With ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews, I'm hearing that traditional blogging is dead. Are SEO agencies still focusing on 1,000-word articles, or is there a new strategy to get cited as a "trusted source" in AI-generated answers? How do we adapt our content for the future?
3 answers
Blogging isn't dead, but "average" blogging is. AI search engines like Perplexity or Google's SGE look for "Information Gain." If your content just repeats what 10 other sites say, you won't be cited. Agencies are now moving toward "Semantic SEO" and "Entity-Based Content." This means building out comprehensive topic clusters and using Schema Markup to help AI understand the relationship between your data. The goal now is to provide unique insights, original research, or expert opinions that an LLM can't simply hallucinate. You want to be the primary source that the AI cites when it answers a user's question.
If the goal is to be a "source" for AI, does that mean we should prioritize "structured data" and technical formatting over the actual readability of the content for human users?
Focus on "Niche Authority." If you become the absolute expert on a very specific topic, AI models are much more likely to pull from your site because you have the highest "Trust" score.
William is spot on. Topical authority is the new currency. Don't try to be everything to everyone; be the best resource for your specific domain and the AI will find you.
Not at all, Richard. Google has been very clear that they reward "Helpful Content" created for humans. In fact, if your content looks like it was written by an AI for an AI, it will likely be demoted. The technical schema is just the "index" that helps the machine find your expert human-written content. You still need to solve the user's problem first.