The Future of SEO and Virtual Agents

This article is the fourth installment in our series discussing search and the increasing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) on the future of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). This installment delves into the evolution of the search function, the Intelligent Agents, and the interaction of goal-oriented search, Virtual Assistants (VA), end-users, and businesses.

The future of SEO means shifting to L2O.

Artificial intelligence is changing how we interact with the digital world. Soon, AI Assistants will collect and act on massive amounts of data on our behalf.  These assistants will force drastic changes in the search and search display definition.  In many instances, making the act of searching nearly undetectable. However, we have not reached the utopian society depicted in 24th-century Star Trek. So, the creators of these VAs will devise ways to keep their systems updated with the latest information. The updated content will be retrieved from public content.  The fresh content will be selected with a new type of SEO, L2O.

Virtual Assistant and the Future of Search

With the rapid advance of AI, bots can quickly process, analyze, and synthesize data and take action. Bots are transforming from our knowledge engines to our Virtual Assistants (VA). VAs predict our needs, desires, and preferences with unprecedented accuracy and will affect desired results. So, instead of googling and using phones or browsers, we interact with our VAs, state our goals, and watch it complete the task.

The shift towards proactive, predictive and personalized search will have profound implications for how we experience the internet. Traditional search engines will be replaced by AI Agents(1). The AI will operate seamlessly in the background, and take appropriate action for its user.

The Future of SEO craft

The need for a new approach to search engine optimization is apparent as the web is increasingly driven by AI. L2O, or LLM Optimization, ensures that AI-powered systems can easily access, understand, and use the latest information.

L2O helps optimize the content and improve the compatibility between human-generated content and the AI systems that will increasingly dominate our online experience. The future of SEO involves creating content easily digestible by AI systems and developing strategies to ensure that the most relevant and up-to-date information is readily accessible to these platforms.

If you own a Moroccan restaurant, you want to provide detailed dynamic content about the ambiance, experience, quality, availability, and the menu. Then when a VA tries to find the best North African Cuisine in Los Angeles, you are available. Finally, combined with your reviews and social information, the VA makes an informed yet biased decision and makes a reservation at your restaurant.

The future of SEO is about biasing the VAs rather than actively increasing the traffic to a website. But here is the funny thing, L2O involves most of the components of today’s SEO.

One key component of L2O involves creating structured data that AI systems can quickly process and interpret. L2O will include using metadata, semantic markup, and voice search optimization that help AI systems understand the context, the flavor, and the meaning of content more effectively. L2O also emphasizes the importance of maintaining a robust online presence through regular updates, high-quality content, and strategic partnerships with other reputable sources of information.

Challenges and Opportunities

Several challenges exist as we move toward a future where Virtual assistants dominate(2) the web. For one, the increased reliance on AI may exacerbate existing inequalities and social biases, as AI systems may be more likely to favor the freely available content overload from established or well-funded sources.

VAs may prove far more gullible because of the upcoming data privacy limitations. Social bias, knowledge overload, and data privacy concerns could limit the diversity of information available to the VAs and easily allow for Black Hat techniques.

However, the evolution of SEO to L2O presents numerous opportunities for businesses, content creators, and individuals. By embracing L2O strategies, organizations can position themselves at the forefront of this new digital landscape, ensuring that their content remains visible and relevant in the age of AI-driven search.

The rise of AI-powered Assistant Artifacts signals a fundamental shift in how we interact with the digital world. As search becomes increasingly predictive and personalized, the importance of L2O as a means of optimizing content for AI systems will only continue to grow.

By understanding and embracing this new paradigm, we can ensure that the internet remains a rich and diverse source of information, even as we navigate the uncharted territory of an AI-driven future.

Dream Warrior Group, a Los Angeles Based web design and digital marketing Company, providing solutions for your online marketing needs. Our expertise includes Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Posts & Marketing & Google PPC campaigns.  Call us now at 818.610.3316 or click here.

 

1- CMS Wire, What to Expect From the Future of Virtual Agents, Andie Burjek, 02/24/23

2- Data Driven Investor, AI Agent Companies, Harsha Angeri, 04/06/23

Artificial Intelligence & Search Experience

This article is the third installment in our series discussing search results and the increasing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) on search experiences. In this part, we delve into the coming evolution of search interfaces, the personalization of search experience, and the implications for digital marketing strategies.

