It seems as if you can’t log on to the internet today without hearing about AI. ChatGPT dominated the headlines a few weeks ago as it started making inroads. Even Microsoft and Google are preparing in-browser AI integration. Our homes have smart assistants, every smartphone has AI built into it, and machine learning continues to drive various
industries. Does this mean that someday soon, even SEO will be replaced by AI? The answer is more nuanced than you might expect.
How AI has grown recently
We’ve already mentioned a few ways that AI has grown in just the past few months — and, as of this blog, we’re only into March of 2023! Of course, everyone is familiar with Siri, Alexa, and Google’s smartphone-based AI assistants.
However, ChatGPT made massive headlines last month when news broke that students were using it for their homework. Then, what felt like just a few hours later, Microsoft announced that their Bing web browser would be complemented with an on board AI briefly known as Sydney; almost immediately, Google announced its version called Bard. Apple seems content to let Siri stay as-is for now.
AI is in everything from dictation to our smart TVs to even our vehicles. Machine-based assistance is here to stay.
The role of AI and SEO
However, SEO is still the primary method for web users to find the content they need. Have you ever asked Siri to tell you something complex? Perhaps you wanted to know when a particular athlete joined your favorite team. Siri has no clue, and cannot use contextual-based clues to provide you with an answer. In our quick test, it didn’t even pull up the right industry (telling us about some random, non-athlete).
However, if you type into a search engine, “When did Sergio Aguero retire?”, Google gave us the answer immediately as a quick snippet with info pulled from — you guessed it — a website with quality SEO.
Indeed, most of the answers ChatGPT provided for the previously mentioned homework assignments were pulled from those same sources: websites with functional SEO. In other words, AI is only as smart as the source feeding it: in this case, SEO.
Will SEO be replaced by AI?
For this question to be “Yes”, AI will have to grow beyond its current capabilities. In fact, we would argue that AI would need to be borderline sentient — just like a human — to even begin to hope to replace SEO. It’s far, far more likely that AI will be powered by SEO, which means it’s even more imperative that your company have the best website SEO it possibly can.
Let us be your SEO partner
Our company has grown to become one of Central Ohio’s SEO and web design experts. As a digital marketing agency, our mission is to help you be the big fish in whatever size pond you may have.
That means that, as your SEO partner, we’ll ensure your website has all of the necessary components as AI continues to grow. Do you need assistance ensuring that your copy and website coding can help your brand be found online, whether via traditional search engine searches or AI assistants? If so, then let us know! We’ll be happy to go over your current site and provide you with feedback on how it can be taken to the next level!
