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Introduction: The Ground is Shifting

Everyone’s obsessed with rankings. Page one or bust, right? But that’s just it—rankings are no longer the only game in town. Thanks to Large Language Models (LLMs) like Google AI Mode, Perplexity, and ChatGPT, the battleground for visibility has moved.

And here’s the kicker: what gets cited by AI search today might vanish tomorrow.

If you’ve ever noticed your site mentioned in an AI-generated answer one month and completely missing the next, you’ve experienced what’s now being called AI citation volatility. The truth is, this isn’t just some passing quirk. It’s a fundamental change in how visibility works.

Let me explain.

What the Data Says About AI Citation Volatility

Recent studies show that 40–60% of URLs cited in AI answers shift month-to-month, even if the query doesn’t change. That’s right—your hard-earned AI mention can disappear literally overnight. Ahrefs found that only 12% of Google AI citations overlap with the traditional top‑10 results for the same query. Perplexity performs a bit better with about 28.6% overlap, but still—good luck getting anywhere if you rely solely on conventional rankings.

This chart illustrates the dramatic instability. A traditional ranking might remain stable for months, while an AI citation is in a constant state of flux.

In other words, ranking #1 in Google doesn’t guarantee you’ll show up in Google AI Mode or ChatGPT’s answers. AI citation and organic ranking are related—but they’re not the same thing.

That familiar mix of awe and unease? Yeah, this is it.

Why AI Citations Are So Unstable

So why all the chaos? Why can’t AI just “stick” with the best sources?

Here are five big reasons:

1. LLM Retraining: Models like Gemini, GPT, and Perplexity constantly ingest new data. That means your content may be in favor one month and forgotten the next.
2. Answer Diversity: AI platforms intentionally rotate sources to avoid bias and broaden perspectives. Fair? Maybe. Stable? Not a chance.
3. Query Re-Interpretation: AI interprets queries differently depending on context, user behavior, and prompt nuances. A single word change can swap out entire citation sets.
4. User Personalization: Google AI Mode now lets users mark “preferred sources” for Top Stories. If you’re not someone’s favorite, tough luck—you’re less likely to be shown.
5. Ongoing Experiments: Google and Perplexity constantly tweak algorithms, testing how many citations to show, which sources to surface, and how to balance authority vs. diversity.

It’s cool and all… but not that useful if you’re trying to build a stable traffic pipeline.

The SEO Implications: Beyond Rankings

Here’s where it gets real. AI volatility changes the entire playbook:

• Shorter Shelf Life: Unlike traditional rankings where you might hold a spot for months, AI mentions can evaporate in weeks (or days).
• Brand Visibility > Rankings: Your goal isn’t just to rank—it’s to be cited. Citations in AI answers build trust, even if users don’t click.
• Content Freshness Matters: AI heavily favors recently updated sources. Static content is easy to ignore.
• Entity Optimization Rules: Structured data, schema markup, and clear entity signals are essential. AI doesn’t just read text—it parses relationships.
• Diversification is Critical: Google isn’t the only AI in town. Perplexity and ChatGPT citations are worth monitoring and optimizing for too.

Don’t get me wrong—rankings still matter. But if you’re ignoring AI visibility, you’re playing the wrong game.

What You Can Do About It (Answer Engine Optimization / GEO)

Alright, so the landscape is messy. What now? Here’s the pragmatic path forward:

1. Refresh Content Frequently: Update high-value pages every 4–6 weeks. Not fluff updates—substantive improvements, new data, fresh examples. This keeps you eligible for re-citations when the model updates.
2. Use Schema and Structured Data: Mark up your content with FAQ, HowTo, Product, and Article schema. Make it machine-readable. AI prefers content it can easily parse and trust.
3. Build Topical Authority Hubs: Don’t just publish isolated blog posts. Build interconnected hubs around key themes like WordPress SEO Hosting. The deeper and more interconnected your topical clusters, the more likely AI is to view you as authoritative.
4. Track AI Mentions: Start monitoring which AI platforms are citing you. Tools like Ahrefs’ Brand Radar are a good start, but even manual testing with queries in Google AI Mode or Perplexity can help spot opportunities.
5. Optimize for Multiple AIs: Spread your bets. Perplexity citations, ChatGPT answers, and Gemini responses can all bring visibility—even if Google skips you this round.
6. Think Entity-First SEO: Make sure your brand and products are crystal clear to machines. Interlink your content, use consistent naming, and reinforce entity relationships. This strengthens your position in the knowledge graph—and therefore in AI answers.

