Google and other search engines like Bing have traditionally relied on complex algorithms—often referred to as the “secret sauce” of the internet—to shape search results pages. These algorithms, which have continuously evolved over time, have played a significant role in determining how search listings are displayed and therefore have had a direct impact on where websites rank in search results. This dominance has contributed to Google’s position as one of the wealthiest companies in the world.
However, there’s been a significant shift recently with the rapid surge in interest, adoption, and integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based LLMs (Large Language Models). These AI platforms are poised to revolutionise more than just the internet, potentially impacting many areas of our lives. But to address the key question—how will AI and SEO work together, and what will be the effects on SME businesses in terms of Search Engine Optimization and search rankings?
Local trades and services who tend to operate on word of mouth or local referrals may not need to worry too much – yet! But for the many other businesses who tend to rely on being “found” online obviously SEO is a big deal and can be the difference between success and failure. To illustrate the point, recent changes in 2022, 2023 and 2024 to Google’s algorithm called “Helpful Content”, sent shock-waves across the internet as it dramatically altered how their search worked – highlighting the power that big search companies have. Some businesses that were previously very successful due to their high search ranking results, have complained of becoming almost “invisible” after the updates, causing significant downturn in business. Conversely, other little known businesses were brought to the forefront and experienced an unexpected upswing in traffic.
In a nutshell, if you want to be found online, staying aware of changes to search engines might be important for you. The next big thing – or perhaps the current big thing, is AI search – and Google and Bing, amongst others, are already integrating AI technology into their search in a big way. So how will AI search affect your business? Is SEO dead? What can you do?
This article aims to provide a very basic introductory overview of what’s happening, what you can do to help yourself, and how we can assist.
The Future of AI and SEO – the Integration of Search
By releasing their platform before Google, Open AI’s Chat GPT has seen stratospheric adoption rates as more and more users jump onboard and realise the power – and of course the frivolity – of “conversing with a [computer] voice” rather than typing keywords into a search bar. It’s being said that voice search will soon dominate and typing may well go ‘the way of the dinosaurs’ and become extinct or at least significantly diminished – much like handwriting (when was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter eh?).
AI enhances search algorithms’ ability to understand natural language, context, and user intent, leading to more accurate and personalised search results. While Chat GPT has arguably stolen the march, it’s just one of several advanced AI models like Google’s Gemini, Bing’s Co-Pilot and Meta’s Llama – to name but a few – that are racing each other – in a modern day gold-rush – to push the boundaries of what can be achieved. The handling of complex queries that require nuanced understanding across multiple languages and formats is becoming the norm.
So what’s a business owner to do? For most, it’s time to start thinking about adapting by focusing on conversational and contextual SEO, ensuring content is optimised for AI-driven search capabilities. As AI continues to evolve, staying ahead of these advancements will be crucial for maintaining a competitive edge in the digital marketplace.
How Will AI Impact SEO
It’s no surprise that AI technology is being developed at such an incredibly rapid pace – there are major spoils for the winner – imagine knocking Google off the number one spot and reaping the rewards! As a result, changes and updates to AI algorithms are rolling out frequently, all aimed at improving speeds, search quality, user experience, and relevance by providing more accurate and contextually relevant results.
But while AI may understand queries better and provide a more intuitive search experience that can respond to more complex queries than ever before, it’s not time to completely chuck out the traditional SEO. Despite the explosion of AI, websites and businesses will still be found online and indexed in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS) based on traditional factors – at least for now.
Businesses should still focus on traditional SEO techniques, while also thinking about how AI will affect them. To start with, get the basics right:
1. Content Quality: Focus on quality human created content. Moral: Create informative, engaging, and original content that provides real value to users.
2. User Experience: Factors like mobile-friendliness, page speed, and intuitive navigation are still critical. Moral: A seamless user experience can significantly boost your rankings. Make sure your site is up to date and running modern software that will enable it to be fast, efficient and work on any device.
3. Backlinks: Quality over quantity. Building authoritative and relevant backlinks is more important than ever. Moral: Avoid spammy link practices and only link to relevant businesses.
4. Semantic Search: With AI, understanding user intent is key. Moral: Optimise your content for natural language and long-tail keywords that match conversational queries.
5. Technical SEO: Ensure your site is technically sound. Moral: proper use of meta tags, schema markup, a sitemap and other key attributes can help ensure your site has a better crawl and index result.
6. Voice Search Focus: Interestingly, websites that have a heavy reliance on media such as video alone, may be impacted be AI driven search models. Moral: Ensure your site has a decent mix of media and don’t rely simply on video content…. If you are creating a lot of video, it will pay to also create transcripts.
Keeping Up with AI and SEO Changes
- Focus on Fundamentals: Despite algorithm changes, the core principles of SEO—quality content, user experience, and ethical backlinking—remain constant.
- Get ready for AI: optimise your content now, for the future trends of AI based conversational search.
- Stay Informed: Follow SEO blogs, ChatGPT’s blog, Google’s Webmaster Central Blog, and SEO experts online.
- Analyse Impact: Use tools like Google Analytics and Search Console to monitor traffic and ranking changes. Identify patterns and adjust strategies accordingly.
- Adapt and Test: Be ready to pivot your strategy based on new updates. Conduct A/B tests to see what changes positively impact your rankings.
How Purple Dog Design Can Assist Businesses in Optimising Their Content
Purple Dog Design would love to be your trusted partner in the digital landscape! We specialise in “holistic SEO”, in other words we look at the entirety of what you are doing and create suitable strategies that will benefit your business in multiple ways. Purple Dog, a website design, web hosting and digital consulting company based on Waiheke Island, New Zealand, helps businesses understand and navigate the ever-evolving world of SEO with ease. We can ensure your content is engaging and relevant but also optimised accurately for future AI based search, no matter how complex or simple your content or site is.
We offer an obligation free chat to discuss your needs – get in touch. Our comprehensive site appraisal will examine your current SEO and user experience with the intention of providing recommendations that will help ensure your website is positively listing in the search rankings. From content creation to technical SEO, Purple Dog Design offers tailored solutions to meet your unique needs. Let us handle the intricacies of SEO, so you can focus on driving your business forward and delighting your customers!
Conclusion
Navigating the world of SEO and AI may feel a bit like walking in the dark, but staying agile and informed and adopting best practice will keep you on the path to success. Embrace the changes, prioritise your audience’s needs, and keep your site and SEO strategy flexible. By understanding and adapting to the changing algorithms and AI updates, you can help to ensure your SEO efforts remain effective – thereby keeping your site where it needs to be in the search results.
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