How to Use AI in SEO

ByBNW Staff

2020 will forever be marked as the year when the artificial intelligence wave began, reaching an all-time crescendo in 2022, when OpenAI’s generative AI-powered chatbot, ChatGPT, defied the odds by gaining over 100 million users in 2 months. And now, as the buzz around generative AI gradually dies down, SEOs can reflect on the practical applications of this technology in their marketing strategies.

Generative AI: A Double-Edged Sword

Turning back to September 2023, social media sites like Reddit were awash with posts of SEOs from all over the world lamenting about their sites being hit with Google’s infamous “manual actions.” Forums were active with chants of “SEO is dead.” One year later, we can confidently confirm that this was not the case. SEO is very much alive; only Google has hardened its policies against AI content created purely to manipulate search visibility.

When tools like ChatGPT rolled out, many SEOs saw them as a means to an end because they allowed you to churn out massive pieces of content on practically any topic with minimal effort. Sometimes, all it takes is a single-sentence prompt. However, this strategy is like serving hundreds of customers low-quality fast foods that lack flavor. Sure, some might eat the food at first, but they won’t come back, and the word will spread, causing your restaurant’s reputation to suffer. Google’s 2023 HCU update targeted websites that used AI to publish low-quality content that wasn’t valuable to users.

“AI should be your copilot, not your captain. The best way to use it is for research, ideation, and optimization, with human creativity and experience guiding your content,” says Bill Fukui of MedShark Digital.

So, can AI be part of your SEO strategy? Here’s how.

How to Use AI for SEO

To leverage AI in your SEO efforts, don’t look at it as a means to an end but rather as an intelligent assistant. This is the first step towards SEO success with AI. Here is how you can use the technology:

  • Idea generation: Generative AI is a treasure trove of information. It’s trained on millions of terabytes of data, which is what makes it an excellent tool for idea generation. For instance, you could use a prompt like, “Please generate an article series on liposuction focused on readers based in Washington, DC.”
  • Research: There’s no denying that ChatGPT has revolutionized study and information gathering. Instead of spending hours sifting through scientific articles, ask tools like ChatGPT to offer detailed summaries. Google’s Notebook LM allows you to query your very own knowledge base. All you have to do is feed the app with the data.
  • Content drafting: ChatGPT is good at generating content drafts that you can edit. You just have to know how to ask, which is why prompt engineering is such a lucrative skill.
  • Editing and proofreading: Use prompts like, “Please check and remove gross grammatical errors from this text” when using ChatGPT to edit and proofread content.
  • SEO: AI can also help you optimize your texts for SEO by suggesting keywords and optimization.

Remember EEAT

Google is clear and upfront about what it wants from SEOs. You can head over to Google Search Central for information on how to self-assess the quality of your content. Broadly speaking, you must adhere to EEAT principles:

  • Experience: Google wants content that displays direct, first-hand experience from the author. For instance, a travel blog is more credible in Google’s eyes if the author has visited the site being reviewed.
  • Expertise: Google also assesses the content creators’ knowledge and skill in the subject matter. So, an article written by a medical doctor is more valuable than one written by someone with no medical background.
  • Authoritativeness: This is all about the reputation of the website or organization. Is your website recognized as a trusted source within your industry?
  • Trustworthiness: Google also evaluates whether people can rely on your content and your website. So, provide relevant, accurate content and be transparent about who owns the site with clear contact information.

Generative AI can supercharge your SEO efforts to new levels, provided you do it right and stick to Google policies.