SEO, AI and Cooking
I love to cook. Love figuring out the balance of ingredients going into the pot. The right amount of salt. The balance of sweet and hot. Super satisfying. And as an amateur chef, I’ve got my go-to cookbooks and recipe resources. But sometimes I just take to Google. And as any amateur chef reading this will know, those recipe sites Google serves up are just a jumble of intrusive ads and keyword soup. Now, instead of Google, I’m talking to Monsieur ChatGPT.
Open ChatGPT and tell it: I’ve got an onion, carrots, some brussels sprouts and some chicken breasts. Instantly you’ll be given an idea. Tell it you don’t like that idea but want three alternatives, no problem, here are three more. And before you know it, you’ve got some delicious on your hands. Without all that scrolling through optimized keyword nonsense.
We can see a problem for Google in this little home kitchen test. It allowed itself to become polluted by SEOs and, in my case, media planners who are looking to target educated 40 somethings who like to cook.
I’m a big fan of Jaron Lanier and one of his ideas that I first encountered via the TED 2018 conference is that the big tech companies should “offer a version where people can not have ads if they pay.” Because that advertising corrupts. And we’re seeing that play out now.
So what does the arrival of AI mean for SEO? I ask this question as a guy who began his career back in the days when you could throw your keywords in a meta tags, rank, and have clients think you are a genius.
The SEO practitioner is obviously aided by AI. You can ask ChatGPT to analyze a competitor website and it will tell you what keywords they are chasing. And then ask it to advise you on your keywords. And then you can ask it not just for your meta tags but also how to organize content, or what articles to write. And then, of course, you can ask it to write articles. Or give code. Or show flaws in your strategy. All very helpful!
But what does the arrival of ChatGPT mean for the practice of SEO in the long run? What does it mean for the business odel of search engines like the mighty Google? Ask a TikTok influencer what they might learn from MySpace and you’ll probably get a blank stare. “My-what?” Or how about Blockbuster video?
Business models change. Nobody knows what’s coming. But we can make guesses. And we can pivot.
What’s for dinner
About the author: Robert O’Shaughnessy is a marketing strategist based in San Francisco. Robert founded OE Communications (www.oecommunications.com) to help foster growth through strategic, full-funnel B2B and B2C marketing efforts. He brings 20+ years of experience that began before Google was profitable. He also hosts and produces podcasts via OE Sounds.