How Is AI Changing Keyword Strategy?

How Is AI Changing Keyword Strategy?

Sep 8, 2025

Reading Time: 3 minutes
How Is AI Changing Keyword Strategy?
Keyword strategy has been a major part of SEO since the beginning of the Internet. Originally, black hat SEO techniques like keyword stuffing were common until Google updated its algorithm to negatively impact the search rankings of websites that were gaming the system in such a way. Since then, though, keyword strategy has still been a foundational part of SEO: find high-volume phrases, match user intent, optimize page content.

With the rise of AI-driven search, however, the rules are shifting. Now it’s not just about the right words — it’s also about context, entities, authority, and conversational intent.

What Makes Generative AI Different From Past AI Search Updates?

Artificial intelligence is not new to the search engine world. Google has used AI in its core algorithm for decades. What is new, though, is the generative AI experience (Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE)) at the top of the SERP. Instead of the search engine matching queries to a list of pages (which it still does, just further down the page), the search engine now pulls data from multiple sources and compiles it into a single AI-generated overview that it presents to users at the top of the SERP.

How Are Keywords Used in AI Overviews?

In the generative AI environment at the top of the SERP, keywords may not match users’ queries directly to a list of web pages, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not still useful. With generative AI, keywords instead serve as signals that can help the AI connect your content to a larger topic or intent cluster.

For example, if a user searches for “best running shoes for flat feet,” what shows up in that generative AI experience may not actually be a list of the best running shoes for flat feet. Instead, it’ll generate an overview of the topic, citing sources from across the Internet. Whether or not your web page is included as one of those sources depends less on whether your keywords are exact-match for the topic and more on whether your content:

  • Covers the broader topic cluster (in this case, running shoes, performance, and foot health)
  • Answers the question asked in clear, structured language
  • Provides unique and authoritative insights
  • Is considered a trustworthy source

Why Does Context Matter More Than Keyword Volume?

Traditionally, keyword strategy was more about volume and competition. The ideal keywords to try to rank for were those that had a high volume of search queries but had a low number of others trying to compete for the top search rankings. And while that’s still relevant for the search results below the generative AI overview, that’s not really the case for the generative AI section itself.

Because AI can interpret synonyms, vocabulary variations, and related user queries, over-optimizing for just one keyword isn’t as effective. It’s more likely for your content to be selected for the AI overview if it’s informational and authoritative across the larger topic rather than just a single keyword.

Why Do Human Insights Matter in AI-Driven Content?

Despite the heavy integration of AI throughout the search process, ultimately, it’s designed to match human users with the answers to their queries. There’s a lot of surface-level content, including content produced by AI, available on the Internet. This means that what makes content stand out is what only humans can add: unique insights, original research, and expert knowledge. Making sure that your content delivers more than what a machine can generate on its own–the creativity, experience, knowledge, and insights that make us human–is what increases the likelihood of ranking at the top of the SERP within the generative AI overview.

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How Is AI Changing the Way People Search? (And What Does That Mean for Your SEO Strategy?)

How Is AI Changing the Way People Search? (And What Does That Mean for Your SEO Strategy?)

Aug 26, 2025

Reading Time: 3 minutes
AI has played a huge role in Google’s search engine for decades. It’s what powers the search algorithm and how it connects users to the best results for their search. What’s new is the more public-facing generative AI like ChatGPT, Gemini, Google’s AI Mode, and more. Many of these AI platforms can perform Google searches, and Google has incorporated AI directly into its search engine results page (SERP). But is this changing how people search? And if so, what does that mean for your SEO strategy?

How Is AI Affecting Keywords?

The biggest effect that AI has had on how people search is in the keywords they’re using. Instead of searching for a single word or a short phrase, people tend to treat AI as if it’s another person. They’ll ask full questions, such as “Where is the best coffee shop in Chicago?” instead of “Chicago coffee.” This does mean that keyword strategy can’t just look at words; it needs to involve figuring out user intent and what long-tail keywords would best suit that intent.

