My AI & Search Predictions
My AI & Search Predictions
2024 will likely be even more challenging for businesses struggling to keep up with AI technology and changing online visibility
I usually refrain from making predictions, but this year has been so overwhelming that I decided to break my own rule.
2024 will likely be even more challenging for businesses struggling to keep up with AI technology and changing online visibility.
“Human touch” businesses will gain in popularity and demand. We saw this during Covid: The more technology prevailed, the more people were striving for contacts with real people. No amount of virtual technology could replace face-to-face interactions. AI technology is going to be an opportunity for small businesses to stand out and win customers by being human.
First-hand experience will be even more important for findability. AI-driven content repurposing will push more and more people to look for real stories, and Google will learn to surface them.
Mature SEO will be in more demand than ever. Getting found will become even more challenging, so businesses will look for SEO professionals who can plan and execute a long-term SEO strategy that goes beyond on-page tweaks and links.
“Creators’ economy” will thrive even more. More businesses will start developing their own channels in an effort to gain online visibility. Creative AI-generated content (images and videos) will be required. Without using AI technology, you will fail to keep up.
SGE will be launched to the public. Businesses will lose a huge percentage of traffic to it but those that invest into entity-based SEO will survive and thrive. Google will continue sending clicks to publishers and will struggle to monetize AI snapshots using the old click-based model they have been relying on. It will be a lot of figuring out and adjusting from both Google and publishers.
Deepfakes and AI-driven crimes will go crazy. To fight these, AI technology will be severely regulated. This will slow things down.
Overall, the long-lasting impact of AI technology is impossible to predict. Next year is going to be a fun one!
Happy New Year!
From my previous newsletters, here are a few more ideas on how to prepare!
I agree with most of what you said, I'm just not sure about Google being a able to distinguish AI content from human content.
Thanks for the predictions, Ann. Like Bruce Springsteen sang, we all need that "human touch." Also, what is "entity-based SEO"?