Hiring an SEO expert that uses AI - Heads up!

[Jeff Morton]

I have written probably 100,000 words of content and made 100 or so video's on very specialist engineering topics (sprays and their various industrial application). This is Valuable to my potential customers (it educates them), it's rare (not many people in the world know as much about spray nozzles as me! A fairly sad claim to fame I know!), it's inimitable (very hard to copy this as it takes a huge amount of effort to make), and there is not really a substitute for good technical content. So all this content is a good strategic resource and we have the sales growth to prove it.

Exactly! Now every small business has the opportunity to convert their specialized niche knowledge into super valuable content for their customers/clients and their potential new customers/clients.

With the help of AI - acting as their writing/video creating assistant - creating all of the content they need - utilizing their niche knowledge gained from years of experience - and all of their business/product/service information.

This is not the same as generic AI content.

This is AI assisted, business specific, niche content, unique to the business. And extremely valuable to help existing customers and attract new customers who are searching for answers/solutions to their problems.

Imagine a 24/7 multilingual, polymathic assistant/PA - who understands everything about your business and has deep knowledge of everything you have ever communicated to customers seeking solutions.

Now you begin to understand the potential of next generation AI for unleashing the potential of small/medium size businesses.

Here's another way to understand this.

That 100,000 words of content you created, let's train an AI on that, will take a few minutes.

Now you have an AI which understands a lot about your business, your writing style, your opinions, your persona etc etc.

Now we can utilize the custom trained AI to augment your content creation tasks.
So you can create another 100,000 words on new topics, in a small fraction of the time taken for the original 100,000 words of content.

 

[DontAsk]

The image of a snake eating it's own tail springs to mind...

AI creating articles for the search engines which are then scraped by AI to create articles etc etc

That's exactly what is happening. There are thousands of bots using AI to churn out "content" to get clicks. That "content" is then scraped and used in the training of the next generation of AI. Irt's a race to the bottom.

 

[Jeff Morton]

That's exactly what is happening. There are thousands of bots using AI to churn out "content" to get clicks. That "content" is then scraped and used in the training of the next generation of AI. Irt's a race to the bottom.

100% correct - in 99% of cases.

But there is an alternative strategy for creating authentic, valuable content. See message above this one.

 

[fisicx]

100% correct - in 99% of cases.

But there is an alternative strategy for creating authentic, valuable content. See message above this one.

Yes, but it gets lost in miasma. Getting those nuggets in front of people is becoming increasingly difficult. But if you stopped creating content and focused on activities that increase your business you can stand out.

 

[DontAsk]

100% correct - in 99% of cases.

But there is an alternative strategy for creating authentic, valuable content. See message above this one.

The 99% will swamp out the 1%. Like I said, it's a race to the bottom. The internet as we know it, is doomed, and not just because of this issue. It's looking quite likely (at least some days) that section 230 will be repealed in the US.

 

[Jeff Morton]

The 99% will swamp out the 1%. Like I said, it's a race to the bottom. The internet as we know it, is doomed, and not just because of this issue. It's looking quite likely (at least some days) that section 230 will be repealed in the US.

I disagree, Google will only rank the 1% - the content created by real businesses with expertise, authority, and trust. Happening already.

 

[fisicx]

I disagree, Google will only rank the 1% - the content created by real businesses with expertise, authority, and trust. Happening already.

Got an example of this?

 

[DontAsk]

I disagree, Google will only rank the 1% - the content created by real businesses with expertise, authority, and trust. Happening already.

I was thinking more about the effect of all the dross on future AI training.

 

[Jeff Morton]

I was thinking more about the effect of all the dross on future AI training.

You are correct. And its why big AI labs are doing deals with content sites like reddit to use user generated content for training - and its also part of the reason Musk bought twitter.

 

[DontAsk]

You are correct. And its why big AI labs are doing deals with content sites like reddit to use user generated content for training - and its also part of the reason Musk bought twitter.