As AI fully integrates into search processes, personalization will be more pervasive, making it less likely for two individuals posing the same query to encounter similar interfaces. While the search results might be the same, the presentation of these results could vary significantly based on the individual’s preferred method of processing information. The AI system will learn the users’ ages, how they consume data, and consider their environment and the question asked.

Search Results & The Mode of Learning

For example, visual learners might see pictorial representations of results. But, first, auditory learners could receive voice responses, and read/write learners may be presented with written summaries. Additionally, due to AI’s environmental awareness, it could provide an auditory response while a user is driving. Another layer of complexity in user interfaces (UI) stems from the subject matter of the inquiry. For example, the UI for a search on nearby movie theaters will differ from one regarding the latest political developments or stock market updates. AI will incorporate the preferred communication method of the subject matter experts into the UI design.

Possible effects of AI on Search
Possible effects of AI on Search

Search Results & The Age Effect

The age effect plays a crucial role in search experience personalization as well. A thought-provoking paper on this topic highlighted that individuals tend to consume content similarly to their generational peers, regardless of their primary learning mode. This phenomenon suggests that if most of an individual’s peers access search results verbally, that person is more likely to do the same, even if they are not primarily an auditory learner.

Search Results & Gender

Algorithms, vital in the digital age, impact many facets of modern life, from news feeds to healthcare delivery and now the Search Engines. However, they pose the same old problem again, as evidenced by recent research from NY University.

The study shows that due to gender bias in algorithms, they encourage misinformation and create online echo chambers on social media sites. The study highlights real-world effects and perpetuates societal inequality. According to the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, AI systems identify patterns in massive databases, yet these datasets frequently contain embedded cultural prejudices.

SO, the expectations of radical departure from current norms of search display may be less probable due to the introduction of AI.  Nevertheless, there will be change.

Getting Ready For The Coming Search Experience

Putting all these together may sound overly complex, but I promise it is easier today than ever. Over a decade ago, DWG introduced “Lean Mean Marketing Machine diagram” to emphasize the importance of processing content through every available channel to create an effective marketing cycle on the web. It came with a checklist that allowed our clients to check off the content that had been converted and posted. However, despite its accuracy and all the tools, some clients needed help processing the concept. In response, we developed “The Cycle” for internal use and took on the load. Since its inception, we have continuously updated “The Cycle.”

“The Cycle” currently promotes and optimizes clients’ shows, courses, events, and content. Cycling content through platforms and directing them towards the point of sale remains relevant, with even more platforms available in 2023.

Possible effects of AI on Search
Search and Artificial Intelligence

In previous articles, we discussed the steps digital marketers should take to adapt their SEO strategies in this emerging environment. As a result, marketing production schedules must accommodate the release of more content or risk falling behind.

Fortunately, AI offers solutions to help manage this increased workload. In addition, numerous tools exist to distribute content across various channels effectively. In the next installment of this series, we will explore the content life cycle in this evolving digital landscape.

You can now read about AI & Marketing Automation in our blog.

Dream Warrior Group, a Los Angeles Based web design and digital marketing Company, providing solutions for your online marketing needs. Our expertise includes Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Posts & Marketing & Google PPC campaigns.  Call us now at 818.610.3316 or click here.

Search Optimization Changes: Artificial Intelligence and Search Engines – Part 2

In my previous article, I promised more specifics regarding the steps you can take to improve your search optimization for the age of AI. The funniest part of the whole process has been the repetition.

For the past several years, I have been describing  Google’s shift towards better, more accurate search results. Currently Google Search algorithm seems to contain everything desirable for an AI-driven search optimization.

So, unlike my conclusions in 2021, and early 2022, they were most likely thinking about more than just accuracy. It appears that Google’s data engineers were also thinking about AI and the future of search.

The coming 18 months AI will permanently change how search engines employ and interact with us to rank content. Artificial intelligence has already altered the SEO environment, but we should expect more substantial developments in the coming months. There will be more frequent Google SERP updates as Google fends off other search engines trying to gain market share.

Here are some of the expected effects of these changes:

Voice search will become increasingly significant.

