AI and SEO: what's the impact? + 5 AI SEO tools to use!

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the world in countless ways, and SEO is no exception.

But what does AI mean for SEO? And how can you use generative AI (think: ChatGPT) to improve your SEO without your online store becoming harder for search engines to find?

SEO techniques used to take a lot of time and effort. With AI you can now do these tasks a lot faster and more easily, leaving you more time for other important things.

In this blog we'll look at the impact of AI on SEO, show you how to use AI for better SEO, and share five AI SEO tools we think will be really useful going forward.

Keep reading and stay ahead of the curve…

In short…

• AI helps search engines understand search intent better, which means your content needs to answer your audience's questions, not just target keywords.
• With tools such as ChatGPT you can quickly write optimised copy. Make sure you give good input and check the quality.
• AI quickly finds popular and long-tail keywords, making your SEO strategy more targeted and effective.
• With tools such as Make.com you can automate repetitive tasks, such as content updates and monitoring search performance. This saves time and boosts the efficiency of your SEO work.
• Content needs to become more conversational to rank well for voice searches through assistants such as Siri and Alexa.

The impact of AI on SEO

Artificial intelligence is certainly nothing new, companies like Google have been using AI for years in their search engine and other services.

It's only in recent times that artificial intelligence has had a few major breakthroughs, making it accessible to everyone, and that's created a lot of opportunities, especially for marketers!

As a result, AI has already had a big impact on SEO, and it'll have an even bigger one in the future. Here are five ways AI is changing SEO:

Smarter search engines

Thanks to AI, search engines such as Google now understand much better what you're actually looking for. AI technologies such as BERT and RankBrain analyse the search intent behind searches, making the results more relevant.

That means you need to create content that answers people's actual questions and needs, not just individual keywords.

Tip! To work out the search intent, take a quick look at the current search results for the keyword you want to rank for.

Easier content creation

With AI tools such as ChatGPT you can write good, optimised copy much faster.

These tools help you use relevant words, make your text readable and keep a clear structure.

AI can also generate questions that help you make your content more effective, so it better matches what your audience is looking for.

But keep in mind, when you use AI the golden rule applies: garbage in = garbage out. In other words, if you give it poor input, you'll get poor output too.

It's also always necessary to run the content through a plagiarism check, to make sure you're not publishing the same content as someone else.

Better keyword research

AI can search through huge amounts of data extremely quickly to find out which keywords are popular and which have less competition.

Long-tail keywords (more specific phrases) in particular can help you attract more visitors who are genuinely interested.

This makes your keyword strategy more effective and more targeted.

Optimising for voice search

More and more people use their voice to search, through assistants such as Siri or Alexa.

AI understands natural language better and better, which means you need to adapt your content to be more conversational so it can be found well.

That means you need to focus more on how people actually speak and phrase questions.

It won't be long before we have fully-fledged voice-driven assistants that play a big role in our daily lives.

Automation

AI takes over dull, repetitive tasks such as reporting and monitoring, freeing you up to focus on the creative and strategic side of SEO.

On top of that, AI can help you adjust your SEO immediately based on the latest data.

We're also busy building automations ourselves, and now offer a service where we implement these automations for you.

Curious about the possibilities? Take a quick look here!

AI makes SEO faster, more effective and more competitive. That's why it's important to get to know AI tools well. Below we've listed five AI tools that, in our view, you shouldn't be without.

5 AI SEO tools you should know!

AI makes it possible to do everything faster and more efficiently. You can now automate countless processes, think content creation, customer service and entire workflows. Below you'll find the AI tools you can use for this…

1. Surfer AI

SurferAI is an AI-driven content optimisation tool that helps improve your content for SEO. It analyses top-ranking pages and gives data-backed recommendations for optimising your content, such as keyword density, content structure and other SEO factors. This helps make sure your content ranks better in search engines.

Suited to:
Content creators, SEO specialists, marketers and website owners who want to improve their SEO performance.

Advantages:

• Data-backed optimisation
• User-friendly interface
• Integrates with other tools
• Real-time suggestions
• Improved search rankings

Disadvantages:

• Can be pricey for small businesses
• Has a bit of a learning curve

Curious now? Take a look at everything SurferAI has to offer!

2. Make.com

Make.com (formerly Integromat) is a workflow automation tool that connects different apps and services, so you can automate repetitive tasks.

For SEO you can use it to automate tasks such as updating content, monitoring rankings and integrating SEO data with other marketing tools. This saves time and gives you a streamlined workflow.

Suited to:
Technical marketers, developers and businesses that want to automate their workflows and work more efficiently.