What Are Long-Tail Keywords?

Long-tail keywords are longer phrases or even full sentences that are more specific to a user’s search intent. Technically, a longer statement in the style of a shorter keyword may count as a long-tail keyword, but AI’s influence means that most user searches are in the form of a question. This isn’t actually a new thing–long-tail keywords, especially those in question form, have been a part of SEO strategies since people started searching with Siri and Alexa and other voice systems, because they talk to those like they’re people, too. ChatGPT and Gemini are just the first AI systems where you can type the conversation instead of speaking it.

What Is Actually Changing in User Search Behavior?

Even though long-tail keywords have been around for a while, thanks to voice searching, generative AI has still changed the way people have engaged with those keywords. Making a search with Alexa typically involves asking just one question at a time. Searching via ChatGPT or Google’s AI Mode actually allows for follow-up questions. Searching with generative AI is part of a conversation, with back-and-forth between the user and the AI platform. This means that your SEO strategy needs to involve not only thinking about what questions users may be asking but also what follow-up questions they may have.

How Can You Optimize for Long-Tail Keywords?

To make sure your SEO strategy takes into account how search behaviors are changing thanks to AI, you can do the following:

Optimize for Questions

Assume that users will be asking questions of AI engines. It’s important to know exactly what questions people are asking, so looking at the “People also ask” section on Google’s SERP is a good free way of incorporating questions into your keyword research. There are paid tools, like AnswerThePublic or AlsoAsked, that can help as well.

Don’t Ditch Core Keywords

Just because users are searching in a longer question format doesn’t mean you should abandon shorter core keywords altogether. These traditional keywords can help Google to classify your content and determine its relevance, authority, and more. They can still have an impact on your rankings, because Google expects that content about a certain topic will include certain keywords.

Structure Your Content for Layered Searching

Your content should be structured so that it’s layered with possible search questions. A table of contents with jump links can help users to more easily do deeper dives once they’re on your page. But each header is an opportunity for a keyword, and smaller headers can be opportunities for the follow-up questions that are becoming more common.

Look for Ultra-Specific Queries in Search Console

When you’re doing keyword research, keep an eye out for ultra-specific, or even downright weird, questions. Don’t treat these as outliers to be ignored; think of them as opportunities for reaching more of your audience with content that they’re looking for.

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How Generative AI Is Impacting SEO in 2024

How Generative AI Is Impacting SEO in 2024

Jul 15, 2024

Reading Time: 3 minutes
How Generative AI Is Impacting SEO in 2024

You may have noticed that when you search for something on Google, you get a response from generative AI at the top of the search engine results page (SERP). This is Google Search Generative Experience, or Google SGE, and it’s been gradually changing the landscape of the SERP and thus, of SEO, as it is rolled out across more and more search queries. But what, exactly, does this mean for SEO?

How Does Google Search Generative Experience Affect the Search Engine Results Page?

The primary effect is that the number 1 search result, a highly prized ranking, is much further down on the SERP. The top of the screen is taken up by sponsored ads, generative AI, and YouTube videos. Users have to scroll down to see even the first result on many SERPs, let alone those lower ranked. This makes that top spot much less valuable because generative AI may have already answered the user’s question, reducing the likelihood that they will scroll down to see the web pages that have ranked for that query.

via GIPHY

What Can We Do To Compete With Generative AI?

In many ways, we can’t compete with generative AI. However, that doesn’t mean that we’re out of the SEO game. Even as SEO is changing to reflect the presence of generative AI, there are strategies we can focus on to help users find our content.

1. Improve Your Local SEO

Local SEO is going to be increasingly important as generative AI takes over more of the regular SERPs. If a user searches for a keyword in a specific location (for example, “Detroit coffee shop” or “Mexican restaurant near me”), then Google provides a Google map result with the Google Business Profile entries for local businesses that fit the search criteria. If you have a physical location for your business, then filling out this profile in full can help people to find you.