Voice search is getting more popular as smart speakers, and other voice-activated devices become more widespread. As AI advances, we should expect search engines to understand the natural language better. Such improvements mean that content authors must optimize their content for voice search by utilizing conversational language and focusing on answering particular inquiries that consumers may have. To gain more insight, refer to our article on Voice optimization.

Natural language processing (NLP) will become pervasive.

The use of NLP helps search engines grasp the intent underlying the search request far more clearly than today. Search engines should interpret natural language far better as AI advances. Extensive use of NLP means that content providers must concentrate on producing high-quality, natural-sounding information that answers particular issues that users may have.

The importance of user experience will be greater than ever.

As search engines improve their knowledge of user intent, they will likewise enhance their ability to measure user experience. As a result, page load speed, mobile friendliness, and ease of navigation will become even more vital for SEO. Therefore, content providers must produce material that answers user inquiries and creates a positive user experience.

Technical SEO will be even more critical.

Technical SEO (efforts that focus on enhancing the technical features of websites) will become increasingly important. Search engines will incentivize site owners to produce better user experiences: more robust UX will result in higher rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs). As technical SEO continues to influence the user experience—and searchers’ expectations rise—technical SEO will continue to be one of the most critical factors for organizations to consider when developing their overall SEO strategy and investments.

Personalization will become more critical.

Artificial intelligence (AI) already helps tailor search results based on user behavior and interests. However, personalization will play an even more significant role in SEO. Content makers will need to focus on developing material that is targeted to specific audiences and takes characteristics like location, device, and search history into account. Increased personalization also means a greater need for second and first-party user data gathering.

Visual search will become increasingly prevalent.

Visual search is currently a popular feature on several search engines, and we anticipate it to become considerably more ubiquitous in the next 18 months. In addition, as AI advances, search engines will better detect images and videos. Therefore, visual content optimization (for search) by employing descriptive filenames, alt tags, and captions will be vital.

SEO will see an increase in the use of video marketing.

The coming year will undoubtedly be the year of video. Companies will put out more video content as they seek to garner audiences on more visual and video-based platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram; at the same time, more video and content teams will use search data to guide their tactics. This transition will also benefit people in Google’s ecosystem, as searchers pay more attention to video results.

As audience tastes alter, brands prioritize content quality over production quality (such as effects, lighting, etc.). Straightforward, mobile-recorded videos will likely be a focus because good content does not require large production.

In the next 18 months, AI will substantially impact SEO. As a result, content providers must focus on developing tailored, high-quality, natural-sounding material that answers particular user inquiries while offering a fantastic user experience across all platforms.

Companies must also optimize their content for voice, visual, and video search and consider issues like technical SEO, personalization, and natural language processing. Content providers may remain ahead of the curve by following these trends and ensuring their content is discoverable and exciting for their target audience.

Dream Warrior Group, a Los Angeles Based web design and digital marketing Company, providing solutions for your online marketing needs. Our expertise includes Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Posts & Marketing & Google PPC campaigns.  Call us now at 818.610.3316 or click here.

Change in Search: Artificial Intelligence and Search Engines – Part 1

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is concerned with developing intelligent software capable of doing activities that generally require human Intelligence, such as natural language processing. For example, AI will create more intelligent search engines, search results, and search optimization.

Generative AI is a subset of artificial Intelligence that employs machine learning algorithms to create new and unique data or material, such as photos, music, video, or writing. Deep learning models, which can extract patterns and attributes from big datasets and utilize them to generate new samples, are at the foundation of Generative AI. Creative design, content generation, and virtual assistants are just a few of the uses for generative AI.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the improvement of the visibility and ranking of a website or online content in search engine results pages (SERPs). It entails various strategies to improve the quality and relevance of a website’s content, structure, and functionality to enhance organic traffic and attract new customers.

Artificial Intelligence & SEO

Generative AI will rapidly improve crawling and indexing, personalization, and content quality, whether voice, image, or video.

Artificial Intelligence will also change the look of search engines in the future by providing richer and more dynamic search results, personalized search results, voice search, natural language processing, and improved image and video search capabilities.

AI Improves Crawling and Indexing

Generative AI may improve crawling and indexing by providing higher quality and unique content that search engines can index, enhancing the website’s ranking in search results.

Because search engines favor new and unique content, Generative AI can generate a large amount of original content optimized for specific keywords, topics, or user intents. This route to search optimization can help search engines discover the website and draw more organic traffic.