Musk has been throwing his usual hissy fits about AI. He doesn't like that Apple went with OpenAI, rather than xAI, but he has dropped his silly suit against OpenAI at the very last minute.

 

[fisicx]

You are correct. And its why big AI labs are doing deals with content sites like reddit to use user generated content for training - and its also part of the reason Musk bought twitter.

Maybe but not sure of the value of using Reddit data - there so much junk and misinformation. It would mean the LLM would be even more wrong than it is now.

 

[Jeff Morton]

Maybe but not sure of the value of using Reddit data - there so much junk and misinformation. It would mean the LLM would be even more wrong than it is now.

Cleanest shirt in a dirty pile? Whats the alternative?

 

[Jeff Morton]

Musk has been throwing his usual hissy fits about AI. He doesn't like that Apple went with OpenAI, rather than xAI, but he has dropped his silly suit against OpenAI at the very last minute.

Lots of action at the top of the big labs, but most or all of them will be forcefully taken over by their respective Governments within the next 2 years as it becomes clear that the first country to reach AGI will win the prize of global hegemony.

 

[fisicx]

Cleanest shirt in a dirty pile? Whats the alternative?

Change your thinking and stop creating content. Using AI to create content totally misses the whole point of optimizing a website. You don't need lots of content - you just need the right content displayed in the right structure. All those people churning out content hoping it will help their ranking are wrong.

What you should be using AI for is things like your website structure analysis to improve conversions.

 

[DontAsk]

the first country to reach AGI

I confidently predict it will not happen in my lifetime.

 

[Talktime]

I would like to bring you up to speed on my case after having an SEO optimise my website who used AI without telling me and causing my sales to fall off a cliff! I then needed to restore my website from a backup copy to repair my place in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page, to borrow a Google term).

I have experimented with AI for the first time, using different chatbots and AI detectors. I experimented by writing a sample article for my website, and I only used the Grammarly browser extension to clean up the typos and butterfingers. After I put the article through an AI detector, it came back with a low AI detection score of 10% chance of being AI. I then copied the article into a Chat GPT prompt, asked it to paraphrase the article, and ran the AI detector test again, giving, unsurprisingly, a 100% AI detection score. Ditto using Sonnet (Claude?), but that came back with a lower AI detection score of 68%, but the article came out rather ornate and verbose.

My experience with using AI to rephrase an article shows it can create a well-structured and flowing article. Still, it can also negatively impact my position in the SERPs because search engines detect the content as AI-generated. However, I could mitigate this by rewriting the AI-re-phrased article from scratch, drawing from my own experience and using my own words, which not only maintained the accuracy of the content but also helped maintain its position in the SERPs but, alarmingly, an AI detector (Scribbr) said it had a 31% chance of being AI.

I then pasted the article into Undetectable to clean the AI content, but the output still showed a 24% chance of being AI.

I discontinued the use of meta tags and schemas completely on some of my pages, and they still rank near the top of the SERPs for keyword searches, which leads me to believe they are redundant for SEO.

I found a level of error in AI detection sites because before posting this on the forums, I copied it to an AI detector, and it scored a 31% chance of AI when I actually wrote it all with my own two hands. I put that down to being a new, fast-moving technology.

The bottom line is AI can generate an article, but to get it listed in the SERPs, you must re-write the article in its entirety, drawing on your own experience and form of words.

 

[Jeff Morton]

I would like to bring you up to speed on my case after having an SEO optimise my website who used AI without telling me and causing my sales to fall off a cliff! I then needed to restore my website from a backup copy to repair my place in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page, to borrow a Google term).

I have experimented with AI for the first time, using different chatbots and AI detectors. I experimented by writing a sample article for my website, and I only used the Grammarly browser extension to clean up the typos and butterfingers. After I put the article through an AI detector, it came back with a low AI detection score of 10% chance of being AI. I then copied the article into a Chat GPT prompt, asked it to paraphrase the article, and ran the AI detector test again, giving, unsurprisingly, a 100% AI detection score. Ditto using Sonnet (Claude?), but that came back with a lower AI detection score of 68%, but the article came out rather ornate and verbose.

