Adapting SEO Strategies in the AI Era: Insights from an Agency Perspective
In the rapidly evolving digital marketing landscape, staying ahead requires constant adaptation—especially as artificial intelligence (AI) begins to transform how we approach SEO. As an agency owner, I’ve been immersing myself in understanding these shifts and refining our workflow to ensure we continue delivering value for our clients. Here, I’ll share my insights on how the AI-driven market influences SEO and the strategies we’re implementing to adapt effectively.
Understanding the Changing SEO Landscape
The rise of AI-powered tools and large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Claude has prompted significant changes in digital search dynamics. Many common concerns have surfaced:
- Declining organic traffic due to AI overviews: Featured snippets and AI summaries often provide quick answers, reducing click-through rates to traditional websites.
- Challenges in gaining recognition by LLMs: How can your content be cited or integrated into AI responses?
- Client apprehension: Is SEO becoming obsolete with AI on the rise?
- Proliferation of low-quality content: Competitors producing大量垃圾文章，充斥網絡。
Such challenges raise critical questions: How can agencies adapt to not only preserve clients’ visibility but also leverage this transformation to expand market share?
Reevaluating the Core Principles of SEO in the AI Age
Contrary to initial fears, I believe the fundamental principles of SEO remain relevant—albeit with a strategic shift. Here’s my perspective:
Will AI eliminate SEO altogether?
Not quite. While AI tools have shifted how audiences access information and may impact top-of-funnel (TOFU) traffic, the necessity of inbound marketing—selling products and services—remains intact. Human-driven conversion activities persist beyond initial information gathering.
Our focus has shifted from driving traffic to establishing domain authority.
Creating authoritative, niche-specific content continues to be vital because search engines and AI models favor reputable sources when generating responses or citations.
What does this mean practically?
Instead of crafting informational content solely to attract direct traffic, we now emphasize producing material that positions our websites as trustworthy authorities, increasing the likelihood of being referenced by AI systems.
Refining Content Creation Strategies
Traditional content creation workflows—manual writing, mass article production—may no longer be optimal. I experimented with AI writing tools like WriterSonic and Jasper, but they often resulted in:
- Drafts that required significant editing
- Hallucinations