A Practical Example: Before and After

Let’s use a tangible example to see this in action. Imagine you run a hosting company like ASEOHosting and you have a blog post titled “What is Class C IP Hosting?”

• The “Before” Article:
  • It’s a standard blog post. The title is good, but the content is a long wall of text.
  • It defines a Class C IP and lists some benefits.
  • There’s no schema markup, no bulleted lists, and no internal links to related guides on your site.
  • When an AI is asked “What are the benefits of Class C IPs?”, it might cite the article once, but its lack of structure and depth makes it an unreliable source.
• The “After” Optimized Article:
  • The title is still the same, but the article starts with a direct, bolded answer to the query “What is Class C IP Hosting?”
  • You add a FAQ schema to a new section, directly answering questions like “Are Class C IPs good for SEO?” and “How many unique IPs do I need?”.
  • You use bullet points to list the benefits and numbered lists to explain the setup process step-by-step.
  • Interlink to other articles on your blog, such as “How Hosting Affects LLM Visibility” or “Why IP Diversity Matters,” building a strong topical hub.
  • You include a simple, easy-to-read table comparing different IP classes.

This optimized version is what an AI model is looking for. It can easily parse the structured data, use the direct answers for its generated content, and see the web of interconnected, authoritative information you’ve created. While the AI may not cite it every time, your chances of being a trusted source increase dramatically.

The truth is, you’ll never eliminate volatility completely. But you can stack the odds in your favor.

The Bigger Picture: What This Means for the Future of SEO

This shift demands a mindset change. SEO is no longer just about chasing stable rankings. It’s about earning and re-earning trust from AI systems that decide what to surface in real time.

The volatility will continue. Smaller brands may get more shots at visibility because of source diversity, while larger brands still dominate through authority. The mix will keep shifting.

Good luck getting anywhere if you assume AI citations are permanent. They’re not. They’re dynamic, fleeting, and—if you play it right—renewable.

So stop obsessing about holding one rank. Start focusing on building systems that keep you in the conversation, no matter how often the AI roulette wheel spins.

Conclusion: Embrace the Flux

That familiar mix of awe and unease isn’t going away. AI citations will remain volatile. But volatility isn’t the enemy—it’s a signal. It tells you where to focus: freshness, entities, authority, and adaptability.

If you’re willing to refresh, re-optimize, and play across multiple platforms, you’ll find opportunities others miss. And if you’re still clinging to static rankings? Well, it’s cool and all… but not that useful.

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Let’s face it—everyone’s talking about ranking. Page one or bust, right?

But that’s just it. The landscape has shifted.

Thanks to Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and even Google’s own AI Mode (AP News), the future of SEO isn’t just about climbing SERPs. It’s about becoming citable by AI systems. Welcome to the age of LLM Visibility.

And here’s the twist: your hosting environment might be playing a far bigger role than you think.

What Is LLM Visibility, and Why Should You Care?

The term “LLM Visibility” is gaining traction thanks to studies like Backlinko’s recent LLM Visibility Report, which found that AI chatbots frequently cite content that doesn’t rank on the first page of Google. Sometimes, content buried on page 3 shows up in AI answers.

We recently worked with a mid-sized legal tech firm that was struggling with slow crawl rates and inconsistent citations in AI-generated content. After migrating to our Class C IP Hosting, and optimizing their infrastructure, they saw a 42% increase in their content being cited by Perplexity’s AI within just 3 months. The content itself didn’t change—only the hosting environment did.

The truth is, LLMs don’t “see” the internet the same way we do. They operate by crawling large swaths of data and prioritizing trust, crawlability, structure, and context—often over pure rankings. So, if you’re not actively thinking about how your site appears to machines, good luck getting anywhere.