Generative AI will create metadata such as title tags, descriptions, and headers, improving on-page SEO and making the website more search engine friendly. With more optimized and relevant metadata, Search engines can better interpret and show website content in search results.

Artificial Intelligence Increases Personalization of Search Results

AI increases personalization by creating tightly tailored information and experiences based on the preferences and behaviors of the individual user.

AI is trained on enormous datasets of user interactions and behaviors, such as browser history, purchase history, and social media activity, to find patterns and preferences of individual users. Based on this information, Artificial Intelligence can give tailored content such as product recommendations, personalized news feeds, or tailored marketing messages that are more likely to engage and resonate with the user.

By generating natural language responses, generative AI is used to build personalized chatbots and virtual assistants that answer and recommend based on the user’s needs and preferences, leading to increased engagement.

AI will lead to improved content Quality for better SEO

As we are already observing, when groomed properly, generative AI is a powerful tool for improving content quality by generating relevant, high-quality, and original material that can be optimized for specific topics and user intents while ensuring that the content is free of errors and easy to read. Improved content will improve user satisfaction and loyalty, ultimately driving business success.

Artificial Intelligence will create new and innovative search experiences.

The looks of search engines will change because of AI as search engines will continue to integrate AI-powered features and functionalities to improve the user experience and better understand user intent.

AI-powered search engines can create new and innovative experiences beyond traditional keyword-based searches. With natural language processing, chatbots, and virtual assistants, each person can create engaging and interactive search experiences.

Some ways that the looks of search engines may change because of AI include Richer, more interactive, more personalized results with voice results and videos.

The looks of search engines may change because of AI. AI-powered features and functionalities will improve the search experience and help us understand user intent. As a result, many of the reference sites, such as “10 best of this” or “20 top of that,” will disappear from the results. At the same time, many reference sites, such as IMDB, may lose much of their traffic.

But, it is a given that specific products or services such as a Concert or a Play will still have to be searched for and SEO will be there to make sure your show or product shows up first.

Conclusion

The implications of AI for the future of search engines are vast, exciting, and far-reaching. The inner workings and the UI of search engines will be very different.  How they process and understand user queries and how they deliver search results and content to users will change.  Still, there will be areas where search display will go on very similarly to what you see now.

In the following article, I will review the areas of SEO that AI will bring to prominence and attempt to explain what we need to do in each area.

Dream Warrior Group, a Los Angeles Based web design and digital marketing Company, providing solutions for your online marketing needs. Our expertise includes Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Posts & Marketing & Google PPC campaigns.  Call us now at 818.610.3316 or click here.

When AI goes Marching on

People have gone insane over Generative AI (the Algorithms used to generate new data that resembles human-generated content, such as music, code, images, text, simulations, and videos ). Unfortunately, Microsoft’s hype machine is working overtime (Bing with AI hit the mat and crashed after 3 hours of testing), while Google is in hot water.

Speaking of #ai rants and raves, folks went crazy about Google’s AI Chat Bot – Bard – yesterday. Everyone agreed that Bard made a mistake, and Google’s market cap fell by $100 billion (yep, billion). Looking closer at what was asked, something to the effect of “what recent results from Webb space telescope can I tell my 9-year child about?” Bard answered with many discoveries, mentioning that (the) “telescope was utilized to take the very first snapshot of AN exoplanet.”

The first time humanity took a photo of an exoplanet was around two decades ago. Many in the media (both social and traditional) began foaming at the mouth, and Google stock dropped. But, in the end, Bard was right: the Webb Telescope had discovered an exoplanet, albeit not the first.

AI is only code

Generative AI is merely lines of code, as clue-free as many children. Its responses are open to interpretation by the listeners. So, please stop telling me how “excellent” (Keanu Reeves style) AI can be because it is only as good as the nerds that use it (including myself) and the entities that code it.

I am working on a more informative article on AI, search engines, and digital marketing. Still, it may be a while because keeping up with AI development and my distaste for those who declare themselves gurus after two weeks of reading on a subject forces me to dig deeper and let the gurus rant and rave.

Dream Warrior Group, a Los Angeles Based web design and digital marketing Company, providing solutions for your online marketing needs. Our experts will help you modify your site and get you ready for the upcoming challenges on the web.  Call us now at 818.610.3316 or click here.