Advantages:

• Strong integration options
• Flexible workflow creation
• Cost-effective
• Scalable for different business needs
• Large community and support

Disadvantages:

• Complex for beginners
• Limited functionality for some specific apps

From our own experience, we've learned that this tool is hugely versatile, whatever you dream up, you can pretty much connect it and automate it, without touching a single line of code!

We use make.com, for example, to create SEO content for product descriptions and category descriptions. That lets us build out websites quickly and pick up traffic on a lot of different terms.

Interested in make.com now? Take a look here.

3. MidJourney

MidJourney is a brilliant AI image generator that turns text into images. It lets you bring your ideas to life visually just by describing them in detail. Whether you need unique illustrations or creative visuals, MidJourney delivers photo-realistic images that improve your website and content.

While MidJourney is versatile, it's less suited to creating charts and specific data visualisations. Image quality can also sometimes vary depending on the description.

Visually appealing content keeps visitors on your site longer, lowers your bounce rate and increases engagement, all of which, according to Google, contribute to better SEO rankings. With MidJourney you can easily work these visual elements into your SEO strategy, improving both the user experience and your search results.

Suited to:

Content creators, designers, marketers and businesses that need visually appealing content for their digital platforms.

Advantages:

• Creates unique, high-quality images
• Saves designers time
• High creativity and variety
• User-friendly
• Can be tailored to specific needs

Disadvantages:

• Can get costly with heavy use
• Sometimes inconsistent image quality

It's definitely worth trying out Midjourney! See all the possibilities here.

4. Originality.ai

Originality.ai is a tool for content authenticity and plagiarism detection. It uses AI to make sure your content is original and unique.

Pretty ironic really, because while AI helps create content, Originality.ai makes sure everything stays fresh and uncopied.

With Originality.ai you don't need to worry about search engine penalties, and you can be sure your audience is reading valuable, authentic content.

It's perfect for anyone who takes their online presence seriously and wants to deliver quality content.

Suited to:
Content writers, SEO specialists, editors and businesses producing original content who want to make sure it's unique.

Advantages:

• Detects plagiarism effectively
• Ensures unique content
• Integrates with content management systems
• Reporting and analytics
• Improved SEO performance through original content

Disadvantages:

• Subscription costs can be high
• Occasional false positives

5. ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Copilot (Free)

ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Copilot are well-known free tools you can use, through prompts, to develop ideas, generate text, answer questions and automate tasks.

For SEO, these tools are ideal for quickly writing optimised content, such as blog posts, product descriptions and meta tags.

They also help you come up with new content ideas, help with brainstorming SEO titles and writing strong meta descriptions.

Suited to:
Content creators, SEO specialists, marketers and businesses that want to make their work more efficient with AI.

Advantages:

• Free basic versions available
• Quick and easy content creation
• Widely usable for different tasks
• Very user-friendly, no technical knowledge needed
• Suited to both small and large businesses

Disadvantages:

• The quality of the generated content can vary
• Sometimes lacks the creative touch of a human writer, which you need to add yourself through your prompts or in the text.

You can try out ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Copilot here

5 tips for using AI for SEO

AI can make your SEO work a lot easier and faster, but it's important to know how to use it properly. Below are 5 tips for using AI smartly in your SEO strategy.

• Use AI as a tool, not a replacement: AI can take a lot of work off your hands, but it's important that you stay in control and make sure the content is genuinely good. AI, for example, still has no sense of humour and doesn't grasp the nuances we experience in everyday life.
• Always check the output: AI can make mistakes, not give you exactly what you meant, or simply provide flat-out wrong information. So always read through what it's generated carefully and fix things where needed.
• Write with your audience in mind: Keywords matter, but make sure your content mainly answers what your visitors actually want to know. Look at the current search results for this, and use common sense.
• Think about natural language (how people actually talk): More and more people use voice search. So write your copy the way people would actually say it out loud, this makes it resonate really well with your visitors and it's good for SEO too.
• Automate boring tasks: Let AI handle repetitive things such as checking keywords and analysing performance, so you have more time for creative work.

With these tips you can use AI smartly to improve your SEO, without losing that important human touch.

Learn to use AI, or get replaced!

Artificial intelligence (AI) has drastically changed the way we approach SEO. Where SEO used to take a lot of time and manual effort, AI now makes it possible to do tasks faster and more efficiently.

From advanced keyword research to creating optimised content, AI tools such as SurferAI, ChatGPT, and Make.com can have a huge impact on your website's performance.

That said, we're convinced that AI can be a great addition, but that the human creative brain and its understanding of nuance still matter a great deal, and that artificial intelligence isn't quite there yet, maybe it will be in the future.

What we really want you to take away is to genuinely learn to use and integrate AI, otherwise you'll fall behind and eventually get replaced by people who DO know how to use it.

Want to know how to use AI to stay ahead of the curve? Book a call now and find out how we can help you integrate AI and automation into your business!