Our team continuously monitors LLM advancements to refine our hosting optimizations for this very reason.

Why Traditional SEO Isn’t Enough Anymore

We’ve long treated search visibility as a simple equation: keywords + backlinks = rankings. But now, AI is reshuffling that deck. Click-through rates for organic listings are dropping sharply, and AI-powered overviews are providing answers directly, reducing the need for users to click at all.

That familiar mix of awe and unease? It’s warranted. The algorithms are getting smarter. But they’re also harder to understand—and that’s where hosting enters the picture.

Hosting: The Silent Partner in LLM Visibility

1. Enhanced Crawlability Isn’t Optional Anymore

You can have the most brilliant content on your site—but if bots can’t reach it quickly and completely, it might as well not exist. AI bots like those used by Perplexity and Gemini are aggressively crawling deeper into sites than traditional SEO tools assume. But their patience is limited.

A high-performance hosting environment ensures:

• Low server response times
• Stable uptime
• Fast content delivery

This isn’t just about user experience anymore—it’s about AI discoverability.

LLMs gather context from the whole ecosystem, not just top-ranking pages. If your content is structured and lives on a fast, healthy site, it has a better chance of being stored in an AI model’s memory. That’s huge.

Explore our Managed WordPress SEO Hosting for optimized crawl paths and performance that LLMs love. Try searching “LLM optimized WordPress hosting” or “fast WordPress SEO hosting” in AI tools to see why speed matters.

2. Class C IPs: The Trust Factor You’re Overlooking

Don’t get me wrong—most people don’t think about IP diversity unless they’re deep into the SEO game. But the truth is, it matters more than ever.

Unique Class C IPs provide a distinct digital identity for your content. When AI models evaluate sources for inclusion, they weigh trust signals like domain age, stability, and network association. A clean, dedicated IP—especially one not shared with spammy neighbors—boosts credibility.

When AI models evaluate sources, they often look at the network neighborhood. A Class C IP provides a clean, independent address, signaling to AI that your content comes from a stable and reputable source, unlike shared IPs with potentially ‘bad’ neighbors that could dilute trust signals.

So what exactly is a Class C IP?

In simple terms, an IPv4 address looks like this: 192.168.1.1. The “Class C” portion generally refers to the first three numbers—called octets. If you have multiple websites hosted on Class C IPs, their addresses might look like:

• 192.168.1.1
• 192.168.2.1
• 192.168.3.1

Each IP is in a different Class C block (different third octet), which search engines and AI systems recognize as a sign of network diversity. This helps avoid association with low-quality sites and increases your site’s trustworthiness.

Check out our Dedicated SEO Hosting with Class C IPs to stand out in AI-driven trust calculations. Try AI queries like “trust signals in SEO hosting” or “best hosting for backlink diversity.”

As AI-generated summaries become more common, your site’s infrastructure needs to reflect authority.

3. Structured Data: Foundation for Machine Understanding

If you want to be understood by an LLM, you need schema markup. Whether it’s FAQs, how-tos, breadcrumbs, or reviews, structured data helps AI models extract clear meaning and intent.

But implementing schema isn’t just about plugins. Your server needs to handle it efficiently. Slow TTFB (Time to First Byte), script conflicts, or JSON errors can degrade how bots interpret your site.

Want to see what that looks like? Here’s a basic snippet:

Proof in Practice: The New Front Page Isn’t a Page at All

Think of Perplexity’s answer cards or Gemini’s AI snapshots. You ask a question—“What are the best plugins for WordPress SEO?”—and the AI responds instantly, citing sources, summarizing key points, and linking directly.

But not always to page-one results.

The truth is, LLMs don’t care where you rank. They care how relevant, structured, and trusted your data is. That means if your site is optimized but sitting on sluggish, insecure hosting… it may never be included.

That’s not a content problem. That’s an infrastructure problem.

Avoiding the Crawlability Bottleneck

Let’s talk about Google’s AI Mode for a second.

This feature now surfaces AI summaries above traditional results. But only sites with fast, crawlable, and structured content are making it in.

