Will AI Replace Organic Search Results and SEOs?
by Alan Rabinowitz
The future of Search is now questionable
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made significant advancements in the field of search, making it more challenging for businesses to rank in organic search results. As AI continues to evolve, many are wondering if it will replace organic search results altogether. We have theorized many possibilities that in some cases are obvious and in other cases are a bit reaching or theoretical.
AI has already revolutionized the way we interact with technology, from voice assistants like Siri and Alexa to recommendation systems used by online retailers and streaming services. AI has also made significant strides in the field of search, with search engines using machine learning algorithms to improve search results and offer personalized recommendations.
The future of Artists is now questionable
In the art world, artists may need to start to panic, as applications like Midjourney are creating millions of illustrations that can be used for publishing in just seconds. The featured image of this article, above, was created by the Midjourney AI in 30 seconds.
As a former illustrator, I see this as a super-cheap replacement for hand-painted art. Especially in the publishing industry where book publishers are always looking for the cheapest covers, they can now produce high-quality images in seconds for pennies. However, any AI-generated art is public domain so anyone can reuse it or publish it elsewhere making it unoriginal.
The future of Writers is now questionable
AI can generate content using various techniques, including machine learning and natural language generation (NLG). NLG allows machines to generate text based on specific criteria, such as user inputs or data sets. This has led to the development of AI-powered writing assistants, which can help writers improve their content by providing suggestions for grammar, style, and tone.
While AI can generate text, it cannot replace human writers entirely. Writing is a creative process that involves critical thinking, analysis, and interpretation, which are human skills that machines cannot replicate. AI may be able to generate content based on specific criteria, but it cannot match the depth and nuance of human thought at least at this point in time.
As AI becomes more advanced and potentially even develops itself, this could change quickly. There are numerous stories on how people have used ChatGPT for writing, term papers, thesis, website content, and even part of this article, although heavily modified. AI does allow for well-written content to be created in seconds, just like art, and just like search results. So writers should be concerned as well.
The future of SEO is now questionable
One of the most significant ways AI can impact SEO is through its ability to understand natural language processing (NLP). NLP is the ability of machines to understand and interpret human language, making it easier for them to identify the intent behind search queries and provide more relevant results. This means that search engines powered by AI can better understand the meaning behind search queries and provide more accurate results, making SEO more challenging unless, of course, the SEO is using AI creatively to develop the content. Like this entire article. Which is based on AI and manually elaborated on (pretty heavily) since AI is still limited and tends to be a bit repetitive in statements at the moment.
Another benefit of AI integrated into search is that AI can identify patterns and trends in search behavior, allowing it to predict what users are looking for and deliver more targeted results. This can make it more difficult for businesses to rank for specific keywords or phrases, as AI-powered search engines may prioritize content that matches the user’s search intent over content optimized for specific keywords. This appears to be one of the more recent models seen on search engines.
Since authority is a major factor in current ranking algorithms, it’s questionable how a search engine or AI that is used as a search engine, would understand authority with referencing like links. Below I theorize one strategy which is imperative for today’s SEO anyway, so it may indicate AI elements of search results already.
While AI is making SEO more challenging, it’s not necessarily replacing it. Instead, it’s changing the way businesses need to approach SEO. The E-E-A-T strategy for SEO still holds weight here. As search engines become more intelligent, or even become replaced by AI altogether, businesses need to focus on creating high-quality, relevant content that answers the user’s search intent rather than just targeting specific keywords. This means that businesses need to put more emphasis on creating content that provides value to their audience, rather than just optimizing for search engines.
Matching Google’s E-E-A-T is imperative for businesses in 2023. As AI integrates and eventually becomes the algorithm, influencing it will become harder. It’s important to understand how it currently works.
When searching for the Best SEO Companies in NYC, AI uses data from third-party websites and simply returns what it finds and also gives a disclaimer. It’s pulling information from web sources, so instead of links, being a reference and/or being listed on websites would be a way to influence AI and a replacement for link building and the link itself no longer matters the reference and information does.
So modern-day SEO needs to take this into consideration as part of its SEO strategy. Links may not be as necessary for SEO of an AI search engine. However, this would make it clear that AI marketing services will be very important. So, in theory, the smart SEO strategies of the past two decades, still work in the AI model search engine, they just need to be thought of differently.
The future of Search Engines is now questionable
With Google/IO presentations showcasing how Google plans to integrate AI, one can say that the priority of AI is higher than Google’s own organic search results, making you wonder if AI has replaced Google’s algorithm completely, or will in the future. If it does replace Google results, it levels the playing field, as anyone can simply license AI and develop a competitive search engine in seconds.
Wow! Imagine that, your own search engine in seconds, just like your own art in seconds.
So the future of Search Engines is now questionable as well. Search leadership is more likely to change since this makes it appear that Google, themselves, feel/admit that AI results are better than the past 25 years of Google’s organic search algorithm.
LOL Yes, this is a bold statement and a bit of a push, but look at how Google is planning to put AI above its own organic results…What does it say to you?
While Google is the current search leader, an AI competitor will likely level the playing field as AI develops over time. How we use search to find information, products, and services can change as AI develops itself and even presents results as it sees fit.
This opens up the possibility that Influencers and marketers can push new AI products like a new AI search engine (a ChatGPT derivative/license not owned by a major company), and even state how systems like Google’s search algorithm, are now archaic.
It will be interesting to see if the crazy rush to implement AI into search engine results becomes the cause and start of new ways to search and new AI engines. As one search engine’s AI will no longer be better or more sophisticated than the other, as it’s all simply AI and replaced the same way an artist or writer can be replaced with AI.
While AI is still in its infancy, it’s important to watch and see if an AI engine will replace a search engine, and if so, does this mean that one AI Engine is better than any other AI Engine? Search is becoming more exciting and how to market to AI Engines is also exciting and a breath of fresh air to someone like me that has been marketing websites since 1998. Challenges are fun and AI represents the next iteration of SEO challenges. I do predict a huge change in search which may also include a change in major players. I remain
