The Evolution of SEO in Times of AI: How AI is Changing Marketing Agencies
AI has allegedly leveled the playing field in content creation, and I mean all types of content. Like most, you’ve probably seen the impact on writing, images, videos, avatars and even some on UX design.
Allegedly, but AI is not enough.
While AI has made quality content generation more accessible to marketers, content creators, and agencies like ours, human oversight is significant and important. It’s not uncommon to hear that organizations are publishing AI content directly, which can lead to inaccuracies. Then this misinformation paints a poor picture of your business, your brand, your services or your products.
Human oversight and understanding of your buyers are things that Language Learning Models (LLMs) are still evolving to master. Your sales and marketing efforts will have more ROI and better impact with high-quality, accurate content that speaks to your audiences.
But, Can’t AI (ChatGPT or LLMs) Adapt to My Brand or Writing Style?
Yes, absolutely. This is done mainly by using paid versions of these tools, and building out “custom chats” so they keep information private, and utilize the background information that’s been loaded into those profiles. You build out profiles, styles, tone of voice and more so it gets trained to write more like you.
Question: Can you feed AI powered tools with your own content and style?
Answer: AI has fundamentally changed the customer journey and decision-making process. The example of the YouTube switcher purchase demonstrates how AI is compressing the traditional buyer's journey from days/weeks into hours by providing personalized, relevant information instantly.
How Can You Set Your Brand Apart When SO Much Content is AI-Generated?
As marketers, we adapt. Having been in the SEO space for over 20 years, I can tell you that it’s always changing. From Google Algorithm updates and increased online competition to social media marketing, mobile usage, continued changes in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs)and more.
Here Are 4 Ways to Set Your Brand Apart Online In Times of AI
- Develop sales and marketing strategies that go beyond basic content creation and UX optimization. When you’re creating content, whether a web page, an e-book, a social media post or a handout, it has to be helpful for the reader. Being entertaining and fun or relatable is important. People want to learn from other people.
- Create and hold your marketing team to a robust content review process to maintain quality standards. Keeping notes of words, topics or images that are approved or are not is a basic start. But AI-generated content has to be read, reviewed and approved before you let it represent your brand.
- Consider how AI is affecting your customers' research and purchasing behaviors. Yes, this is a biggie. Have you gone to search for information in an AI tool? Ever looked for a product or service? The answers can be surprising. Some people like to say goodbye to the Google rabbit trail of search results and links and go right to ChatGPT or others.
- Differentiate through human expertise and quality control. Speak like a human, talk to your ideal client profile and make content relatable to them. Just because you’re writing content for a website or a blog, you’re still writing it for a person. Behind the scenes information, process and things like that get people engaged, even if just for 30 seconds or less.
The main takeaway is that while AI is starting to “commoditize” certain marketing fundamentals, it's also created new opportunities for businesses that can effectively blend AI capabilities with human expertise.
Strategic Importance of Your Brand’s Position in a Time of AI
While AI is “leveling” the content creation playing field, creating and building your brand is more important now than ever. Agencies or companies who focus solely on SEO or paid ads for marketing and lead generation run the chance of being eclipsed by AI summaries in the search engines, either by the summary having the answer, or pushing down the real search results.
We see the growing importance of clarifying and differentiating your brand’s value proposition.
Digital credibility is two-fold (or more).
Establishing and building trust with your audiences isn’t done just in search alone. It’s done by consistently making a high-quality presence across multiple platforms. Yep, we’re talking about social media, digital ads, customer experience on your website, customer reviews on Google Business Profiles and more.
Where Should You Invest Your Marketing Efforts For 2025?
Multi-Format Content. Traditional content and “just SEO content” isn’t sufficient. AI tools enable the cost-effective creation of this content. Still, the continued impact of short-form video continues to increase.
Even with the TikTok "ban" (we’ll see how that plays out in the days ahead). Videos for social media, and YouTube have been around for a long time and are likely not going anywhere anytime soon.
Choose The Right Marketing Talent (In-House Or Agency)
Whether you’re looking to add to your marketing team or want to add a marketing agency partner for assistance, look for talent that understands both traditional branding, marketing communications and content distribution, all while embracing AI for efficiency.
- You’ll want a person or team that is capable of multi-format content creation and optimization
- Consider those with expertise in AI tool utilization for content scaling
- And most importantly, you’ll need someone with strategic thinking about brand credibility in both human and AI contexts
Our point? Or as we like to call it the So What? part of this article:
Modern marketing requires a sophisticated approach to brand building that leverages AI tools while maintaining clear positioning and credibility across all platforms. SEO isn’t enough. Social Media isn’t enough. Catalogs and traditional sales calls aren’t enough. Strategic marketing builds brands, positions them, generates awareness, supports lead generation, lead nurturing throughout the sales process and so much more.
A recent article I read on Search Engine Land had this quote from Rand Fishkin. When talking about AI and SEO content, specifically.
“I think it means more creativity will yield better results. Many folks in search marketing have been chasing rankings and traffic from the same keywords for a decade or more. Given peak Internet and the zero-sum nature of search traffic, I’d strongly consider if you can win by making more creative content, doing more creative placements, and being in sources of influence your competitors have never even tried (*cough* podcasts, email newsletters, direct ad buys, YouTube channels, organic social *cough*).”
AI Summaries in Search Engine Results
I recently attended a webinar from Search Engine Journal, which was about AI Summaries and How to Win Visibility in the New Landscape of SEO with Tom Capper. He talked about the impact of AI Overviews, or AIOs, in the search engine results. You’ve likely noticed these AI-generated summaries when you search for something, mostly information.
These AIOs are taking the place of many informational searches, and result in fewer clicks through to a website. The presenter shared that from his observations, searches with commercial intention and transactional for a local service, product, etc. are not yet getting the AI summaries. But also the bar for creating content worth clicking is much higher. We agree.
Our team has been utilizing AI tools for quite some time. We have specific objectives this next quarter to streamline the tools we use and ensure we invest in training for prompting and development of our techniques to get the best content and results for our clients. We also encourage companies to invest in short-form video, powerful and impactful content to build their brands, their reputation and their digital footprint in a multi-channel approach. SEO alone isn’t enough.
If you have questions about AI, AIOs, SERPs, SEO or any other marketing acronym, reach out to us today.
Meet The Author
Rebecca Dutcher, CEO and Founder
The owner of RED66 Marketing. Yes, the RED comes from her bold hair. And, if you didn’t know, the 66 was her jersey number when she was the first girl to play football at 8 years old. Rebecca has always had a passion for marketing and building strong relationships with clients – by offering honest input and feedback, and has a firm belief in doing what you say you’re going to do. She’s spent 15+ years working for marketing agencies with specialties in SEO/SEM and web development, branding, creative design, and integrated communications – taking all she’s learned to bring the best marketing approach to our clients.
She is a two-time past president of the American Marketing Association of West Michigan Chapter and vice chair of the board of directors for GROW.
Rebecca guest blogs and often speaks to different associations and organizations including: Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce events: Women’s Conference, Leadership Conference and past Member-Only events, Growth Advantage SMG Groups, CSC Network, Wayland Area Chamber of Commerce, and more. If you’re interested in having Rebecca speak at your event, please contact us today.
She received the 2021 Alumni Award from Davenport University, Donald W. Maine School of Business.
Rebecca is married to Steve, is Mom to Brett (human), and is Dog Mom to Leena, Rhino, and Goose.