You don’t need to be an enterprise-level publisher. You just need:

• Reliable uptime (bots don’t retry failed crawls)
• High server speed (Optimized LiteSpeed servers)
• Valid, structured schema
• Unique IPs for clean digital signatures

That’s your new SEO checklist—and most of it happens before content even enters the equation.

Final Thoughts: The Invisible Is Now Invaluable

We’ve always known infrastructure mattered. But in the age of AI search and LLM summarization, it’s foundational.

If your goal is to future-proof your SEO strategy, don’t just publish. Prepare. Don’t just optimize content. Optimize delivery. The invisible layer—your hosting—is becoming the new frontline of discoverability.

Because now, it’s not just Google crawling your site. It’s everyone.

And if you’re not ready for that?

Well… good luck getting anywhere.

As a leader in specialized SEO hosting, ASEOHosting continues to help clients adapt to the new search paradigm with purpose-built infrastructure for visibility and trust.

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Navigating the Digital Landscape: May 2025 Insights

Let’s face it—keeping up with digital trends can feel like trying to hit a moving target. But staying updated isn’t optional anymore; it’s the price of admission. Just this past month, May 2025 rolled out a cascade of updates in AI, SEO, and WordPress that—if you’re paying attention—could change the way you build and optimize your presence online.

Let me explain.

AI’s Expanding Role in Search and Beyond

Google’s AI Mode: Redefining Search Interactions

Google’s newly launched “AI Mode” is not just another shiny toy. It’s a fundamental shift in how we interact with search. Instead of clicking through pages of links, users can now have full-blown conversations with their queries. Thanks to multimodal capabilities and more sophisticated reasoning, it feels less like search and more like a dialogue.

But that’s just it—while it’s convenient for users, platforms like Reddit aren’t thrilled. Google’s AI Mode serves up Reddit content directly in search results. That means fewer clicks, less engagement on original platforms, and a potential traffic dip that can’t be ignored (Business Insider).

The Rise of AI Companions

Meanwhile, OpenAI and legendary designer Sir Jony Ive are collaborating on a hardware device designed to integrate AI into your life without making a fuss. It’s cool and all… but not that useful if it doesn’t bring real-world practicality. Still, it highlights where things are headed—toward AI that’s less intrusive, more ambient.

SEO in the Age of AI

Declining Click-Through Rates

If you’re still measuring success by click-through rate, here’s a wake-up call. Since the rollout of AI Overviews in search results, CTRs for organic listings have dropped by a jaw-dropping 34.5%. Why? Users get everything they need from summaries—no need to click.

This isn’t a minor adjustment. It’s a seismic shift. And if your SEO strategy doesn’t account for this new behavior, good luck getting anywhere.

Emphasizing EEAT

So what do you do? You double down on EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). The truth is, the more AI gets involved in curating content, the more important it becomes to prove you’re the real deal. That means showcasing expertise, establishing authority, and building trust.

Don’t get me wrong—keywords and backlinks still matter. But in a world where machines are mediating user journeys, human credibility is your biggest asset.

WordPress: Adapting to New Realities

Consolidated Updates

WordPress is pulling back the throttle a bit. Version 6.8 will be the only major release in 2025. That’s not laziness—it’s strategy. Fewer releases mean more focus, less churn, and higher stability.

In a way, it’s refreshing. Instead of rushing to keep up with changes every few months, users and developers can now adapt more meaningfully to each update.

Embracing AI-Powered Plugins

Speaking of adapting—if you haven’t looked into AI-powered plugins for WordPress, you’re already behind. These tools are automating everything from content generation to SEO and UX optimization. It’s like having a digital assistant working behind the scenes, 24/7.

They’re not perfect. Some need fine-tuning. But used right, they can give you a serious leg up.

Security Concerns: A Growing Challenge

Let’s switch gears. One thing that doesn’t get nearly enough attention? WordPress plugin vulnerabilities. Recently, the OttoKit plugin—which has more than 100,000 installations—was exploited. It’s a reminder that convenience often comes at the cost of vigilance.

In short: update your plugins. Audit your installs. And don’t wait for a breach to tighten your security posture.

