into consideration, these tools can help you make further refinements to make sure you’re ticking off every box.
10. Analysis and Adaptation
In the fast-paced world of digital technology, a viable strategy one day can become irrelevant the next. No matter what new strategies you use as you embrace the new era and what it has to offer, it’s always important to remain curious.
You should continuously analyze your strategies and make thorough assessments of what works and what doesn’t, and be prepared to adapt accordingly to a new way of doing things.
Wrapping Up
You should now have a better idea of some of the most critical aspects for staying relevant in the AI era.
SEO hasn’t gone away or become irrelevant as some publications would have you believe. It’s simply morphed into something new and will continue to do so as the technology available now evolves.
Retaining your position in the fight for relevance is all about having a clear understanding of how AI processes data and how you can adapt your content to fit the algorithms. Stay curious, reflect on what’s going right and what you could do better – and you’ll be well on your way to success.
