Let's be honest: SEO is going to be disrupted by AI. Plain and simple.
AI platforms and search features have changed how we find information. Gone (nearly) are the days of sifting through SERPs, clicking links galore, and scouring each page to get what you need.
In seconds, AI does that for you.
Plus, OpenAI just announced its new SearchGPT — a great example of how AI is transforming the search landscape as we know it.
This isn‘t just changing your audience. It’s likely changed how you work, too. We found that 35% of marketers use AI for research — it's becoming a go-to option for finding solutions online.
Fortunately, as marketers, we‘re used to this. ’Marketing‘ is practically synonymous with ’change'.
Just look at the shifts in popularity we've seen across social media platforms, or how content consumption habits have changed in the last decade. (My podcast consumption rose so much in the last three years that I had to just start my own show.)
Leaning into these shifts is critical for the long-term health of your business. So let's jump in with some of my predictions for how AI-powered search will change SEO, and how you can prepare.
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How AI-Powered Search Will Revolutionize SEO – and How to Prepare
1. AI-powered search will decrease CTR on search engines — so you'll need to appear in LLMs.
Let's start with the most obvious — and potentially most anxiety-provoking — change occurring in the SEO space: AI-powered search results.
As a user, I‘m fascinated by AI-search results. As these LLMs continue to become more sophisticated, we’ll be able to retrieve more personalized and targeted guidance faster than ever before.
But, as a marketing leader at a large SaaS company, I'm well aware of the concerns. As AI-powered search results start appearing for common search queries, it will be harder for your website to get clicks.
Ultimately, marketers and SEOs driven by CTR may need to make a drastic philosophy shift: Aiming to appear in Page-1 LLMs rather than driving search result clicks.
Like all of us, I‘m only beginning to understand how to rank in AI-generated responses, but there’s a few things our SEO team at HubSpot (as well as those across the industry) have found most effective:
- Create high-quality content: Your content can't just answer common questions with relevant information. Now, it needs to provide credible perspectives, authoritative tips most readers won‘t find elsewhere, and other elements that comply with Google’s EEAT philosophy. This has been vital to helping the HubSpot Blogs protect and defend our search traffic in the era of AI search.
- Optimize for featured snippets: Structure your content so it's easily scannable and provides direct answers to common queries.
- Focus on user intent: Tailor your content to address specific user needs, which can improve your chances of being recommended as an answer in LLM-generated search results.
- Build authority and backlinks: High-quality backlinks and mentions can signal to LLMs that you're a trusted source.
2. SEOs must become more holistic digital marketers.
The old, traditional SEO playbook won't work like it used to. Now, SEO strategists will need to become more like digital marketers by thinking holistically about how their brands can be perceived as valuable and authoritative.
Evolved SEO roles might involve driving discussions around their products, ensuring their websites appear on review sites, or generating quality backlinks to establish brand authority.
The metrics you use to measure your success will change, too. While clicks and traffic are still important, it's becoming increasingly vital to measure impressions, as well.
3. Customer-centric strategies matter more than keyword clusters.
The future of SEO will be drastically different from today.
Rather than focusing solely on keyword clusters, SEOs need to craft compelling narratives around the problems their products solve.
Cultivating a strong online presence across platforms beyond Google, and positioning their brand as a go-to solution for customer needs will be higher priorities for SEOs, as well.
This year, HubSpot's SEO team rewrote its game plan to focus on optimizing content for user intent and search patterns, rather than fixating on keyword clusters.
To appear in AI-powered search results, you'll want to take a note from HubSpot and other brands by tailoring your offerings to address pain points of customers across channels (including social, podcast, YouTube, and search).
HubSpot's New AI Search Grader Can Help You Assess Your Rankings in LLMs
In the spirit of solving for our customers, I‘m excited to announce the launch of HubSpot’s new AI Search Grader — a one-of-a-kind tool that can help you determine how often your brand is mentioned across LLMs so you can begin measuring where you‘re ranking, and where you’re falling short.
While the world of SEO is new, we hope this can provide you with a tool to help you measure and evaluate how well your brand is faring in LLMs.
As you shift your strategy with some of the tips above, you can see which drive the highest ROI, and where you need to adjust.
Businesses Can Still Thrive in This New AI-Powered Ecosystem
In the coming years, AI will fundamentally change the way we interact with the web.
While the future of SEO in the AI era may seem uncertain, the keys lie in:
- Adapting to AI transformation.
- Embracing a holistic marketing approach.
- And solving for the customer with engaging, high-quality offerings.
As we venture into this new frontier of SEO and AI-driven search, the possibilities are vast, and the opportunities for innovation are endless. By embracing change, staying informed on emerging trends, and continuously refining their strategies, businesses can adapt and thrive in a digital ecosystem defined by AI-powered search.
To all the marketers and SEO professionals out there, let's embark on this journey together, and shape a future where brands not only exist, but excel.
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