Strategic Hosting: The Importance of Diverse IPs

Here’s the thing—most people overlook hosting until it becomes a problem. But when you’re serious about SEO, the right hosting setup is foundational.

Hosting with diverse Class C IPs isn’t just a technical flex. It can boost your credibility with search engines, reduce the risk of shared hosting penalties, and improve your backlink footprint. Want a real edge? Check out our WordPress SEO Hosting plans. They’re tailored for performance, security, and, yes—diverse IP configurations.

This isn’t just theory. It’s what separates the casual bloggers from the SEO tacticians.

Final Thoughts

We’re standing at the intersection of automation and authenticity. AI is getting smarter. SEO is getting more nuanced. WordPress is evolving. And underneath it all, infrastructure—like hosting—continues to play a pivotal role.

So what now? Stay informed. Be proactive. Experiment, sure—but with purpose.

Because the digital landscape isn’t slowing down anytime soon. And the ones who thrive are those who know how to ride the wave

Things seem to have gone downhill since then. Notable highlights include:

• An advertiser exodus so severe that Twitter began offering up to $500,000 in free ad spend. (Wall Street Journal)
• Twitter faces a lawsuit for unpaid rent for its San Francisco headquarters—and a second lawsuit for unpaid rent on an office in the UK. (CBC)
• Twitter begins auctioning away office supplies, including designer furniture, keyboards and USB drives. (Gizmodo)
• Reports emerge that employees have started bringing their own toilet paper to the office after Twitter cuts its janitorial services. (Insider)
• Twitter attempts to implement paid verification, then quickly walks back the feature after a tide of fake accounts impersonating celebrities and businesses. (The Washington Post). 
• Former employees target Elon Musk with a class-action lawsuit after mass layoffs allegedly trigger multiple labor rights violations. (CNN Business) 
• Guinness World Records reports that Elon Musk has lost more money than any person in history, totaling $200 billion from November 2021 to January 2023. The previous record was for $58.6 billion. (NPR)

Suffice it to say, Musk’s reputation as a brilliant innovator and businessman has taken a considerable hit. Multiple articles have emerged, such as Is Elon Musk a Genius or an Idiot? 

For marketers and SEO specialists, there are several valuable lessons here:

• If your organization’s leadership is active on social media, everything they say and do reflects directly on your own brand. Musk’s oft-inflammatory and nonsensical tweets haven’t just changed people’s opinion of him. As noted by The Verge, they’ve also caused damage to several of his other brands, including Tesla. 
• A little self-awareness and accountability go a long way. Throughout this fiasco, Musk has staunchly refused to hold himself accountable for Twitter’s spectacular collapse. Instead, he’s blamed everyone else, such as his tendency to fire engineers who criticize him and Musk himself blaming activists groups for the site’s loss of advertising revenue. 
• Authenticity is everything for today’s users and Musk’s tendency to allegedly misrepresent his companies, as per The Hill, casts aspersions on everything he says. 

At this point, it’s safe to say that both Twitter and Musk’s images may be similarly marred. Whether he pulls himself out of this or not,, the Twitter takeover will forever be etched in history as a playbook of what not to do when acquiring a social network—or using social media in general. 

Quick question: what skill is the most crucial indicator of success in search engine optimization? 

You might think it’s critical thinking, that you need an analytical mind and the capacity to parse and understand search analytics. You may think communication and social skills are key, as a good SEO professional needs to be able to not only communicate the results of their work, but also use that work to generate compelling content. Alternatively, you might point to the fact that, as an inherently technical pursuit, a skilled SEO professional needs to be tech-savvy. 

The above skills and characteristics are all important, but none of them constitute the true foundation of SEO. Even a powerful tool like SEMrush or AHrefs is functionally useless if you don’t know how to perform efficient, effective research. This is doubly true if you’re combining optimization with content creation. 

Without research skills, you can’t: 

• Brainstorm new topic ideas. 
• Assess how your competitors are performing and what they’re doing. 
• Stay aware of ongoing trends and news in your industry. 
• Determine the most effective keywords and keyword permutations for a particular topic. 
• Identify opportunities and content gaps.
• Gain an understanding of your audience. 

