In 2022, ChatGPT took the world by storm with its generative AI capabilities. But this was not the beginning of AI. AI has always been a part of search engine optimization (SEO). Google uses AI to inform its algorithms. Marketers use AI to analyze, optimize and create their content. Today, as AI improves rapidly, it is a bigger part of SEO than ever before. Here’s what you need to know about using AI for your business’s SEO.
What is AI SEO?
AI SEO, or artificial intelligence search engine optimization, is the use of AI to improve the ranking of web pages on search engine results pages (SERPs). AI can support SEO strategies with technologies such as machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), and large language models (LLM). When SEO tools leverage AI to create new results, such as text or images, the tools are called generative AI, which can be a useful starting point for creating new SEO content.
AI has a variety of applications in SEO. For example, search engine algorithms use a version of AI to determine search engine rankings. Generative AI tools can help summarize research, suggest edits and drafts.
How is AI useful for SEO?
You can use AI for several SEO purposes:
Determination of search ranking
Search engines like Google and Bing use machine learning AI to determine page rankings. Every time someone performs a search, algorithms look at a large number of factors to determine which websites are displayed and in what order. The ranking factors in the Google algorithm including the relevance, quality and usability of a page’s content.
Marketers cannot directly influence these algorithms, but by understanding how they work, they can create better informed SEO strategies.
Identification of website optimization opportunities
AI tools can analyze a website’s content and compare it to top-ranked sites. They can then use this information to provide recommendations on how to improve your website’s performance.
Some tools, like SEO Surfer, focus on content opportunities, such as phrases to include in your copy or content ideas to write about. Other tools, com Creepyuse AI to recommend technical updates to your site, such as improvements to help it load faster.
Keyword research
In SEO, keyword research is the practice of identifying search terms that your website could rank for and then prioritizing them for your site based on their search volume, difficulty of classifying it and the suitability to your business. This is usually a manual process that involves searching for keywords one by one (or in bulk searches) in a keyword tool such as Ahrefs.
AI can simplify this task. For example, ask a generative AI tool like ChatGPT, “recommend the best SEO-relevant keywords for my website and tell me why you think they’re the best.” Of course, an AI tool will never know your business as well as you do, so be sure to review the AI recommendations to see if they make sense for your target audience and your brand.
Summary search
Part of SEO’s job is to write useful and comprehensive content that answers your target audience’s questions. The best content for SEO is well researched and written by an expert in the field. But even a subject matter expert will not know everything about a subject. Generative AI tools can help speed up an expert’s research by taking prompts like “summarize the latest research on what caused the US financial crisis” and condense many research articles into a few bullet points or paragraphs.
However, when using AI for research, it is important to understand its limitations. Most models are trained up to a certain cut-off date, which means they won’t know the topics beyond that date. AI tools can also “hallucinate,” meaning they can misrepresent a fact or claim, or make things up entirely. Just like if you were working with a real research assistant, you can ask AI tools to cite and verify their sources.
Help write content
Content generation has become one of the most popular use cases for generative AI tools like ChatGPT because they can write hundreds of words in seconds, dramatically reducing the time it takes writers to create a first draft of an article, product description, meta title. /meta description or website copy.
That said, be aware of Google’s policy on AI generated content. Google does not explicitly prohibit AI-generated or AI-assisted content, but considers content created entirely by AI to be a violation of its spam policies, which can lead to a loss of organic traffic for your site. Avoid writing SEO content entirely with AI and instead use AI tools for research and first drafts.
Also, mass-market generative AI tools are trained on public Internet content, so if you’re a new or niche brand, the tool likely won’t have a good understanding of your industry or product New, more focused generative AI tools like Shopify Magic can help address this shortcoming and create product descriptions, images, and emails that are tailored to your store.
AI SEO Tools
AI SEO tools are best understood for their general use cases:
ChatGPT
ChatGPT, created by OpenAI, is one of the most accessible AI tools on the market. It positions itself as a place to find creative answers and inspiration. With its simple text input interface, it works as a powerful virtual assistant.
Price: Free with GPT3.5 model and text outputs. Access picture and voice features for $20 per month. Team plans available for business.
Best for: Generalist marketers looking for support in a wide range of marketing tasks.
Microsoft Copilot
co-pilot is Microsoft’s latest iteration of its general-purpose AI assistant, originally branded Bing AI. It has similar functionality to ChatGPT, and in the future Microsoft has said it will integrate directly into Microsoft tools like Word and Excel for advanced functionality.
Price: The standard version is free to use, with a professional tier available for $20 per month.
Best for: General vendors in a Microsoft stack, such as Teams, Word, Excel, and Outlook.
Shopify Magic
Shopify Magic makes it easier to start, run and grow your business. Our innovative commerce-focused AI empowers entrepreneurs like you to be more creative, productive and successful than ever before.
AI designed for commerce
Shopify Magic
Shopify Magic is the AI assistant for Shopify stores. It’s built by Shopify and built right into the Shopify interface. It provides support for product image background editing, product description writing, FAQ generation, email scheduling, and live chat.
Price: Free with all Shopify plans.
Best for: Shopify merchants who want to optimize their product pages.
jasper
jasper, launched in 2021, was one of the first tools to offer AI-powered copywriting. Today, Jasper offers a variety of marketing-specific AI generation tools, including blog writing, headline copy, SEO strategy, and more. While it has affordable entry points, it focuses on large enterprise companies.
Price: Starts at $39 per month per user.
Best for: Enterprise marketing teams looking to deploy AI content at scale.
ink
ink is an AI-powered content marketing tool. It offers AI-generated content with a focus on precise SEO optimization and safeguards against content being perceived as violating Google’s spam rules.
Price: $39 per month for the Professional plan (including unlimited writing), $99 per month for the Enterprise plan.
Best for: Technical SEO professionals who only need writing support.
SEO Surfer
SEO Surfer uses natural language processing (NLP) to make content optimization recommendations. The company uses a proprietary Surfer Score to evaluate your content and provides a roadmap for improving your score. It has recently expanded its offering to include AI-enabled keyword writing and research.
Price: Basic products range in price from $89 per month (including up to 30 items) to $399 per month (100+ items).
Best for: Content teams who want to write their own content but make informed SEO decisions quickly.
There AI
There AI offers a suite of AI-powered SEO features with a focus on massive on-page optimization. Can write content and implement technical edits, such as automatically implementing canonical tags across the site.
Price: $299 per month for a single business, $599 per month for agencies, and $1,199 per month for enterprise features.
Best for: Marketing and SEO teams with limited access to web development resources.
FAQs about AI SEO
Is there AI for SEO?
Yes, there is a wide range of AI use cases in SEO, including content creation, research and optimization.
Does Google block AI content?
Google does not explicitly block AI-generated content. However, it aims to block content generated entirely by AI for the express purpose of ranking on Google, a small but important distinction.
How can I write SEO content with AI?
There are several tools for writing SEO content with AI, such as ChatGPT, Jasper, and Shopify Magic.
