Hey Reader,
In our EDUpreneur Mastermind last week, we chatted a bit about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in today’s world, with AI continuing to take over. So I wanted to share an analogy that might help make this typically confusing topic make a little more sense. (we’ll see how I do)
The reality is, how we’ve always approached SEO in the past doesn’t work (or at least not as well) as it used to. We need to think about it differently now.
The problem is, SEO has always been confusing, overwhelming, and sometimes just flat out terrifying. So how do we even think about approaching SEO for AI when we were already lost on SEO to start with?
First, we need to understand SEO in general.
Imagine the internet is one giant library. Search engines (like Google) are the librarians. Websites are the books.
The way it has been for the past couple decades is that you would go online and ask the librarian a question, and they handed you a list of books and said, “Good luck, kid.”
In this library, SEO is how you make sure:
- The librarian knows your book exists
- Your book seems to make sense to the librarian
- Your book is written clearly enough that the librarian trusts it
- Your book gets put on the list when someone asks the librarian a question
So website owners (businesses, entrepreneurs, EDUpreneurs, writers, recipe creators, etc) would write text and make sure the technical pieces of their website (links, alt tags, headings, etc, etc) were set up to get the librarian to be more likely to put their “book” on the list to give to people.
The longer your book (website) was on the internet, the more other books linked to yours, and the more the librarian put your book on different lists….the more often the librarian would continue to put your book on lists.
The thing is, if you were good at it, you could “trick” the librarian into thinking your book deserved to be on more lists.
This was because the librarian wasn’t actually reading your book. They were just checking the cover, quickly looking over the table of contents, and doing a quick flip through to make sure it looked organized well enough.
Ever searched for recipes and the first 20 links provided seem more interested in sharing the short history of their family tree and how this recipe was passed down from generation to generation?
The creator was using stories to pump the post full of keywords so search engines (librarians) were more likely to think their recipe was better than others - because it said the right words more often, not necessarily because it was better.
So what’s changed?
Sticking with my attempted analogy here….
Some new librarians got hired (AI models like Chat-GPT, Claude, etc) and started actually reading the books. And instead of giving you a list of books when you ask a question, they’re just giving you the answer out loud.
So then the old librarians (Google, etc) started reading the books, too.
It is no longer just about making your book look and sound good. It actually has to be good. It has to provide actual answers to questions people ask.
In AI search, the librarian doesn’t just care about keywords and a nice cover. They care about the actual content inside the book:
- Does the book actually answer the question?
- Is the book clear and easy to understand?
- Is the book providing real answers, good answers, and the right answers for the person asking the question?
- Does the book sound like it knows what it’s talking about, has experience in the context of the question being asked?
Essentially, SEO today is less about tricking the librarian, and more about being the best book on the shelf.
This doesn’t mean SEO is suddenly easy. It’s not, and it won’t be. It will likely continue to be more and more difficult.
The reality is, we’re already learning the ways we can adjust our sites to hit the points these new librarians are looking at. Adding summaries to the top of pages and posts, using lists, including FAQs, and focusing on question/answer based text.
So doesn’t this mean we’ll just be able to trick these new librarians the same as we used to, just with new tactics?
Yep.
In reality, authors (businesses, entrepreneurs, EDUpreneurs, writers, recipe creators, etc) are learning new and improved tactics to get the librarians to mention their books when answering questions.
Where I believe it’s actually different.
The biggest thing now is going to be that your book needs to actually provide true value, because users can now tell the librarians directly and immediately whether the answer they provided helped or not.
So now, instead of giving you a list of books and sending you on your way - never knowing whether they actually helped you - the librarians get immediate, clear, and real feedback.
When a user tells the librarian that the answer they provided did not help, and the librarian used your book to find that answer, the'y’ll remember and be less likely to look at your book for future questions.
I believe it is, and will continue to be, more important than ever to provide actual value for the audience you are serving.
Is there a bit more to this? Yes. There always is.
Should you look into the technical aspects of SEO to ensure your site is set up properly and you’re creating content in the most effective way possible? Yes. If your book doesn’t have a nice cover, organized table of contents, and an easy-to-read format, librarians won’t use it.
The most important thing, though? Understand your audience, their problems, and how to help them…and do it better than others. That’s how we win now.
I hope this helps. Hit reply and let me know your thoughts/questions.
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~ Jeff
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I appreciate you.
Jeff Gargas
COO / Co-Founder, Teach Better Team
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P.S. When you're ready, here's how I can help:
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I wanted to test something out this week. If you've read down to here and notice that a few things are missing, I'd love to know.
Hit 'reply' and let me know what part you wish would have been here:
- What I'm Listening To
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