The good news is

You can very easily learn to be a better researcher; indeed, it simply takes some practice and a bit of a mindset shift. To begin, the first piece of advice we’ll offer you is to learn to think outside the box.

For example, consider leveraging something like a mind map alongside your keyword research tools. This can help you identify keyword permutations you may have otherwise overlooked.

Beyond that, we’ll refer to an excellent article on research skills published by online learning agency MasterClass, which offers the following advice: 

• When researching, always start broad before diving into specifics. There’s nothing wrong with using basic, generic search terms to help you narrow your scope. Research is a step-by-step process and should be treated as such. 
• Train yourself to identify a low-quality source. Red flags include thin content, spammy website practices, poor spelling/grammar, absurd or false claims, and a lack of knowledge and/or authority. 
• Always verify your sources. This is particularly important if you’re making factual claims in your writing. 
• Keep an open mind and understand that you probably don’t know everything about a topic. 
• Find a way to organize your research results that makes sense to you. 

That’s basically all there is to it. Keep following the process above, and over time, you’ll start to find it easier and easier to carry out research. Eventually, it might even become something you do automatically, and you’ll have difficulty even remembering a time when you struggled to gather information.

Grandiose and sweeping promises. Language bogged down with so much jargon it’s functionally meaningless. An endless barrage of gaslighting and cold opens. 

To hear these people talk, SEO is some sort of mystic art, and mastery means you’re guaranteed to dominate the search engine results page (SERP). 

Anyone who’s spent even a little time studying the craft knows this to be a blatant lie. SEO is valuable, indeed—it’s a powerful lead generation and marketing tool in the right hands. But it’s not some secret weapon, and it won’t allow you to seize control of Google’s algorithms. 

In order to leverage it effectively, you need to accept that—you need to understand the limitations of SEO.

It Can’t Save Low-Quality Content

Google has deployed all of its most recent algorithm updates to improve the search engine’s ability to recognize valuable content for the audience.

Instead of operating exclusively on keyword matching, the search engine increasingly focuses on intent. It aims to understand what the searcher wants and provide them with the content that best fulfills their needs.

For this reason, if your content is poor quality, it doesn’t matter how much time you put into SEO. It’s not going to generate any meaningful returns. 

Google’s Algorithms Are Mercurial, at Best

Google releasing an algorithm that completely upsets our understanding of SEO and penalizes countless websites is very nearly an annual tradition at this point.

It’s easy to forget that, regardless of how much effort we put into optimization, we’re ultimately at Google’s mercy. A single algorithm change could wipe out our progress. 

It Doesn’t Provide Immediate Returns

Unlike other paid promotion strategies, SEO is more of a slow burn. It rarely generates fast traffic or an instant return on investment. Instead, it’s more about gradually cultivating your website, building up a reputation and a rapport with high-quality content, and ensuring that content is seen by targeting the right keywords. 

It takes patience, in other words—and some people lack that patience. 

It Might Not Be A Secret Weapon, But SEO Is Still Valuable

We’d like to conclude with a bit of a disclaimer. We spent a lot of time today talking about the limitations and drawbacks of SEO. We are by no means trying to say that SEO isn’t worthwhile. 

Quite the opposite, in fact.

Even though it’s relatively slow and heavily relies on Google’s algorithms and inbound marketing content, an effective SEO strategy is ultimately a cornerstone of every successful business. It’s not a magic bullet or some holy grail of marketing. But it’s still more than worth exploring. 

Moz – Google Algorithm Change History
A comprehensive timeline and explanation of major Google algorithm updates, showing how changes can disrupt SEO rankings and why adaptability is crucial for SEO professionals.

• Awareness. People at this stage may or may not know about your company. This is where the majority of your prospects start and where most will likely remain. 
• Interest. These prospects are intrigued but not necessarily hooked just yet. They’ve probably spent a bit of time on your website looking at what you have to offer. 
• Consideration. People at this stage are doing their research into both your company and its competitors in an effort to decide who to choose. 
• Decision. The tipping point. These prospects are on the verge of converting.
• Conversion. The people at this stage have done what you wanted them to do, but you aren’t finished yet. Now you need to put time and effort into nurturing a relationship with those customers in order to keep them loyal—and maybe inspire them to tell their friends and colleagues about your business, too. 

