I had an enlightening discussion with Dale Bertrand, CEO of Fire&Spark, a Boston-based digital marketing agency, on the evolving intersection of SEO and AI. We note the shift towards AI-driven search behavior, where natural language queries are becoming more common, with Dale advising businesses to focus on quality content and customer experience to build brand authority. We discuss the challenges of AI-generated content, the potential of autonomous agents, and the importance of staying agile in adopting new AI tools. Our conversation concludes with the inevitable rise of AI in reputation management.
Discussion points include:
- The importance of understanding visibility and the types of searches and conversations one wants to be part of.
- The impact of the chatbot revolution on the SEO community and the increased importance of content creation and digital PR.
- Google’s helpful content update, which penalizes AI-generated (and non-AI-generated) content that doesn’t deserve to rank.
- A future where users will use a constellation of search engines for different types of queries.
- Why it’s wise to hire the best writers who are proficient in using AI tools to maximize productivity and quality.
- Adoption curves of AI compared to the early days of mobile and SEO.
- How a future killer AI application will define the “year of AI,” similar to how the iPhone defined the “year of mobile.”
- The importance of filling gaps in training data rather than erasing negative information when doing reputation management.
- The importance of staying agile and adapting to the evolving landscape of SEO and AI.