My experience with using AI to rephrase an article shows it can create a well-structured and flowing article. Still, it can also negatively impact my position in the SERPs because search engines detect the content as AI-generated. However, I could mitigate this by rewriting the AI-re-phrased article from scratch, drawing from my own experience and using my own words, which not only maintained the accuracy of the content but also helped maintain its position in the SERPs but, alarmingly, an AI detector (Scribbr) said it had a 31% chance of being AI.

I then pasted the article into Undetectable to clean the AI content, but the output still showed a 24% chance of being AI.

I discontinued the use of meta tags and schemas completely on some of my pages, and they still rank near the top of the SERPs for keyword searches, which leads me to believe they are redundant for SEO.

I found a level of error in AI detection sites because before posting this on the forums, I copied it to an AI detector, and it scored a 31% chance of AI when I actually wrote it all with my own two hands. I put that down to being a new, fast-moving technology.

The bottom line is AI can generate an article, but to get it listed in the SERPs, you must re-write the article in its entirety, drawing on your own experience and form of words.

OR - you simply use AI to create an AI digital clone of yourself and your business knowledge, your writing style, persona and writing preferences. Then instruct the clone to write the articles based on your provided outline/specifications.

This is what I do.

 

[DontAsk]

OR - you simply use AI to create an AI digital clone of yourself and your business knowledge, your writing style, persona and writing preferences. Then instruct the clone to write the articles based on your provided outline/specifications.

This is what I do.

Examples please.

 

[Jeff Morton]

not allowed to post links on this thread for some reason...

 

[fisicx]

not allowed to post links on this thread for some reason...

Post url with spaces. I’ll then fix it for you

 

[Ivanzyt]

OR - you simply use AI to create an AI digital clone of yourself and your business knowledge, your writing style, persona and writing preferences. Then instruct the clone to write the articles based on your provided outline/specifications.

This is what I do.

I'd be interested to see this. I am skeptical but open to the idea as it would be wonderful. My skepticism stems from my knowledge of my own writing style which I don't think could be very easily replicated as I'll often use plays on words, litotes, metaphors, pop culture references, and humour to illustrate points, even in technical articles because these are the things that make pieces more engaging, readable and, well, errr human.

So, it would be fascinating, and slightly terrifying, if an AI could replicate that human style of writing. Sure I get that it can create fairly bland but perfectly well-structured pieces on even obscure topics. But can it produce any flavor in the writing because that is what engages actual human beings in my experience. For example, use of words like "flavor" to describe writing is instantly understandable to a human reader but I don't think AI would come up with descriptions like that. (I could be wrong).

Another good example is in catch lines. I have used AI To come up with catchlines for articles and they are very good but some of the best catchlines involve inferences that I don't think AI would ever make. As an example, I'm writing a piece at the moment about how a culture of curiosity is a great way to reduce interpersonal conflict in the workplace. The general thesis is that if we cultivate a culture of being genuinely curious about others then conflict and stress and drama are reduced. The catchline I came up with, whilst sitting on a train, was "curiosity killed the catiness". Which I was rather chuffed with but I don't see how AI could replicate that kind of human touch/style as it references a well-known phrase but varies it with a play on words i.e. substituting "cat" for "cattiness".

Anyway, I would actually love to be proved wrong as I write a lot of content and if I could improve my productivity, whilst maintaining my style, it would be wonderful news.

 

[BaileyLeblanc]

Have you found someone for this job?

 

[Talktime]

I have not engaged in any SEO efforts. Rather, I am personally rewriting over 170 + articles, with 100 completed to date. Despite not adding any meta tags, aside from the <title> tag or including a schema.

Google has been relisting my content effectively. I am considering leaving it as is, without any SEO, since the content alone appears to be performing well.

 

[fisicx]

And has this resulted in an increase in leads/conversions?

 

[Talktime]

It brought conversions back to their levels and positions in the SERPs before the SEO changes. Now, I must determine if implementing tags and schemes will effectively boost these figures further.

