Over the past year, AI has completely transformed the SEO industry. One AI tool in particular has taken the SEO world by storm - ChatGPT. Released by Open AI in late 2022, ChatGPT is an AI assistant capable of answering complex questions, generating original creative content, and more.
In this article, SEO expert Julian Goldie discusses his experience using ChatGPT to take his own SEO agency to new heights. He shares strategies for how other SEOs can integrate ChatGPT into their workflows in 2024 and beyond to capitalize on the AI SEO revolution.
Julian Goldie
The rise of AI assistants
As Julian explains, AI assistants like ChatGPT represent a paradigm shift in how SEO is done. "Historically, SEO was all about grinding - grinding out content, grinding out backlinks. It was very labor intensive. But with advances in AI, that labor is increasingly being automated."
Whereas in the past SEOs relied primarily on human-generated content and link building tactics, AI tools now allow them to massively scale output while maintaining or improving quality.
As Julian puts it, "With AI, I can sit down and instantly spin out 1000 articles at the click of a button, instead of hiring an army of writers to do it. The possibilities for scale and speed are just insane compared to traditional SEO methods."
This increased scalability has big implications. It allows SEOs to take on more clients simultaneously while maintaining turnaround times and delivering higher value. It also creates opportunities to experiment more rapidly - to test different topics, targeting strategies, and monetization approaches at a velocity simply not possible before.
"If you're waiting weeks or months for human-written content, there's no way to A/B test at that speed and see what really works fastest. But with AI, you have real-time feedback and can optimize strategies lightning quick," says Julian.
Of course, AI also poses challenges that traditional SEO did not. Quality control becomes more important, as does understanding how to craft AI-generated content strategically rather than just mass producing it. And reliance on AI tools means SEOs must stay on top of rapid updates and changes to those tools.
But for SEOs like Julian who have fully embraced AI, the advantages far outweigh any downsides. The ability to automate tedious tasks, exponentially scale output, and rapidly iterate has allowed Julian to propel his agency and personal brand to extraordinary new heights in record time.
Discovering ChatGPT
When ChatGPT was released in late 2022, Julian was immediately amazed by its capabilities. As an early adopter of AI in his SEO processes, he was always on the lookout for new tools that could help scale his business even further.
Initially, Julian began using ChatGPT simply to accelerate his own content research and writing. "Let's say I was putting together a 2000-word case study article on ranking a site for 'dog leashes'. I could have a conversation with ChatGPT, giving it the bare bones framework, and it would flesh out the full article with examples, data, tips - saving me hours of work."
But he quickly realized ChatGPT's potential went far beyond just assisting with writing. By engaging in detailed prompts and conversations with the AI, Julian found he could direct it to handle an astonishing array of SEO tasks at high quality and lightning speeds.
Testing the waters
To get a sense of just how powerful ChatGPT could be for his SEO clients, Julian decided to run some tests. He created a few simple landing pages targeting easy, low-competition keywords like "plumbing services Ohio" and "dog leashes California".
Then he had detailed conversations with ChatGPT, outlining his target topics and asking it to generate unique, optimized content and internal linking for each page.
The results excited Julian.
"Within a few weeks, without any human-generated content or links besides what ChatGPT produced, both sites were ranking number one locally for their target keywords. And this was just from a skeleton website with content created entirely through AI conversation in under an hour total time investment!"
Julian was really confident in ChatGPT's ability to quickly scale his SEO projects, so he decided to fully incorporate it into his agency's day-to-day operations. And guess what? It turned out to be a game-changer! By using AI to handle multiple clients simultaneously and providing faster results with better quality, Julian's agency, Goldie Agency, experienced a tremendous boost in growth. In just six months, their revenues shot up by more than 50%.
Key tactics for using ChatGPT in SEO
After his successful testing experience, Julian refined several AI-powered tactics that became core to his agency's operations. Here are some of the key ways he uses ChatGPT to boost his SEO projects in 2023 and beyond:
- Rapid content generation: Instead of taking days to create optimized content, ChatGPT allows Julian to have a conversation about the topics, keywords, and page structures he wants to focus on. In just minutes, ChatGPT produces well-written articles, internal linking suggestions, and more, based on the provided parameters.
- Keyword research boost: ChatGPT makes keyword research much faster and easier. Julian can ask natural language queries, and ChatGPT quickly provides related long-tail keywords, options for scoping, expected search volumes, and more. This greatly enhances the targeting of SEO efforts.
- On-page optimization: ChatGPT goes beyond content generation and helps ensure that pages are fully optimized for target keywords. It suggests improvements for page titles, meta descriptions, headings, and other elements based on SEO best practices. This ensures that optimization is taken care of right from the beginning.
