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Especially CMOs and those accountable for a business's marketing success. AI-generated responses seem like a direct hazard to the conventional organic traffic websites used to obtain from online search engine. Before, you had to click a site to see the outcomes. Today, LLMs simply rip the material on websites and people no longer require to check out a site anymore.
While I personally think this threat is blown entirely out of proportion (based on data from websites I have actually personally seen), I don't believe it's an excuse to disregard it totally. From my own experience growing both blogs and YouTube channels, particularly to offer something, I can inform you that video converts way more than composed material.
And the audience can select up on more subtleties in your message. It's a lot easier to inform if someone is lying or full of it if you can see their facial expressions and their tone of voice. YouTube must absolutely be in your SEO and content method. Use video as demand generation and a way to build trust with an audience.
And because you have developed the trust with video, your conventional SEO efforts will convert better. However there's a lot more to it. Previously this year, I had a hunch that if I turned a few of my best ranking blog site posts into YouTube videos, and embedded them into my existing post, my post would rank even much better.
Essential Digital Research Tools for SuccessI made a YouTube video about the topic, embedded it into that blog site post, and I've been ranking # 1 given that.
Keep focusing on Google, which still owns 90% of search market share. Buy AI search experiments if you have spending plan, but don't abandon what's really driving traffic and conversions today. In 2025, we saw everyone discussing how AI search was going to take control of Google. Beyond simply SEO, the marketing neighborhood as an entire begun to get bombarded with influencers trying to ride the AI hype train.
It ended up being difficult to discover relied on sources that weren't biased or had a prejudice to sell us something. While I do think there are benefits to using LLMs in our workflows, I do believe it has actually been overhyped. And in 2026, I anticipate many marketers will understand that ChatGPT and Perplexity are just a little part of the SEO market.
Essential Digital Research Tools for SuccessGoogle still dominates 90% market share and with its AI Mode and AI Overviews, it remains in the perfect position to win the AI search engine race. Search behavior hasn't fundamentally moved away from Google. Beyond just that, there are a few things that have rubbed me the incorrect way about the AI SEO pattern.
Some claim ChatGPT has a 16% discussion rate and is better by more than 2X compared to Google. What these online marketers don't understand is that Things like homepages, pricing pages, or bottom of funnel content, tends to be revealed in ChatGPT. The educational top of funnel material is "eaten up" by LLMs and revealed to users without anywhere to click.
Google's conversion rates show less due to the fact that the traffic is greater due to it being diluted by all the top of funnel content that is in the formula. Other things like how ChatGPT can make stuff up, it never fully follows prompts properly (i.e.
I do still believe that larger companies bigger set aside an experimental budget to spending plan things like ChatGPT apps and other AI SEO tools.
Do not do it. These strategies may work now in ChatGPT and other LLMs, however they're short-term plays that will eventually get punished. Concentrate on white hat techniques that build real authority and trust with time rather of going after fast wins that will not last. The 2000s are back. Scammy keyword packing techniques, paying for low-grade backlinks, delivering thousands of ineffective articles all in the name of ranking high.
ChatGPT and other LLM algorithms are not as mature. I can't name this individual, however I satisfied an SEO director at a substantial banking company.
And from there, they are using their primary company domain, that has a very strong brand authority, and sending backlinks to the microsite. And this has led to greater rankings for their brand in LLMs like ChatGPT.It blew my mind that substantial, respectable business are doing this. And I realized how much black hat (or grey hat) methods are going on behind the scenes.
In 2026, I anticipate these methods will continue to take place. Until ChatGPT's algorithm gets as clever as Google's search algorithm.
Share genuine insights, use your own images and videos, and develop topical authority in your specific niche. This is how solo creators and small teams can beat big brands in 2026. This is one of the greatest SEO trends for material marketing I'm seeing right now.
You require a real business, be it a newsletter service, a service-based organization, SaaS company, or ecommerce store. And then you add on this human-centered niche blogging to the website to naturally grow your core product/service offering. In 2026, I predict that Google's algorithm will continue to get smarter about which websites contain AI material and which don't.
I know lots of individuals quietly crushing it with AI created content (even going after top of funnel keywords). What I am saying is that engaging, human material will outrank AI created content with no initial insights. There are two routes I see with SEO's right now: Produce countless AI-generated article and get them to rank in the middle/bottom of page 1.
Produce a hundred human article and get them to rank at the top of the very first page. Quality over amount. The very first route is based on sheer volume, and can lead to traffic growth. You do run the risk of a potential algorithm update injuring your rankings. And anybody who writes better human content will rank higher in positions 1-3. The second route is slower, but can yield greater ranking positions and more trust with readers.
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