But what does any of this have to do with SEO, exactly? 

A great deal, actually. For each page on your site, and for each keyword, consider your target funnel stage. A “how-to” guide likely targets the top of the funnel. These are people interested in what you offer. However, they aren’t ready to buy yet.

Different stages of the funnel also require a slightly different keyword strategy, as noted by SEO expert Neil Patel: 

• Top-of-funnel content typically involves long-tail keywords or questions that may lack the necessary traffic to appear in any keyword research software. Tools and sites like Answer the Public, Infinite Google Suggest, Quora, and Ubersuggest are invaluable at this stage.
• People in the middle of the funnel are strongly considering making a purchase and likely researching different options. At this stage, you’re generally focusing on long-tail keywords, though understanding the questions people are asking about a particular topic is still incredibly important. 
• People at the bottom of the funnel are one step away from converting. Keyword research is less important at this stage than understanding your audience’s intent. You need to ask what they want to know about your business and its products. What information will cause these prospects to tip over to customers? 

So, where does SEO fit in your business’s sales funnel? The simplest answer is everywhere. You can optimize for every part of the funnel. In fact, you really should. This ensures you can attract visitors. Then, you can hook them. Finally, you can guide them toward a sale.

Modern SEO is different. It’s less algorithm-focused and more user-focused. Keywords are still important, certainly—but not more important than creating relevant, high-quality content. 

The problem is that too many so-called SEO agencies ignore this shift. They obsess over pointless metrics like what percentage of a blog post consists of primary and secondary keywords. And in the process, they ignore content quality. 

When you load a piece up with keywords or obsess over the specifics of what someone is searching for, you’re creating content for algorithms rather than for human beings. That kind of content is very easy to recognize. It’s laden with unnatural language and awkward phrasing.

It’s packed with sentences that clearly exist solely to insert more keyword variations. 

This approach demonstrates a foundational misunderstanding of SEO. Every algorithm update Google has made for the past several years has been an effort to move away from this type of thinking. An effort to make the SERP about content that’s valuable and relevant to human beings rather than content that plays nice with robots.

We will be blunt. The days when you could outsmart Google to outrank your competition are gone. As noted by inbound marketing blog Rock Content, Google has been trying to tell us that for years, both directly and through content penalties. While the technical details are still important—and always will be—the needs of the user always come first. 

What that means is simple:

• Prioritize the experience. Your site should load fast, be easy to navigate, and not contain any deceptive or underhanded content. 
• Create for intent. For each piece of content on your site, ask what the user is looking for, and endeavor to provide that as concisely and effectively as possible. 
• Focus on quality. Your goal should always be to create the highest-quality content possible, with everything else as a secondary concern. 
• Privacy is key. In an era of legislation such as the GDPR, customer privacy is front-of-mind. Even if your business isn’t headquartered in Europe, you must always think about consent and transparency when dealing with user data.
• Connect and engage. Modern marketing and SEO are ultimately about building relationships with your audience. Your inbound strategy should therefore be linked with social media, and your business should look for opportunities to interact with and personalize content for customers at every touchpoint in their journey. 

Ultimately, the User Comes First

Keyword stuffing. Link Farming. Deceptive and hidden content. These black hat tactics used to be tools in the arsenal of every SEO professional. 

Today that is no longer the case. If you obsess over technical SEO without thinking about the people on the other side of the screen, the same algorithms you’re attempting to game can and will penalize you. Need more info? Check out our previous thought-piece on our 5 Top Tips for SEO in 2022!

Here are a few tips to help you keep pace. 

Put the User Experience First

We’re just about rounding on the one-year anniversary of Google’s Core Web Vitals Update. Also known as the Google Page Experience Update, Core Web Vitals officially establish a website’s user experience as a ranking factor.  If you haven’t already started prioritizing things like interactivity, load time, and ease of use by now, it’s past time you do so. 

Because if you don’t, it’s not just your PageRank that’s going to suffer—your audience is going to ditch your website for a competitor that provides a better experience. 

