However, with advances in artificial intelligence leading to Google’s AI overview dominating the top of most search results pages now, the game has changed. Are keywords still relevant at all, let alone as such an important piece of the SEO puzzle? Of course, they are. They just have a different role to play than before, as topical authority has taken over as the most important factor in not just how well you rank but also whether or not your web pages deserve to rank.

What Is Topical Authority?

Topical authority is your demonstrated expertise in a specific subject. Think of it as the network of all of your content on that topic that each individual blog article and web page contributes to. Google isn’t looking at individual pages anymore. Each page or article on that same topic works together to create that network of interconnected, high-quality content that thoroughly covers that subject area from multiple angles.

A website with high topical authority would typically have:

• Core pillar pages that more broadly address your topic
• Supporting articles that dive into subtopics
• Strategic internal links that connect everything together

When done correctly, having a structure like this demonstrates not just to search engines but also to users that you are a trusted authority on that topic.

Why Is Topical Authority So Important?

Google has been shifting away from relying solely on keywords for rankings since the beginning. Its earliest updates were to improve its core algorithm to reward high-quality content and punish spammy, keyword-stuffed, low-quality content with lower rankings. Simply having high-quality content and good keyword research was sufficient for good rankings for a long time after that, but now the SEO landscape has been shifting again, this time at least in part because of generative AI.

Google isn’t necessarily punishing AI-generated content simply because it was generated by AI, but it is punishing low-quality content. On top of that, the AI overview at the top of many SERPs has to pull content from somewhere, and only the most trusted, authoritative content is going to qualify. If you have established yourself as a trusted authority on your topic, then you’ll have a good chance of ranking at the very top.

How Does Topical Authority Connect to E-E-A-T?

Google’s EEAT metrics for evaluating the content quality are not new. If you’ve been creating content with those guidelines in mind since Google announced them, then you’re already in a good place, content-wise. It’s these characteristics (experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness) that Google will be using to determine if content is high-quality. Using EEAT as a standard (and making sure you’ve got a human writer involved in all of your content production, even if AI is used as a tool) will help to make sure that your content is able to contribute to your topical authority.

Are Keywords Still Important in SEO?

Of course, keywords are still an essential component of any good SEO strategy. They’re still how Google connects a user’s query to your content. However, keyword research is a piece of the overall puzzle. It does help users find your content, but if you don’t have the topical authority on a subject, then Google will choose to highlight another website’s content in its AI overview instead.