18 FEBRUARY 2025

SEO in an AI World: How to Adapt Your Marketing Strategy

AI is at the forefront of today’s marketing conversation. “Ask ChatGPT” has replaced “just Google it” – a fundamental change in how audiences consume and filter information via search engines. And as more AI solutions continue to emerge – from Anthropic’s Claude, to Jasper’s content creator, to AI integration tools in PhotoShop –  it can feel overwhelming. What is “good” AI? How do I choose which tools to use? How do I stay competitive?   

So we’re here to provide you with a good place to start. For many Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the entry point to understanding and demonstrating what AI is at its core and how we can embrace AI. 

Understanding AI’s Impact on Search Behavior 

The integration of AI in search has brought significant changes to how content is delivered to audiences. Search engines and tools can now better understand user intent and adjust to contextual meaning. Search engines are not just matching keywords anymore, they’re interpreting questions, analyzing sentiment and delivering personalized results.

For example, users can use AI to ask complete questions, rather than select keywords or short phrases. Essentially, those of us who have still been holding on to it can say goodbye to the Boolean search technique. The intended outcome is a more seamless search experience for users. Have a question on your mind, just ask it…right? Well, yes and no. While AI search tools are effective at processing complete sentences and questions, there is still a skill and technique to how questions are asked that prompt our desired results.

The question is: what is the impact on SEO when users begin search queries with full sentences? The answer, content ranking. A recent article in Forbes notes, “Prioritizing user intent and personalization guarantees that the content is not only relevant and captivating but also customized to address the specific requirements and preferences of users, leading to improved rankings in search results and more website traffic.” To simplify, content that is more personalized and comprehensive will result in a better ranking. 

Adapting and Optimizing Your SEO Strategy

While it is important that we adapt to the changing landscape and embrace AI, it is also important to consider the human experience. If we lean too far in one direction where all content and experiences are generated by AI, the work becomes inauthentic. That’s problematic from a brand management and user experience perspective, and can also have a negative impact on your SEO. 

For those of us who were around for the dawn of SEO, you may remember a time where producing a lot of content with a lot of keywords was the main objective. Comprehensive and personalized content was somewhat secondary. Over the years we’ve moved more and more toward high-value, keyword dense content as audiences have become more engaged and discerning. The adoption of AI in search should be seen as the final nudge — a tipping point for ensuring that high-ranking content is comprehensive and hyper personalized.

Here are five steps to get you started:

1. Focus on Comprehensive Topic Coverage

Rather than targeting individual keywords, focus on covering topics thoroughly. AI algorithms are better at understanding the relationship between concepts, so comprehensive content that addresses multiple related aspects of a topic tends to perform better.

A good place to start is creating content clusters. Begin by answering a number of related questions and provide in-depth explanations. This helps to create content that is holistic and comprehensive across a topic. It’s also important to include relevant examples, case studies and links to authoritative sources. 

In reality, this shouldn’t be too dissimilar to what you’re currently doing. The main difference is that this approach actually introduces a bit more freedom when it comes to content creation, rather than being hung up on specific keywords. 

2. Optimize for Natural Language, Complete Sentence Search Behavior

With the rise of voice search and AI assistants, users are increasingly using natural language queries. It’s important to adapt your content to match this shift by focusing more on long-tail keywords and complete questions. Additionally, this should impact your tone of voice, making content more conversational and digestible.

Also, if you weren’t using FAQ sections before, this is a simple step that will help you get started. FAQ sections are still a great way to address a number of questions your audience is looking to answer and also ensures your website shows up in search results. 

3. Prioritize E-E-A-T Signals

Expert, Experience, Authority, and Trust (E-E-A-T) signals have become more critical as well. AI systems improve everyday when it comes to identifying and rewarding genuine content and expertise – what we refer to as high-value content. 

Here are three easy ways you can do this: 1) List bylines noting author credentials, 2) include all original research and supporting data, either in the form of links or a sourcing table at the bottom of your content, and 3) update and add content regularly. 

Also don’t forget about backlinks. They are still a tried and true method for establishing credibility. The more other websites site and link to your content, the better. How do you achieve this? Staying true to the core concept: create high-value, expert content that organizations and individuals want to reference and link to. What is often referred to as link-worthy content and assets. 

4. Technical SEO for AI Crawlers

We’d be remiss to not also highlight the technical components of AI and search. The best thing you can do is help AI better understand content through enhanced technical SEO. We won’t get too into the nitty-gritty this time around, but to keep it simple, you should: 

 – Implement structured data markup

 – Use clear heading hierarchies

 – Optimize internal linking structures

 – Ensure mobile responsiveness

 – Improve page speed and core web vitals

5. Create Value-First Content That Connects 

Finally, it’s important to remember that while AI can do a lot, it can’t replace genuine insights and original thinking – and that’s the opportunity.

Ask yourself, does your content offer a unique perspective? Real-world examples? Personal experiences? These are just some ways you can ensure your content stands out. In taking this approach, think about questions and opportunities that are specific to your audience and/or industry. What are the things, questions or ideas that your audience doesn’t have enough of? How does your organization fill that gap, and how can you communicate your expertise to them? 

Measuring Success in an AI World

Traditional SEO metrics will continue to remain important, but pay attention to emerging metrics like featured snippet appearances, voice search rankings, user engagement metrics, content relevance scores and topic authority. Hopefully, what we have shared here will get you on the right track to perform well, but remember – AI is evolving every day. 

Looking Ahead

We know that the integration of AI into search will continue to evolve. But as we have reviewed here, the key to success when it comes to AI-powered SEO still lies in creating high-quality, user-focused content. What may change and evolve is how we leverage technical optimizations that will help AI platforms continue to better understand and rank your content. AI is changing how we approach SEO, but the fundamental objective remains the same: provide valuable content that meets user needs.

Adapting your strategy to account for AI’s growing influence will take discipline and a continued examination of how AI creates value for users. In doing so, you can be assured that your content will reach your audiences and ensure ongoing success for your organization in this evolving landscape.