2. Get Into the YouTube Game

YouTube is a search engine in its own right and many people are turning to videos over written content. This presents an opportunity for ranking within YouTube as well as ranking at the top of the Google SERP, which does, depending on the query, include relevant YouTube videos in the generative AI section of the SERP. This represents an opportunity to appear at the top of the SERP, above the top search result in addition to within YouTube’s own search algorithm, providing two places to rank with one video.

3. Focus on Expertise and Experience

Google has long recommended following the EEAT (formerly EAT) guidelines to produce high-quality content: expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness. Generative AI may be useful for many things, but it cannot replicate human experience. Focusing on your expertise and experience within your field can provide insights that no generative AI can offer. This type of content could attract users who are looking for something more than the more generic responses that AI could provide.

4. Keep Humans Involved

Perhaps the most important thing is to remember that, despite the involvement of AI, Google’s aim is predominantly to connect people with the best possible answers. AI cannot understand people the way people do, so people should therefore be involved in every step of your content creation process, even if you use generative AI yourself. This is because AI can make errors or may misunderstand human emotions and experiences. Having everything at a minimum reviewed by a human maintains a personal touch and increases accuracy. On top of that, it provides something that AI can’t, which is what can compete with AI online.

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Using AI in SEO Optimization

Using AI in SEO Optimization

Apr 22, 2024

Reading Time: 3 minutes
woman with a tablet with SEO hologram
Generative AI is a versatile tool that has a wide range of applications across the entire Internet marketing industry. Many have used AI tools in content creation and marketing. But can AI be used to help with SEO optimization? The short answer is yes, but with the caveat that any usage of AI ought to be checked by a human expert.

Can You Use AI for Keyword Research?

To streamline the keyword research process, you can ask ChatGPT or another AI program to search for keyword suggestions and trends. In this case, your AI program may not have access to the latest data and might not be providing recommendations based on the latest SEO landscape. Additionally, even if you ask the AI to explain why it recommends each keyword, you won’t necessarily be able to see the data behind the recommendation. This means that you don’t have a good way to judge the search volume for each keyword recommendation. Plus, you know your own industry much better than any AI would.

Tip: Ask for Long-Tail Keyword Suggestions

Don’t replace Ahrefs or Google Keyword Planner with ChatGPT. Instead, ask your generative AI of choice to suggest long-tail keywords based on your top keywords from your actual keyword research. Another way to use AI with keywords is to ask it to make suggestions for how to incorporate certain keywords into a piece of content. Keep in mind that you’ll want to review anything provided by the AI.

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Can You Use AI for Content Creation?

AI can be an excellent tool for writers because it can proofread and make suggestions or even provide inspiration for content. We don’t recommend using AI as the writer without a human to review it. This is because AI can provide incorrect information and doesn’t know your audience and your clients like you do. Additionally, generative AI works by predicting what word should come next given the available context. It doesn’t work by understanding what people will want to read.

Tip: Avoid Using AI as Your Writer

Use ChatGPT or other AI to improve writing or to make the writing process faster. Using ChatGPT to write the entire content for you could end up triggering Google’s anti-spam policies. Google doesn’t punish AI-written content just for being AI-written, but it could be flagged as spam. Additionally, readers may be able to tell that it was AI-written and click away. Either could reduce organic traffic to your website. Instead, a human writer can use ChatGPT to write the first draft, provide feedback, or reduce the amount of time spent on research.

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Can You Use AI for Research?

When it comes to research, you can use AI to significantly shorten the time spent. You can simply ask ChatGPT a question and it’ll provide everything you need to know about it. However, it’s important to remember that you should still double-check your research yourself. AI can “hallucinate,” which means that it can provide wrong information, believing it to be correct. Additionally, some AI programs may not have access to the most recent data and could therefore be providing outdated research.

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