2023 SEO Predictions: How ChatGPT is Changing the Game
As we move into 2023, ChatGPT is ubiquitous and big questions are being raised about the impact of ChatGPT and AI in general on our lives. Marketing professionals have their own questions, and those in the SEO and content space who are on the front lines will be impacted for the foreseeable future.
Will ChatGPT and other AIs replace content writers and content agencies? What role will this technology play in SEO? Will it completely replace SEO? These are legitimate questions we ask ourselves, and before you decide, you might want to do your own testing to see how powerful this technology really is.
Before chattingGPT
AI and machine learning are not new to the SEO space, Google has been integrating NLP (natural language processing) machine learning into its algorithms for many years, and there are a large number of SEO platforms that take advantage of these tools. similar technology. So why all the fuss about ChatGPT? Artificial intelligence is accelerating and this time it is aiming for the ability to automate tasks in the marketing industry and deliver a product that looks a lot like a human.
It should be noted that many of us have been talking to phones, cars, and smart speakers for years and have interacted with advanced NLP systems, but witnessing the creation of written content The real-time text is engaging and the human quality in the generated text. of nothing is great. ChatGPT has very real limitations, so it’s not the end of the world for content writers or SEOs, but at the rate this technology evolves, there will be very real impacts in the medium term. to the long term for content, SEO and all digital. marketing in this way.
Danger Will Robinson
ChatGPT’s ability to create engaging and unique content is a game changer for SEO. Imagine having a virtual writing assistant that can easily understand your business and your target audience, then create text that speaks directly to them.
But does ChatGPT really understand your business and your target audience? No, but he writes incredibly engaging content, no matter how accurate. The previous paragraph was written by ChatGPT. This is the most immediate possibility that will impact SEO and written content creation. The scary thing is that if this technology is not used properly, it will create engaging content on a massive scale and can be filled with inaccuracies.
While the top SEO agencies and practitioners will certainly use this technology arbitrarily, you can rest assured that spammers and all the lowest-tier vendors won’t do the same. So. Hold your ground, we’re going to have a problem that search engines and online content producers will have to deal with. Maybe watermark and content detection software will be part of the solution.
general limit
ChatGPT has some major limitations, the most important being accuracy. ChatGPT doesn’t “know” everything, it’s a chatbot that uses a basic NLP-based machine learning model. It is trained using text databases on the Internet, so the focus is on creating text using linguistic technology rather than solving problems and providing solutions. Finally, the accuracy of the published information is unreliable, other than the fact that the database used was updated at some point in 2021, so anything based on recent information would also not be reliable.
SEO ability
Things are moving very quickly with ChatGPT and SEO, with most of the trainees researching, testing, or at least questioning how to navigate the technology. Some of the current uses of SEO are:
- SEO Content Creation
- Content & Blog Strategy
- SEO Content Outlines
- Keyword Research
- Title & Meta-Description Generation
- URL Mapping
- On-Page SEO Analysis
- E-commerce Product Description Generation
- Relevant Sites Identification (link-building)
- Schema Markup Generation
Now, just because ChatGPT can do these things doesn’t mean it’s done right, that’s the point. However, SEO is expensive and these functions can be extremely useful for implementing basic SEO.
One challenge is when non-SEO professionals start using this tool but lack the experience to recognize when the output is incorrect. Either way, the SEO game will change and ChatGPT and its successors will play a big role.
The meaning of business SEO
If we look at the nuances of enterprise SEO, we can see huge potential opportunities with ChatGPT. This technology will not replace corporate SEO strategy, but it is a powerful tool to effectively optimize large-scale websites to achieve SEO best practices. Think of a website with more than 1,000 pages with duplicate metadata (this happens more often than you think). Instead of slugs and phrases, you can easily use ChatGPT to create custom title tags and meta descriptions. You have a large-scale solution that effectively gets you a B in the first place.
Enterprise SEO also often requires large-scale content production with a multi-faceted content strategy, and while most companies may not be ready to commit to content automation, ChatGPT can play an important role. critical to increasing efficiency and empowering content staff to create more with less. and save loads of time on initial research.
Google’s position today
Google initially opposed AI-generated content in April 2022, but since then appears to have changed its stance. Now, the focus seems to really go back to quality content and the focus on users versus search engines. Google has a section in Search Essentials (formerly Webmaster Guidelines) about “automatically generated spammy content”. Google states: “Auto-generated (or “self-generated”) spam content is content that has been generated programmatically without creating anything original or adding enough value; instead, it was created with the primary purpose of manipulating search rankings, not helping users.
So in the end, is AI-generated content okay if it’s created for real users and delivers value? In short, that’s the message, so you can expect a lot of people to use ChatGPT to create content, possibly with close scrutiny. You can also expect spammers to ramp up production as much as possible 24/7 to see if they can gain an edge over Google.
Google is looking ahead
Google is believed to be able to detect AI-written content, to what extent we don’t know. That being said, because it’s abused, we can rely on Google to issue updates to downgrade or penalize content that doesn’t follow their guidelines. These updates can be messy, so maybe you’re creating great content with AI and all the right monitoring, and you’re probably still impacted by these updates. It’s worth it? Do not shrink. But we can bet that the EEAT will become more and more important over time, so you should invest in this as an extra measure of insurance if you are playing in the field.
SEO, Copywriter and Digital Agency
In a way, everyone in content and SEO has just been warned, AI is here and accelerating. The internet is about to be flooded with “good enough” content generated by ChatGPT, and basic SEO is about to become more common and cheaper. This means the bar is raised for everyone. This will ultimately affect all channels in the digital space, content, social networks, paid media, and more. We all need to improve and deliver better quality.
SEO Automation
ChatGPT won’t end up with SEO agencies, consultants, or internal practitioners, but the next iteration may come closer. Basic SEO best practices may not be relevant for too long, and agencies that rely on processes and tools rather than expertise and talent may also get into trouble at some point. Tools and technology have become so important in modern SEO strategy, we need to use human creativity, innovation and a more marketing-driven approach to last as long as possible. the better. If execution is simple using tools and processes, it will sooner or later be automated through AI.
Looking to 2023 and beyond
Now, SEO has another tool to use to improve capabilities, and search engines have another moving target to deal with when it comes to spam and ongoing improvements to its algorithms. But the trend is clear, AI will continue to evolve and simpler aspects of SEO, content and digital marketing will start to be automated. This will progress step by step, so we as digital marketers need to get better, raise the bar and use our brains to innovate and deliver good products. than machines as long as we humans can do it.