The Future of SEO – My Prediction
Wrote this as an answer to a question in an email and thought I would repost it here. Future podcast episode to come with more details.
1. Consumer behavior will change: AI will transform how we consume information by personalizing everything for us—news, blogs, emails, etc. AI will increasingly filter these based on our goals and preferences. We’ve already seen this happen with Gmail’s Priority Inbox, and Apple is starting to implement similar intelligence with inboxes and text messages. Eventually, AI assistants will act as gatekeepers for us, much like real executive assistants do for CEOs. Not only will all incoming information be filtered, but it will also likely be customized to highlight only what we want to know. Additionally, AI will deliver this information in the format we prefer, whether it’s text, audio, video, or a combination of formats. Personally, I’m excited about this shift—are you?
2. The media landscape will shift dramatically: Advertising will decline or become a much smaller portion of media companies’ revenue. As a result, they’ll push harder toward gated content, licensing deals, and other new revenue streams. Raw data and reporting will become their primary value drivers since consumers’ AIs will be interpreting this data on their behalf.
3. SEO will evolve in this world: Right now, AI is mainly used by early adopters. When it crosses the chasm to the early majority, I predict that SEO traffic will decline quickly and then taper off, as laggards will continue using Google for a long time. During this transition, SEO will shift toward what I’m calling “AI Priming.” Just as people use Google now, they’ll start using AI to search for solutions. However, AI finds information differently than Google does, and I’ve already heard reports of marketing executives seeing inbound leads coming from AI recommendations. The job of AI Priming will feel similar to SEO, as marketers will try to influence AI results. AI assistants, in turn, will adapt to these tactics, creating a cat-and-mouse game similar to what we’ve seen with search engines.
4. What should marketers focus on now? If this is the future, what should we focus on today? I have more thoughts on this, but I’ll save them for the episode I’ll record later—keeping you in suspense for now.
I think this future is 2-3 years out for the early adopters around 5 years out for the majority.
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Dan Sanchez
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The Future of SEO – My Prediction
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