SEO is Dead - Long Live AIO

Hey friend,

A few weeks back I sent an email to my audience about AI disrupting industries, particularly marketing. It generated a lot of interest for both good and bad reasons. Well, buckle up, because I've got more insights to share with you!

I recently wrote a?Twitter thread?diving into the implications of AI for businesses and society. In it, I made the prediction that AI would eventually be embedded within our emails. I thought it’d take a year - but it happened in just 3 months!

Now, I'm back with another prediction:

Google?Search?is going to die.

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If your business relies on Google for leads, this is your wake-up call. ChatGPT is taking the world by storm, and users are finding Google?Search?clunky by comparison. You may think this is only power users, but not so! Don't believe me? Check this out:

With ChatGPT, you get personalised, specific answers to your questions without having to wade through ads, snippets, videos, and web pages. Google's response to ChatGPT, called Bard, has been... well, underwhelming to say the least:

Regardless of whether ChatGPT or Bard come out on top, the game has changed. Instant access to customised answers is now the norm. So what does this mean for the future of?search? It's adapt or die, my friend.

I've spent the last few months pondering how Google might try to save its ad-based revenue model. It doesn't look like they're handling it well:

Of course these are just rumours at this stage. Interesting,?nonetheless!

One possibility is that Google clings on to what it’s always known and creates an ad-based version of ChatGPT. This will allow non-paying users access to the power of AI, albeit with ads on the screen and intertwined with the output. But will users click on ads when they already have the answers they need? Unlikely.

Or will they adopt ChatGPT’s model of charging a monthly fee for ad-free access?

Either way, neither will bode well for generating?search?traffic when the results give users exactly what they’re looking for without having to sift through websites to find it.

OpenAI's recent release of an app store for ChatGPT has raised the stakes even further. Connecting ChatGPT to various apps allows for seamless task completion, like finding a vegan restaurant in San Francisco for Saturday, and for Sunday, asking for a recipe accompanied with calories for each individual ingredient, and ordering said ingredients for delivery, all in one go.

Just imagine trying to do that with Google?Search?and Maps. Yikes!

So, you're probably wondering, "What does this mean for my business?" To be honest, no one knows for sure. But we can make some educated guesses and adapt accordingly.

Here are my predictions and recommended actions:

1. High intent?search?traffic is on the way out. Prepare for the rise of the "infinity app store," where users create custom apps tailored to their needs.
2. Proprietary datasets will be your business's most valuable asset. Integrate AI with your data to stay relevant in the ChatGPT era.
3. Revisit old-school marketing strategies, focusing on top-of-the-funnel awareness, and nurturing relationships. Redesign your marketing strategy so that it will perform well, even when you remove Google from it.
4. The purpose of websites will change; serving mainly for company research and legitimacy checks. Emphasise your USPs, About Us, Teams pages, and credentials accordingly.
5. SEO?is transforming into AIO (Artificial Intelligence?Optimisation), where businesses must specialise and create highly specific content in order to be recommended by AI.
6. Inbound and internal linking will eventually become irrelevant, but for now, ChatGPT still relies on Bing's?search?engine, which factors in these metrics. So don't stop your link generation activities just yet.
7. If your business has proprietary data, focus on converting it into an AI knowledgebase and create a plugin for ChatGPT. This will be a significant source of future revenue for digital service providers and an additional revenue stream for offline services and products.

In summary, the writing is on the wall for traditional?search?engines and?SEO?as we know it. The rise of AI-powered conversational assistants like ChatGPT will dramatically change how users find information and interact with businesses. Adaptation is crucial for survival in this new landscape.

To stay ahead of the curve, focus on providing highly specialised and specific content, nurturing relationships at the top of the funnel, and leveraging your proprietary data to create AI plugins. While the full implications of this shift remain uncertain, businesses that embrace change and adapt to the evolving landscape are more likely to thrive in the AI-dominated future.

Just keep in mind that the pace of change is accelerating.

Time taken to reach 1 million users:

Netflix: 41 months

Facebook: 10 months

Instagram: 2.5 months

ChatGPT:?5 days

In the past week, 200 new AI powered apps were launched. I know it’s scary - but burying your head in the sand won’t slow it down. It’s time to adapt.

As always, I'll continue to monitor developments and share my insights with you. Let's face this brave new world together and make the most of the opportunities it presents!