Content is Still King

Fortunately, not everything has changed. Content is still the best tool in your marketing and SEO arsenal.  As long as you provide your audience with content that’s relevant and valuable to them, everything else will fall nicely into place. 

See, there’s a common thread in the majority of Google’s algorithm updates. Every single one is ultimately designed to make the search engine better at recognizing quality. The better your content, the more beneficial these updates will ultimately be for you. 

Rethink Audience Research and PPC Targeting

Arguably one of the biggest news stories of the past several years has involved Google’s decision to retire third-party tracking cookies from its Chrome browser. Unsurprisingly, this created a massive ripple effect in both advertising and SEO, effectively setting an end of life date for behavioral targeting. To replace behavioral advertising, Google is currently testing a new ad feature known as Topics, which consists of three broad components: 

• A website or ad network’s topics/subjects
• The topics a user is interested in, based on their browsing behavior
• Alignment between user topics and website/network topics. 

Basically, it’s contextual advertising with a slightly different coat of paint. 

Now, it’s important to note that none of this is going to really come into effect until 2024, the current deadline for phasing out cookies.  Alongside Topics, Google is reportedly also testing multiple new Privacy Sandbox technologies. While much of these are still under wraps, it may be worthwhile to start assessing how you target content and research your customers now. 

Consider Exploring AI

Over the past few years, artificial intelligence has evolved in leaps and bounds. Many SEO tools now leverage a combination of AI, machine learning, and natural language processing to handle much of the backend work, from keyword research to topic suggestions. If done right, implementing them within your own organization could give you a considerable competitive edge. 

Empathy, Not Analytics

People are exhausted, and you can hardly blame them. The past several years have been some of the most emotionally trying in recent memory. What that means for you is that customers have less patience than ever for overly-salesly or irrelevant messaging. 

It also means that a little empathy can go a long way. Shape your content to be more conscientious, more focused on social responsibility, and more aware of your audience’s needs. 

Either way, there are a few myths that seem to persist more stubbornly than others—today, we’re going to address three of the biggest myths currently plaguing SEO.  

More is Better

Our first is technically a twofer.

A lot of SEO novices develop something of an obsession with quantity. More backlinks. More keywords. Bigger numbers. 

The problem is that this never works. Content quality—and how well it fits intent—is far more important than keywords. And if you include too many keywords and keyword variations in a piece or attempt to hit some sort of quota, there’s a good chance you’ll be penalized for keyword stuffing.

Similarly, one relevant backlink is worth a hundred irrelevant ones. Worse still, in some cases backlinks could potentially even damage your credibility. It’s one of the reasons buying links is never advisable

Those purchased links are almost always toxic. 

Social Media and SEO are Directly Related

Plenty of SEO specialists have noted that there appears to be a correlation between social signals and page performance. It’s important to understand that this is not due to any action on Google’s part. Search algorithms have absolutely nothing to do with social marketing. 

Google’s own John Mueller has directly said as much. 

The reason pages with more social activity tend to perform better on the search engine results page (SERP) is merely a matter of exposure. More people see the page because it’s being shared. And because more people see the page, they’re more likely to share it. 

You’ll Get Penalized for Duplicate Content

Our last myth is one that we’ve seen even experienced SEO professionals subscribe to.  The idea that your site will be penalized by Google for hosting duplicate content is quite frankly wrong. It’s important to understand, however, that this doesn’t mean duplicate content is a good thing. 

While there is no duplicate content penalty present in Google’s algorithms, duplicate content can still harm your ranking in a few ways: 

• Cannibalized traffic
• Diluted backlinks
• Greater difficulty competing with content scrapers

So while it’s still worthwhile to run a site audit so you can check for and eliminate duplicate content, it’s not the critical SEO issue that some people make it out to be. It’s a minor optimization issue, at worst. 

Clearing the Air

Indeed, the SEO myths mentioned above are not the only misunderstandings surrounding this profession. Rather, they represent just a few of the most well-known and enduring misconceptions. Hopefully, by publishing this piece, we’ve taken another step towards finally dispelling them.

Want to read more? Check out our blog, where we dive into SEO topics every month!