 

[DesignsOnline]

My goodness there is so much more to actual onsite SEO than that.

You need to start fresh and first identify properly what you want each page to rank for. Do real keyword research, then look through the options for Keyword intent and refine by search volume vs difficulty.

Do that for each page individually, ensure that not just the Titles, but the URLs, the images and files names, the alt and title tags, H tags and content are all properly optimised for the keywords selected for each page. Ensure that they load fast, that you dont have stupidly oversized images in your website, and that you have good internal linking structure in place.

Next check your website for human readability, check how it rates on the Fletche reading score.
Rewrite your content if it was written by AI. (AI has it's place, like a hammer has it's place in your toolbox, but imagine a car built using just a hammer...)

Next ensure that you use FAQs in the website, and that you embed the correct Schema.
Don't neglect Video and Image ranking factors and ensure that you keep the content on your website genuinely fresh and useful. Try to be the most useful resource anywhere on the subject, and this will bring you traffic and help you to rank well. No matter what has been done by poor SEO to your website it IS recoverable, you just need a little patience and to do the job properly this time...

 

[fisicx]

@DesignsOnline it seems that @Talktime has recovered his ranking by rewriting the content. Which means it’s all apparently ok now.

 

[Shopclicks]

Which means it’s all apparently ok now.

The site still doesn't rank for any search terms with any significant search volume.

 

[fisicx]

The site still doesn't rank for any search terms with any significant search volume.

O hush now. Stop being so negative. I’m sure it fine.

 

[Talktime]

Hi, DesignsOnline. I appreciate your thoughtful feedback on my dilemma.

I've ticked off most of your suggestions, though I’ve yet to dive into the meta tags and schemas.

Oddly enough, the site's doing just fine without them. When I tried AI-generated tags, my sales nosedived faster than you can say "404 error." It was a painful lesson, but here I am at UKBF, sharing my tale of woe for the greater good. After all, we’re all walking this ever-changing SEO labyrinth together, right?

At one point, it felt like every man and his dog was pitching me SEO services. One day, I caved—and let's just say my bank balance took the hit.

As a consultancy, 90% of my clients find me organically, with the rest being loyal returnees. It's not hard to see that I’d be as useful as a wet paper bag without organic traffic.

I’ve just completed the monumental task of rewriting all 85 articles on my site, and thankfully, it’s back to business as usual.

Next, I've got two other brands: beatthebailiffs.org, which looks like it’s been through a time machine and rebuilt somewhere in the 90s, and dealingwithbailiffs.co.uk, proudly flaunting its 2007 vintage charm. Strangely enough, despite looking like it was designed on dial-up, DWB is still pulling in business, and it's never had any SEO. Go figure!

 

[Talktime]

I have an important update regarding the SEO challenge. The search landscape is in flux, with significant shifts in power, and the final outcome remains uncertain.

Currently, Google’s SERPs prioritise sponsored search results, followed by highly optimised sites, pushing the most relevant content further down. This strategy reflects Google’s belief that it can compromise search quality without impacting its profits.

Now, with the rise of SearchGPT, the dynamics are changing. AI-driven search results provide direct answers by quoting source sites, bypassing traditional SEO strategies and delivering results instantly without requiring users to scroll.

This shift means I need to maintain two versions of my website—one optimised for Google’s algorithms and another more concise version tailored for AI search compatibility.

For instance, I have a page optimised for Google, which outlines the legal options available when a bailiff clamps a debtor's vehicle:

https://nationalbailiffadvice.uk/Vehicle-Has-Been-Clamped-By-Bailiffs.html

Additionally, I’ve developed a prototype of a page tailored for AI-driven searches, targeting the same query:

https://bailiffadvice.uk/bailiff-unexpectedly-clamped-or-removed-your-vehicle.php

I wanted to share this approach with anyone whose business relies on organic client acquisition.

 

[Shopclicks]

I wanted to share this approach with anyone whose business relies on organic client acquisition.

