Understanding SEO in the Age of AI

I know what you’re thinking: “SEO is dead. Again.” Our AI overlords are here and they’ve come not to harvest the energy of our body heat to power their hive mind (a la The Matrix) but to generate an endless onslaught of mediocre content and provide us with quick and easy answers that give us no reason to click into websites. Oh, the humanity.

But before you stock up on canned beans and crawl into the fallout shelter, hear me out. SEO has “died” at least a dozen times now according to every digital media news outlet and each time the practice has simply evolved. Let’s go over how AI is shaking up SEO, how you can use it to your advantage, and what you can do to keep organic traffic flowing

The Role of AI in Modern SEO

Content Creation

With tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Google Gemini, creating content with AI is not only easy, it’s extremely accessible to anyone with an internet connection. The temptation is strong to generate hundreds of blog posts for your business, copy and paste them straight onto your website, and call it a day. But if you’re getting the eerie feeling that it was all too easy, you’re right.

AI is a brilliant tool for quickly creating content, but it’s not a miracle worker. Keep these in mind next time you generate something:

• Factuality: If you ask a Large Language Model (LLM) like ChatGPT to write a page about your mattress store’s new deals without giving it all the info, it will make stuff up. It’ll tell everyone about the 90%, BOGO special that it decided would sound good and suddenly you look silly because you didn’t proofread before posting it. It is imperative to go through anything you generate with an LLM with a keen eye to ensure you’re telling the truth, otherwise you’re simply creating clickbait spam.
• Originality: LLMs are trained on internet content. So if you’re asking it to write a blog post, it’s not just making it up on the spot like a writer would do, it’s pulling from other relevant articles for both the words and structure. A writer taking inspiration is one thing but this is verging on plagiarism in the eyes of Google, even if it doesn’t read the same to you. Consider giving it a true outline (you know, like you used to give human writers) instead of a simple prompt, and reword anything that doesn’t read like your tone of voice.

AI Overviews

Taking a look from the user’s perspective, Google has made it easier than ever to get a quick answer to whatever’s on their mind with AI overviews. While I find this wonderfully convenient outside of work, you can imagine how interesting this makes my job. But all is not lost because Google does credit the websites it pulls the information from so we’re right back to “not dead, just different”. So we’re not just fighting for traditional rankings anymore, we’re fighting to be the source of truth for these AI overviews, and you may not like what you’ll need to do to get there:

• High-Quality Content: I know, it burns. But as mentioned above, you need to make sure everything you put out there is completely original and tells the truth. Keep the fluff to a minimum, get to the point of the article as soon as you can, and try not to make it sound like an advertisement. When your website becomes a true resource for your field, not only will Google reward you, but users will trust you.
• Patience: Your mom was right, patience is a virtue. If you’re starting from scratch, it’ll take a while to get the good rankings and be seen as a resource. If you’ve been around awhile but your content isn’t reference-worthy, you can get there quicker but you’ll need to clean up your content and ensure it’s all useful. As the age-old adage goes: “The best time to start a high-quality content strategy was 20 years ago, the next best time is now”

Keywords and User Intent

Yes, keywords still matter—hurray, something old and familiar! But the game has changed. It’s no longer enough to cram a few phrases into an article (and frankly it never was, but hey, it worked!) and call it SEO-optimized. AI-driven search engines use advanced algorithms to understand user intent, context, and even synonyms. That means you need to shift your focus from “how many times can I say ‘best tacos in Austin’ without sounding ridiculous?” to “how can I answer every question a taco lover in Austin might have?”

Instead of obsessing over exact matches, think about the big picture:

• Long-Tail Keywords: These are your secret weapon. Instead of “tacos Austin,” aim for phrases like “authentic street tacos” or “best vegan tacos in South Austin.”
• Semantic Content: Google and AI tools thrive on context. Sprinkle in related terms, like “corn tortillas,” “salsa verde,” or “late-night eats,” to show your article is well-rounded and authoritative.
• User Intent: Are people looking for a quick taco joint recommendation, or are they researching Austin’s taco scene for an upcoming trip? Tailor your content to match their needs.

Technical SEO

You might think AI makes technical SEO irrelevant, but you’d be wrong. If anything, it’s become a non-negotiable. Why? Because even the smartest AI can’t recommend your page if it never finds it in the first place.

Here’s where you need to focus:

• Site Speed: If your website takes longer to load than it does for someone to finish their coffee, you’ve already lost them. Optimize images, use lazy loading, and remove unused code.
• Mobile Optimization: With mobile-first indexing, your website needs to look and function flawlessly on a phone. You know when you go to tap on something and suddenly it shifts down 10 inches and suddenly you’ve clicked on an ad? That’s called Cumulative Layout Shift and we all hate it. You know the name now, scare your dev team by yelling at them about it.
• Structured Data: This is the cheat code to modern SEO. By using schema markup, you can help search engines understand your content better and increase your chances of snagging that coveted AI overview snippet.

Link Building in the AI Era

Ah, backlinks—the bread and butter of SEO. They’re still relevant, but the landscape has shifted. You can’t buy a few links and watch your rankings soar anymore. Today, AI algorithms scrutinize link quality like a hyper-vigilant editor.

Here’s how to stay in the game:

• Authority Matters: A single backlink from a reputable site in your industry is worth more than a dozen links from no-name blogs.
• Content Partnerships: Think guest posts, co-branded content, or industry collaborations. These don’t just build links—they build relationships.
• Internal Links: Don’t overlook what’s in your control. Strategically link between your own pages to help both users and AI understand your site structure.

Staying Ahead of the Curve

Here’s the thing about SEO in the age of AI: it’s dynamic. If I told you today that I have a bulletproof SEO strategy that will keep your website at the top of the search results for years to come, I would be a snake oil salesman. As it has always been, staying informed is your best defense. Follow trusted SEO blogs, experiment with new tactics, and don’t be afraid to pivot when something stops working.

Above all, remember this: SEO isn’t dead, and AI isn’t the enemy. It’s just the next evolution. Adapt, innovate, and—most importantly—keep creating content that people actually want to read. Because at the end of the day, that’s what SEO has always been about.