Will AI replace SEO experts?

This is an important topic for many in the SEO industry at the moment. And it's no wonder there's increasing discussion and threats in the media about how AI will lead to job losses.

“Will AI replace SEO experts?”

No, I don't think so. But there is palpable fear in the industry, and rightly so.

Some people are anxiously considering a side hustle for a more stable career. But what exactly is a stable job when AI seems to be encroaching on it?

Why is there so much anxiety in the SEO community at the moment? We've all faced the “SEO is dead” hype before, and we've lived to tell the tale. So why does it feel different this time?

Why generative AI feels threatening

AI doesn't just pose a threat from a “what if it gets out of control and takes over the world?” I'm sure some people can't sleep because of it.

Generative AI is touted as a miracle tool that saves time and reduces labor. Come up with strategies and automate processes. Furthermore, there are no employment rights.

The risk of AI encroaching on our careers is not entirely hypothetical.

We've all seen ChatGPT used judiciously in the workplace (if we're lucky) to streamline tasks that used to be heavy lifting for administrators. Engineers use it to write code. Data scientists spot trends.

The concern is that we are only a short step away from streamlining the process and completely eliminating human intervention.

Utilization of AI in SEO

There is no doubt that we are looking to leverage AI within our workflows. This allows you to create meta titles and complete complex Python scripts.

AI has an important place in SEO.

You should consider ways to speed up and automate your work as much as possible. This frees up the time you need to find more strategic growth opportunities.

Let's dig deeper: 10 ways to leverage generative AI for advanced SEO

Limitations of AI in the workplace

At first glance, it seems that AI can solve many commercial problems. It can significantly reduce employee workload and associated costs.

However, severe limitations still make it a tool rather than a search marketing replacement.

Existing information only

One of the biggest limitations of generative AI in digital marketing is that it can only rely on information to which it already has access. You can create, but only from existing ideas.

Marketing efforts must respond to changes in human behavior and appetite. Marketers are much more likely to understand how trends impact their marketing efforts than AI.

lack of experience

AI has incredible theoretical knowledge. Instantly access documents and identify and use relevant information. That's smart.

However, the following argument could also be made. do not have wise.

There is a difference in usefulness between a graduate student who has just studied his field for the past three years and an experienced professional who has been working with the reality of the subject for ten years.

Do you remember when you first started doing SEO?

You've probably read beginner's guides, attended conferences, and practiced interview pitches.

But your first attempt at actually auditing a website probably yielded a lot of extra information.

Sure, everything you highlighted may have been technically correct, but without the context to know how the stakeholders are thinking and how their workloads are prioritized. Probably not much has changed.

If you are a beginner, you may not know which actions have the most impact.

Let's dig deeper: How to demonstrate EEAT with AI-generated content

Based on direct input only

The AI's abilities are determined by the prompts you provide to it. AI still requires human input to produce anything of value.

Many people find meetings frustrating, but the time you spend discussing ideas and plans with colleagues can be a valuable source of direction.

For example, a sneer, an eye roll, or an enthusiastic nod can convey support or disapproval of a strategy. Humans may sense this and completely adjust their communication styles and plans.

Similarly, economic and legal news can cause SEOs to reconsider their roadmaps. Unless you tell the AI ​​to change its plans, it won't know.

Understanding context

Another aspect that limits AI is its inability to understand the broader context into which its output is fed. AI can also be programmed to obtain data from multiple sources, but it may never be enough to give it the full context of a situation that a human would experience.

For example, AI needs to have access to the latest news stories, economic conditions, and brand sentiment to understand whether PR stories are delivered in the right way at the right time.

Let's dig deeper: How to integrate generative AI into SEO

Why do we need humans for SEO?

No matter how much AI can be used as part of an SEO workflow, it cannot fully replace humans.

So many aspects of our roles require us to compromise, prioritize, and pivot, sometimes in response to subtle input.

SEO strategy requires consent

For most SEOs, the most time-consuming part of our role isn't planning or implementing SEO efforts, but getting buy-in.

AI systems may be able to come up with solutions to technical SEO problems. Still, you can't have a good conversation with your engineers to make sure it's executed properly. It is impossible to discuss with the team leader why that ticket should be prioritized over other tickets in the queue.

SEO needs to consider other priorities

SEOs must learn to compromise in order to implement solutions.

There may be other demands on resources within the enterprise. This means that technically correct SEO solutions are not the most practical.

It is still unrealistic to expect AI to understand a company's internal politics well enough to choose the battles to fight.

SEO solutions are specific to your website

SEO strategies are often created in a uniquely constrained environment. Each website and the industry in which it operates is different.

AI needs to fully understand these factors in order to develop effective strategies.

Each company has its own internal challenges, such as lack of CMS and subject matter expertise. It is difficult for AI to understand how that affects the feasibility of recommendations.

Creating prompts requires an understanding of SEO

For AI to be able to generate useful recommendations, it needs guidance from someone who understands SEO.

For example, I recently had a discussion with an engineer who was trying to solve an indexing problem. Before this engineer came to the SEO team, he used ChatGPT as a solution.

Unfortunately, no matter what they told ChatGPT about the problem they were trying to solve, ChatGPT kept giving them the same advice. This was the solution I had to advise.

After reading ChatGPT's response, I understood why they made that suggestion, but ChatGPT didn't understand the nuances of the website we were working on, so their solution was not acceptable. did not.

Engineers also didn't understand the details well enough to prompt the AI ​​to find a different solution. If the engineer had simply implemented the solution provided by her AI, the problem would not have been solved.

Let's dig deeper: Advanced AI Prompt Engineering Strategies for SEO

The value of SEO in the world of AI

There is a risk that not everyone shares the view that AI cannot completely replace skilled SEO. Replacing human workers with her AI is considered an attractive prospect for employers, primarily due to cost savings.

But this is a false economy. As we saw above, you still need in-house talent who understands well how search engines work and how people search so they can create prompts.

While we should continue to discuss AI and its benefits for SEO efforts, we should also be mindful of its limitations.

These are important discussions to have with budget holders. We will demonstrate how to effectively use AI for her SEO to save time and money.

Use AI to free up your time to focus on pursuing growth opportunities and share them with stakeholders.

Let's dig deeper: How will AI impact the future of search?