How Might AI Impact the Future of SEO?

What is a Chatbot?

A chatbot is a computer program that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) to understand customer questions and automate responses to them, simulating human conversation. 

It can be deployed across a range of channels and is able to understand the intent behind user queries and provide relevant responses in real-time.

The use of AI chat is becoming increasingly popular among businesses, as it provides an efficient way to engage with customers 24/7 and improve experiences without the need for human intervention. This means that businesses can offer fast, efficient, and personalised responses to customer queries, improving the overall customer experience.

So How Does AI Chat Impact SEO?

One of the primary ways that AI chat impacts SEO is through its ability to generate and optimise content for search engines. AI chat can analyse user queries and provide businesses with insights into the keywords and phrases that customers are using to find their products or services. This can help businesses to tailor their content to match the search terms that are most relevant to their audience.

AI chat can also impact SEO by providing businesses with a way to identify and build backlinks. Backlinks are an important ranking factor for search engines, as they indicate the authority and credibility of a website. By using AI chat to engage with customers and provide valuable information, businesses can increase the likelihood of users sharing their content and linking back to their website. This can help to improve the website’s authority and ranking in search engine results pages.

What is Microsoft’s AI-Powered Bing Search Engine?

Bing AI uses OpenAI technology as a new and improved version of Microsoft’s search engine to “deliver better search results, more complete answers to your questions, a new chat experience to better discover and refine your search, and the ability to generate content to spark your creativity”.

Since launch, responses to AI Bing search requests have been a mixture of accurate and inaccurate and there are worries about the spread of misinformation should we not use a heavy dose of scepticism. Cantankerous responses, confessions of existential crises and even stalking behaviour have been reported from users who simply wanted to ask a fair question. The AI engine produces false information on products, places and sometimes incorrectly summarises financial documents and other complex numerical data.

Although AI has the potential to provide fast, accurate and human-like responses to our online search queries, it appears we’re a long way off.

Is SEO Dead?

No, SEO is not dead. In fact, it is still a very important aspect of online marketing and website optimisation for traditional and AI-powered search engines. While the landscape of SEO has changed over the years, with search engines like Google constantly updating their algorithms, the fundamental principles of SEO remain the same.

Search engines use algorithms to determine which websites should appear at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs) when users search for certain keywords or phrases. SEO is the practice of optimising a website’s content and structure to improve its rankings in these SERPs.

While some people might argue that the rise of social media and other marketing channels has made SEO less important, the fact remains that search engines are still a primary source of traffic and customers for many websites. As long as people continue to use search engines to find information, products, and services, SEO will continue to be a valuable and effective marketing strategy.