This is completely the wrong approach. Google is looking for optimised pages, not what you claim is an AI optimised page. And where is the structured data?

 

[Talktime]

I registered for the beta of SearchGPT to gain insight into the future of search, as my business depends on organic client acquisition.

Discussions on the GPT member's board suggest that Google is jockeying to maintain its dominance in the search landscape. There's a chance that it might adopt SearchGPT's approach, moving away from traditional SEO practices and algorithmic search towards AI-generated results. The current SearchGPT beta, for instance, focuses solely on the content generated from the page, overlooking tags like titles.

If it materialises, this shift in search engine operations could profoundly impact client sourcing strategies. We need to be prepared for it and adapt our strategies accordingly.

 

[fisicx]

@Talktime you are getting sucked into the myth that AI will take over everything. It won’t. Services like yours won’t be affected if you stop pandering to the search engine and start focussing on lead generation.

 

[UKSBD]

@Talktime you are getting sucked into the myth that AI will take over everything. It won’t. Services like yours won’t be affected if you stop pandering to the search engine and start focussing on lead generation.

But it will though, if Google uses the information it picks up from web pages and displays it above the results (including sponsored results)

The OP is a typical example of this.
If I did a search for somehing like "can a bailff clamp my car"

I would me more inclined to click the AI generated information than the organic or sponsored results.

The OP may be 4 or 5 in the results, but is completely frozen out by the AI results.

I see this as very similar to the early days of SEO
In those days, if you sold a niche product, you optimised a site, got to top, made a killing.

Once Google cottoned on, sponsored ads, product ads, videos appeared and that top spot was far less valuable.

AI Overview is doing the same, especially for the services which haven't had to compete againgst product search.

 

[fisicx]

But @Talktime doesn’t need to rank for ‘can a bailiff clamp my car’. He needs to rank for ‘I need legal help dealing with a HCEO’

Focus on ranking for lead generating keywords rather than information seeking keywords.

Experiment with your searches and you will see AI results for ‘how to’ or information type questions but less so on searches for products or services.

 

[UKSBD]

But @Talktime doesn’t need to rank for ‘can a bailiff clamp my car’. He needs to rank for ‘I need legal help dealing with a HCEO’

Focus on ranking for lead generating keywords rather than information seeking keywords.

Experiment with your searches and you will see AI results for ‘how to’ or information type questions but less so on searches for products or services.

Do you think AI won't cotton on to that?
It already does for a very similar phrase "I need legal help when car clamped"

He said he is doing both, which makes perfect sense to me.

Site A for organics
Site B for AI

I had a site that sold a product, I was no longer competitive selling the product (only a drop shipper), converted it to more of an information site, site got much busier.

It didn't result in increase of sales as what I was selling was twice as expensive as rivals, but it meant the site was still useful.

 

[tony84]

Do we all need to club together and block google from visiting our sites?
Seems a bit scummy to basically pull the information from the sites people have spent a lot developing to then list yourself above them... dont bite the hand that feeds you and all that.

 

[Shopclicks]

I would me more inclined to click the AI generated information than the organic or sponsored results.

The OP may be 4 or 5 in the results, but is completely frozen out by the AI results.

The most relevant answer to the query is what Google wants. Google knows people are going to click on the AI results first. But websites are not 'frozen out' by the AI result, they are included in it .... if the webpage answers the query. Best answers first, as it's always been. Nothing changes on the SEO front ... you just get better at answering search queries in a way that Google sees as relevant.

 

[UKSBD]

Nothing changes on the SEO front ... you just get better at answering search queries in a way that Google sees as relevant.

I've long said that Google can distinguish between product pages, informational pages, service pages, area pages, etc.

The AI systems appear to favour the informational type pages at the moment.

Is it best to convert product selling pages do be more informational, or is it best to provide even better informationa pages, but then ensure they clearly link to your products?

If the AI results start appearing higher for search phrases that I would expect product pages too, I would concentrate more on targetting the informational pages

I'm not only doing it with pages, I have complete sites that I would class as informational.