Many businesses, both big and small, are overwhelmed by the prospect of AI reshaping how operations are conducted and influencing their marketing efforts. Should businesses use AI to complete their digital marketing, or should they swear off AI entirely for a more human approach?
As of the moment, there really isn’t a right or wrong answer. However, AI continues to reshape Google search results in a number of different ways. Fundamentally, the idea of SEO remains the same and has continued to shift and evolve. AI remains the latest innovation intended to help those using search engines like Google find the information they are searching for.
Let’s navigate how AI has influenced search results in today’s digital marketing landscape, which feels like it is in constant evolution.
No Click Search Results
AI continues to curate large amounts of information into small, point-form, digestible bits intended to offer a quick glimpse of the results of a search engine. Taking a close look, AI also makes mention of specific brands, products, and key product differentiators in the resulting summary. Now, those searching for things like legal services or even home renovations can learn about your brand without ever needing to click on your website. Now, potential customers are “discovering” your business through AI search results.
This creates a new challenge for marketing agencies, taking new steps to measure the effectiveness of their work and ensure that the content that is published arrives in these AI search summaries.
How It Is Done
Now, SEO has found itself directly intersecting with AI, where skilled marketers will need to adjust their efforts to ensure their work is “AI-friendly.” Written work remains a powerful driver of web traffic, and curating leads for any kind of business, but that written work now must contain a blend of articulate narrative, with point-form bits of information that get picked up by AI search results.
Take a look at new content being published nowadays, it often includes short summaries of the articles, bullet list points, and also questions and answers. While the fundamentals of digital marketing remain just about the same, some of the formatting and layout of traditional content must be altered so that it remains digestible by AI search results. AI continues to capture articles that include step-by-step guides, point-form notes, do’s and don’ts, and pro and con lists. Even content that is organized with traditional tables remains friendly to AI search results.
Looking Ahead
Human-written content remains essential to navigating the upcoming changes to the landscapes of SEO and digital marketing. The regular recycling of AI-written content remains an important factor, where publishing such content is likely to result in duplicate content. It is the human mind that can make truly original content that is intended for AI’s consumption, and not just a republishing of what already exists on the web.
Creativity and well-researched content that includes facts, references to notable sources, and considers your target demographic continue to be awarded in a digital world that feels like it is just saying the same thing over and over again. Consider building a digital marketing plan that considers the implications of AI and tailors efforts for the new arrival of AI-curated search results on major search engines.
