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AI-generated responses appear like a direct hazard to the traditional natural traffic websites used to get from search engines. Today, LLMs just rip the content on websites and people no longer need to visit a website anymore.
While I personally believe this risk is blown entirely out of proportion (based on information from sites I've personally seen), I don't think it's an excuse to overlook it completely. From my own experience growing both blog sites and YouTube channels, particularly to sell something, I can tell you that video converts way more than composed material.
It's a lot much easier to tell if somebody is lying or full of it if you can see their facial expressions and their tone of voice. YouTube ought to certainly be in your SEO and content method.
And due to the fact that you have developed the trust with video, your conventional SEO efforts will transform better. There's even more to it. Previously this year, I had a hunch that if I turned some of my best ranking post into YouTube videos, and embedded them into my existing article, my blog site posts would rank even much better.
I made a YouTube video about the topic, embedded it into that blog site post, and I've been ranking # 1 considering that.
In 2025, we saw everyone talking about how AI search was going to take over Google. Beyond just SEO, the marketing neighborhood as an entire begun to get bombarded with influencers attempting to ride the AI hype train.
It became tough to find relied on sources that weren't prejudiced or had a concealed program to offer us something. While I do think there are benefits to using LLMs in our workflows, I do believe it has actually been overhyped. And in 2026, I predict many online marketers will realize that ChatGPT and Perplexity are simply a small part of the SEO market.
Google still controls 90% market share and with its AI Mode and AI Overviews, it remains in the perfect position to win the AI online search engine race. Browse habits hasn't essentially moved far from Google. Beyond simply that, there are a couple of things that have rubbed me the incorrect way about the AI SEO trend.
What these online marketers do not recognize is that Things like homepages, pricing pages, or bottom of funnel content, tends to be shown in ChatGPT. The informational top of funnel material is "eaten up" by LLMs and revealed to users without anywhere to click.
If you were to take that same idea over to Google, you would see the exact same conversion rates. Google's conversion rates show less due to the fact that the traffic is greater due to it being watered down by all the top of funnel material that is in the equation. Other things like how ChatGPT can make things up, it never fully follows prompts correctly (i.e.
I do still believe that bigger business will set aside a speculative spending plan to evaluate things like ChatGPT apps and other AI SEO tools. In 2026, I forecast people will recognize optimizing for Google will enable them to reveal up in ChatGPT and Perplexity. Just take a look at ChatGPT Atlas or Perplexity's Comet internet browsers.
These strategies may work now in ChatGPT and other LLMs, but they're short-term plays that will ultimately get punished. Focus on white hat techniques that construct genuine authority and trust over time instead of chasing after quick wins that will not last.
Now, the algorithm is mature enough to disregard all that rubbish. ChatGPT and other LLM algorithms are not as fully grown. I can't call this individual, however I met an SEO director at a huge banking company. This person told me they (and all their competitors) are creating microsites (like small blog sites) on various domains.
And from there, they are using their main company domain, that has a very strong brand name authority, and sending out backlinks to the microsite. And this has resulted in greater rankings for their brand in LLMs like ChatGPT.It blew my mind that big, reputable business are doing this. And I recognized just how much black hat (or grey hat) methods are going on behind the scenes.
In 2026, I anticipate these methods will continue to happen. Until ChatGPT's algorithm gets as wise as Google's search algorithm.
Concentrate on quality over amount. Share real insights, utilize your own images and videos, and develop topical authority in your specific niche. This is how solo creators and small teams can beat substantial brands in 2026. Specific niche blogging is back baby. However with a twist. This is among the most significant SEO patterns for content marketing I'm seeing today.
You require a genuine organization, be it a newsletter organization, a service-based service, SaaS company, or ecommerce store. And after that you include on this human-centered niche blogging to the site to naturally grow your core product/service offering. In 2026, I anticipate that Google's algorithm will continue to get smarter about which web pages include AI material and which do not.
In truth, I understand heaps of individuals silently squashing it with AI generated material (even going after top of funnel keywords). What I am stating is that engaging, human content will outrank AI produced material with no original insights. There are 2 routes I see with SEO's right now: Produce countless AI-generated article and get them to rank in the middle/bottom of page 1.
Produce a hundred human blog posts and get them to rank at the top of the very first page. Quality over quantity. The very first route is based upon sheer volume, and can cause traffic development. You do risk a potential algorithm upgrade harming your rankings. And anyone who composes better human content will rank higher in positions 1-3. The 2nd path is slower, but can yield higher ranking positions and more trust with readers.
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