Zero-click answers are taking over, and AI is at the heart of it, meaning businesses have to work harder than ever to stay visible.
From content creation to research, optimisation, and automation – if you’re not using AI, you’re at risk of falling behind.
But with AI being such a hot topic, it’s easy to get lost in the hype and start relying on it too much – and this over reliance can seriously hurt your rankings!
Why, you say? It all comes down to E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness.
Your content needs to stand out, showcase your expertise, and prove your authority. If you lean too heavily on AI, you’ll end up sounding just like everyone else – creating content that’s repetitive, low-quality, and lacks originality. This can tank user engagement and even lead to search engine penalties.
Remember AI isn’t always accurate either. It only knows what it’s been trained on.
It would struggle to produce an image of a full-to-the-brim wine glass, because the training data it has been exposed to is wine glasses that are only half-full.
Or, another example is that you can ask it to produce an image of a clock showing half past three, it will struggle because so many pictures on the internet show a clock face with 10:10 because it looks aesthetically pleasing.
It’s quite interesting when you think about it!
The key is to use AI as a tool, not a replacement.
When you’re creating content, ask yourself, so what? Keep asking this until you are sure what is in it for the customer. Always refine your content, ask the experts, and focus on real user value.
How can we actually make AI work to our advantage?
We’ll discuss ways you can use AI for:
Diving straight into analysis
AI plays a crucial role in the initial analysis phase of SEO strategy. By integrating AI tools with platforms like Screaming Frog, you can automate technical audits, scrape metadata, conduct content reviews, and enhance interlinking efforts.
AI not only automates audits but also analyses traffic patterns and highlights areas for improvement. For instance, AI can quickly identify content overlap, helping you resolve duplicate content issues efficiently.
When it comes to competitor analysis, AI excels in real-time keyword tracking, backlink analysis, content performance monitoring, and analysing competitor page structures. This gives you an upper hand in optimising your strategy based on what’s working for others.
The tool can summarise product reviews by extracting product sentiment from user feedback. It can also generate data-driven pros and cons, which you can leverage for better-performing product pages.
Carrying out research
After defining your target audience, AI can simulate their search behaviour to identify high-value keywords and trends.
It can assist in brainstorming keyword ideas, sorting and organising large keyword lists, and classifying keywords based on search intent, sentiment, and competition.
By using real-time competitor analysis tools (like Semrush), AI identifies keyword gaps that your competitors are overlooking.
AI expands keyword sets using pattern-based suggestions, such as common questions, comparisons, and brand-related searches, providing a well-rounded keyword strategy.
Producing a content strategy
AI can significantly boost your content strategy by generating content ideas based on emerging trends, competitor activities, and upcoming events.
When it comes to content structuring, AI helps in organising content to enhance readability, engagement, and SEO performance.
It can provide valuable audience insights by analysing user behaviour, preferences, and demographics before you begin writing. This allows you to create personalised content tailored to specific audience segments.
AI can help you organise your content into topic clusters, creating content hubs that improve your site’s topical authority and search rankings.
Optimising your website
AI is particularly helpful in local SEO. By optimising your Google Business Profile, AI can assist in researching locations, refining profiles, and generating localised content that resonates with your target audience. It can also automate content creation, helping you develop city-specific pages, add schema markup, and implement features that align with user intent.
When it comes to rich media, AI aids in image and video optimisation. For videos, AI can generate transcripts, translations, and schema markup that enhance SEO performance. For images, the tool can automatically generate ALT text and implement structured data, ensuring that your media assets are fully optimised for search.
For internal linking, AI can recommend dynamic interlinking strategies based on new content, relevant keywords, and SEO priorities. This helps in keeping your site structure updated, improving both navigation and link equity distribution.
AI can save time by automating meta tag optimisation and can identify key takeaways that increase your chances of being included in Google’s featured snippets.
AI helps generate SEO-optimised content for category pages and dynamic product descriptions. For FAQ sections, AI-powered responses enhance search visibility by answering common user queries in a structured and SEO-friendly manner.
Delivering outreach tactics
AI streamlines the link-building process by analysing backlink profiles and suggesting valuable outreach targets. By doing so, you can build authoritative links that boost your site’s credibility.
AI can also assist in your outreach efforts by helping create personalised emails for link-building campaigns, influencer outreach, and partnership opportunities. By tailoring messages to the recipient, it helps increase the chances of successful outreach and link acquisition.
Incorporating AI into your SEO strategy can save you time, improve efficiency, and boost your overall search rankings. It’s a powerful tool, but it should be used strategically rather than as a crutch.
AI automation is transforming the world, and staying ahead is essential for success. By embracing AI in your SEO strategy, you can adapt, innovate, and maintain a competitive edge in the digital landscape.
If you’d like help with your SEO strategy, get in touch with our team today.