AI powered platforms and tools have the potential to streamline and automate many aspects of search engine optimisation, from keyword research and content creation to performance tracking.
However, there are also a number of potential drawbacks to using AI for SEO optimisation too. In this blog we’ll take a look at both sides of the equation, highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of AI for this purpose.
Benefits of AI for SEO
Improved Keyword Research
AI-assisted keyword research tools (i.e. SEMRush) can analyse massive amounts of data to identify relevant keywords and phrases that have high search volumes and low competition that your organisation could take advantage of.
These tools can also help identify long-tail keywords and semantically related terms that could help boost the relevance and authority of your content.
Content
AI-powered content creation tools like Open AI’s popular ChatGPT can also assist with generating content at a breakneck pace that has been optimised for specific keywords and target audiences based on detailed prompts.
These tools can ensure that keywords are implemented in creative ways to improve your search engine rankings and ensure the content is geared towards the specific audience you are writing it for.
Performance Tracking
AI powered analytics tools can help you monitor your websites performance, track your search engine rankings and identify areas for improvement by collating data from Google Analytics, AdWords and other sources (i.e Meta & TikTok).
This analysis can give you concise and valuable insights to identify trends and patterns in user behaviour on site which can help you to build your content and improve your conversion rates and KPI targets.
Drawbacks of AI for SEO
Quality Control
While AI-powered content creation tools can generate content quickly and efficiently, this doesn’t always necessarily mean that it’ll meet your expectations on quality. AI content may lack the creativity and nuance of human generated content which resonates with your audience.
It’s always advised by us that if you are to use AI generated content, to always undertake manual tweaks or rewrites to make sure your content has that spark of personality and tone of voice associated with your business and existing content.
Write your content for people, not for search engines. If people find your content helpful and informative, then Google will follow.
Creative limitations
Further to the above point, while AI can be extremely helpful for structural analytical tasks such as analysing data and identifying patterns, AI models may not always be able to come up with original ideas due to the limitations of data sets they have access to.
This can be a potential drawback if you are looking to create content that stands out from the competition or if you are trying to develop a unique brand voice as it will use data and copy from its own language models which can be easily replicable and follow predefined patterns.
Search Engine Algorithms
While AI can help to optimise your content for search engine algorithms, there is always a risk that content could be penalised for using AI generated content.
Google, in particular, has been vocal about AI relating to search rankings. Their guidelines state that AI-generated content will not be banned, but if AI is used to generate content that has the “primary purpose of manipulating ranking in search results” it is in violation of policy. Just the same as human content.
However, their main stance as of now is that they “will not penalise high-quality content no matter how it is produced”.
The bottom line
While AI powered tools and platforms can certainly assist with SEO, it’s important to consider the potential drawbacks and limitations before totally relying on AI assistance for all aspects of your SEO strategy.
It’s always recommended by us to combine the analytical and structural advantages of AI-powered tools with human creativity to create high quality and engaging content that can drive traffic and improve rankings over time.