Parsing Truth from Fiction: How A.I. is (and isn't) Changing SEO

Parsing Truth from Fiction: How A.I. is (and isn't) Changing SEO

There’s no denying that A.I. is changing the world of business. Unlike other flash-in-the-pan tech developments of the past decade (NFTs, Dogecoin, etc.), A.I. large language models really are transforming the way work gets done on a day-to-day basis. 

Well, for the most part.

Because of all this change, there are a few misunderstandings of what exactly A.I. is changing, particularly when it comes to search engine optimization. How do you separate fact from fiction when it comes to how businesses market to search users?

Here are a few myths—and some facts—regarding how A.I. is changing SEO.  

Myth 1: A.I. is Ruining the Internet

Well, sure. A.I. is changing organic search, since people are using LLMs to swamp search engine results pages. But then again, the internet wasn’t exactly a wonderful place full of valuable information before.

What’s changing with A.I. isn’t necessarily a matter of kind, as it is degree. In other words, A.I. is just ramping up many of the ineffective, spammy SEO practices that were already there. 

There’s always been a hyper-abundance of poor webpages mucking up SERPs. SEO is about working with Google to get the most valuable, informative, scannable information to the top of the page. Quality SEO has always been about that. And with Google aggressively penalizing spam content with recent updates, solid quality-first SEO practices will continue to be the way forward.

Myth 2: Google Wants to Replace Organic Search with Chatbots

The idea makes sense. After all, Google has been investing heavily in A.I. LLMs, and the company has been experimenting with ways to incorporate chatbots into search. Ultimately, organic search only tangentially makes Google its money, as a vector for its paid search income. 

However, if you think Google plans to implement such massive changes to organic search overnight, you clearly haven’t been following Google closely.

Obviously, Google has a functional monopoly on search. While the company might have initially been seen as an industry-changing mover-and-shaker in the early 2000s, it’s become an entity that values the status quo—one in which it remains on top of the search industry. Google will change its business practices, but only as much as necessary to maintain its status, not disrupt it.

Just watch how much consternation there is every time Google’s stock price drops. Suggesting that Google will simply move search to a pure LLM model (compensating by inserting paid ads into chatbot snippets) is expecting Google to do some fairly revolutionary changes.

A business transformation so significant is likely a few years off. And while change will happen eventually, anyone in tech knows that forecasting anything beyond the next few years is fairly unrealistic. The best strategy is to remain adaptable while taking advantage of opportunities as they exist in the moment. 

The truth is that organic search is as “reliable” as anything in tech right now.

Myth 3: A.I. Can Replace Your Writing Team

It’s true that LLMs have replaced your poor copywriters. There’s little reason to employ writers who aren’t intricately versed in grammar, punctuation, and style, when software can produce writing of higher quality. But the reality is that even ChatGPT 4 isn’t writing great copy. ChatGPT works by writing the most probable, average-sounding language. In other words, ChatGPT is boring by design.

People read blogs to learn facts, but they also want to be surprised and entertained by the words they read. LLMs are rarely surprising or insightful, and often, they aren’t even very interesting.

Most every reader would much rather read text written by a human than produced via algorithm. In fact, many readers are put off by LLM language, whether or not they’re aware that it is A.I. 

Google doesn’t need a tool to determine whether A.I. wrote a spammy blog to penalize it—readers will do that themselves. 

A.I. hasn’t replaced good writers. In fact, LLMs have bridged the gap between basic coding and traditional language. Skilled writers are now in the position to become some of the most valuable users of LLMs. They can correct A.I., make dull language engaging, and with LLM tools, significantly improve the quality of the content on your site—helping it rank highly on SERPs.

The Truth of A.I. and SEO

Now that we’ve covered the myths, let’s dive into how chatbots are changing the way SEO operates, and how to stay protected against SEO inefficiency and poor strategy. 

Fact 1: A.I. Outputs Must Be Continually Optimized

Be suspicious of any SEO services that have set-it-and-forget-it options to provide A.I. content to your website, or to customers through responses to reviews, customer service, or emails. It’s too risky because LLMs have shown the weakness of being both inconsistent—and far too consistent.

How A.I. Can Be Too Inconsistent

ChatGPT and all other LLMs are new services, and they are often surprising for the wrong reasons. There have been months when ChatGPT has become inexplicably “lazy,” providing shortened responses and seeming to be unwilling to be corrected. Some chatbots can suddenly become offensive and obscene, while others might just ask you to leave your wife. LLMs should be treated as employees themselves, ones capable of having bad days. They need a supervisor.

How A.I. is Too Consistent

By producing the most average-sounding language, LLMs often repeat themselves, not just in language but in structure and style. Social accounts that use A.I. for their posts have already become relatively obvious to readers. 

Prompt ChatGPT to write a LinkedIn or Facebook post, and you’ll find the same format, the same pattern of emojis, and the same clunky language time and again. It’s true for any writing produced by LLMs—at least at the moment.

Fact 2: You Should Be Suspicious of Those Who Use A.I. as a Buzzword

It’s become popular to include “A.I.” in marketing materials and pitch decks. But simply mentioning A.I. doesn’t mean you understand it. 

“We should implement A.I. tools” doesn’t mean you know what that actually entails. “We use A.I. tools” doesn’t mean you actually do, in effective ways. 

A.I. is a tool, which means it’s best in certain circumstances, under certain conditions. Partnering with an SEO who uses the term only as a buzzword can mean you’re signing up to work with someone who uses a hammer with the wrong end.

Fact 3: A.I. Hasn’t Changed What Makes Good SEO

SEO has always been a nebulous sphere, with numerous, agreed-upon “best practices” that may or may not actually matter at all. 

The Flecsh reading ease scale? Posts with complicated syntax and diction regularly rank 1st overall on SERPs. 

Images under 100kb? As long as the image isn’t affecting your page’s load speed, there’s no reason to ensure all your images are strictly below an arbitrary 100kb standard.

Buying backlinks to boost your site authority? Most backlink packages are far more likely to hurt your site visibility.

It’s important to cut through the noise of SEO–and there is a ton of noise—especially as some SEOs prefer to insist on arcane lists of best practices that mask the reality that SEO is rapidly changing, quite often guesswork, and far more subjective than most realize.

There is no silver bullet to effortlessly build massive amounts of organic, high-intent traffic. A.I. won’t solve your SEO on its own. Neither will those link-building experts who offer quick paths to an impressive backlink profile, or organic traffic “savants” on LinkedIn who propose simple, one-size-fits-all solutions.

Finding SEO Success in the Age of A.I.

The best SEOs are adaptable, tech-enabled, and most of all, curious people, who blend seamlessly with your marketing, sales, and IT departments. They learn your services, know your goals, and remain up-to-date with the latest tech tools and the wants of your target audiences and consumers. 

The best SEOs work to help problem-solve with multiple teams in your organization. Quality SEOs look to share insights they learn from working with your various departments (and for agency SEOs, from other departments in various industries) to ensure that, in a rapidly changing world, we’re all remaining as informed and equipped as we can. 

Interested in learning more about Saltbox’s SEO solutions? Contact our team today.