Artificial intelligence (AI) responses in search engines are becoming more widespread, and this will impact search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies. Sad, but true.
If you haven’t seen it for yourself yet, let me demonstrate.
I search “How to write an article”, which is exactly the type of search phrase an educational institution or a tutor might try to rank for. They could have spent countless hours refining a blog post just to have a chance to secure a page 1 result in search engines.
But once I type the words in the search, I don’t even think I’ll bother to look further after being given this without a single scroll:
It’s not all searches, but it’s growing
I did test other search terms and found not all generate an AI response. For example, “How do I do my tax return?” promptly serves up the relevant tax office page.
However, this change in search capability is something marketing teams should be paying attention to.
The SEO landscape has evolved relatively quickly, and I still hear people talking about really outdated practices like keyword stuffing or exact matching for searched terms. These have long been superseded by synonym-capable engines that prioritise content quality and authority over all else.
So what’s next?
I have a few ideas on how organisations can shift to keep getting their content in front of a captivated target audience. Of course, the how depends on the type of business and the products and services on offer.
Universally though, it all stems back to good ol’ relevance and engagement.
Every day I am so privileged to hear the stories and insights of people who work in so many sectors, and the information they share IS something that other people would want to know. These are not generic responses. They are genuine wisdom that was hard gained through doing life.
The more we see generic content, the more we crave personality (I hope!).
So even though AI-powered search responses may impact how and where we share the wisdom and personality, the point is that it still needs to be shared – for the one who has it, and the one who needs to hear it.