There is a lot of existential panicking amongst many in the SEO community regarding the threat that artificial intelligence (AI) poses.
To be honest, I don’t think that it is just SEO bods that should be reflecting on how AI will start to step on a lot of toes in the very near future, but there is no doubt that its impact is being felt in the digital marketing world. To ignore it would be foolish, but I am not sure that I entirely agree with some of the fear mongering that I read and it reminds me of the whole ‘SEO is dead’ euphoria that was largely a storm in a tea cup.
One of my more trusted sources of information is Google’s Search Central Blog. Whilst you should absolutely not trust everything that you read from Google, it is generally a helpful resource and I find it helpful to read what the search behemoth is stating publicly. I was therefore interested to read the recent post about how to perform well in search in the AI era.
The good news, if you cannot be bothered to read the post or my brief summary below, is that the foundational principles of *good* SEO remain as valid today as they did yesteryear.
An evolution, not a revolution
Google’s introduction of AI-driven features like AI Overviews and AI Mode marks a significant evolution in how users interact with search results. For the user, there is a lot more information on the SERPs. For the web publishers, this does introduce the risk that users will no longer need to actually click through to your site, as they find the answers to their questions without ever needing to leave the SERPs. I know that I have seen some fairly drastic drops in CTR in recent months, although you have to question the actual commercial value of such traffic as conversion rates have not been impacted in my experience.
But….. the fundamental marriage of people looking for answers and the ability to get your brand in front of this audience is still possible.
Content remains king
Central to Google’s message is the reaffirmation that “content remains king.” The blog emphasises that creating valuable, user-focused content is more critical than ever.
You should create content that demonstrates Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) as this continues to be favoured by the search engines. Well-researched, original and insightful content will stand out in both traditional search results and AI-generated summaries – they are not mutually exclusive.
SEO fundamentals
The Search Central blog post confirms that traditional SEO practices such as keyword optimisation, structured data implementation and attracting high-quality backlinks continue to play a vital role in ensuring content is discoverable and it is far more likely to rank well in search results if you continue to embrace traditional SEO.
Good on-page SEO still helps search engines understand content and improves their ability to present content effectively, even within AI-generated summaries.
Structured data
The blog underscores the importance of structured data (schema markup) in helping Google’s AI understand and present content effectively.
Implementing structured data can improve the chances of content being featured in AI Overviews and other AI-driven search experiences. Structured data provides a clear framework that allows search engines to interpret the context and relevance of content, thereby enhancing its visibility in AI-enhanced search features.
Diversifying content formats
Content remains king, but it is not just text based content that you should be focusing on.
Google clearly recommends enriching your content with video and image-based content to enhance your chances of performing well with multimodal search.
Conclusion
Unless I have misinterpreted the blog post, I think that it is safe to say that it confirms that, while AI is reshaping the search landscape, the core principles of SEO remain steadfast. Prioritising high-quality, user-focused content and adhering to established SEO best practices continue to be key strategies for achieving and maintaining visibility in search results.
In other words, SEO is (still) not dead.