- Link graph mapping: Understanding the linking structure is important for local SEO. ChatGPT can visualize linking graphs and provide strategic recommendations for internal linking, optimizing the flow of authority.
- Content rounding: After generating the bulk of the content, Julian consults with ChatGPT to add the finishing touches. He asks ChatGPT to polish the content, provide examples, strengthen calls to action, or make other adjustments to make the pages highly engaging.
- AI-Generated case studies: Julian incorporates transparency into his YouTube strategy by using ChatGPT to swiftly create fully transparent case study articles. These articles detail step-by-step client success stories, saving him countless hours of editing.
ChatGPT is more than just a one-off generation tool for Julian. He sees it as an ongoing partner that he can rely on for any project questions or issues that arise. This ensures that his work stays on the right track and any problems are addressed early on.
Quality control
However, it's important to remember that churning out a large quantity of AI-generated content is meaningless if there's no quality control in place. Julian understands this and adopts a thoughtful and iterative approach when working with AI:
- Spot checking for quality: Julian or his managers manually review samples from each batch of ChatGPT-generated content. This allows them to identify any issues or concerns early on, ensuring that the content meets their standards.
- Adjusting parameters: Based on the reviews and feedback received, Julian and his team refine the targeting parameters, content formats, or tone for the next iteration. They make adjustments to improve the quality and effectiveness of the content produced by ChatGPT.
- Human input for complexity: While ChatGPT is excellent at generating bulk content, certain pieces require human input due to their complexity. For example, intricate how-to guides or lengthy, highly-optimized eBooks may still need the expertise and creativity of human writers.
- Creativity in moderation: Although AI writing tends to follow a formulaic approach, Julian believes that leaving room for creativity enhances the engagement of the content for readers. By infusing some human creativity into AI-generated content, they can deliver a more captivating experience that algorithms alone cannot achieve.
The human factor
Even though Julian has equipped his agency with AI assistants, his approach remains focused on prioritizing quality over quantity. While automation helps streamline processes, Julian believes that human experience, creativity, and judgment are still of utmost importance.
Julian emphasizes that, like any tool, AI needs to be used correctly by an experienced operator. It can handle many tasks, but there are still delicate and nuanced aspects that require human involvement.
For Julian and his team, this means:
- Hands-on project management for all AI work: They take an active role in overseeing and guiding AI-powered projects.
- Detailed briefings and check-ins: They provide clear instructions and regularly communicate with the AI assistants throughout the projects.
- Strategic human input: They contribute their expertise and insights in areas where AI may fall short. Human judgment is valuable for making important decisions.
- Manual review before publishing: They carefully review the outputs generated by automation to ensure quality and accuracy before making them public.
The goal is to maximize the benefits of automation without completely replacing human roles. Julian believes that experience is crucial in directing AI contributions towards successful outcomes, rather than relying on them blindly and compromising the quality of work.
The future is now
For SEOs actively participating in the AI-powered digital revolution, there are big opportunities ahead according to Julian. As he puts it:
"We're still just in the earliest stages of conversational AI, but tools like ChatGPT prove what's possible even now is just the tip of the iceberg. In 3-5 years when systems have exponentially more knowledge and abilities, SEO will be unrecognizable compared to today."
Julian's message is to embrace AI thoughtfully right from the start, so we can shape it to meet the unique needs and realities of our industries. By being wise directors of AI applications and gaining experience, SEO professionals can achieve new levels of efficiency, productivity, and success that were previously unimaginable.
For Julian and the new generation of entrepreneurs integrating AI, the future is already here. By continuously adapting our approaches and optimizing the collaboration between humans and AI, limitless possibilities are waiting for those who are bold enough to seize them.
As Julian notes, "ChatGPT has completely transformed my business in under a year. I can't even imagine what the SEO space will look like in another year or two as this tech keeps evolving. All I know is the SEOs who master AI now will be the ones dominating the industry when that future arrives."
Actionable takeaways
For SEOs looking to start integrating ChatGPT and AI into their workflows, Julian has a few key pieces of advice:
- Start small and iterate: Don't try to automate everything at once. Pick a few use cases, test, refine, and scale up gradually as you gain experience.
- Quality control is crucial: AI content generation is powerful but not foolproof. Implement human checkpoints to maintain high standards.
- Think beyond just content: ChatGPT can help with everything from keyword research to technical SEO to content optimization. Get creative in your applications.
- Stay on top of AI developments: This field is evolving rapidly. Carve out time to stay informed on the latest tools and techniques to keep your edge.
- Don't forget the human element: AI may be able to handle increasing complexity over time, but human insight, creativity, and judgment will always play a critical role in successful SEO.
Conclusion
The increasing popularity of AI assistants like ChatGPT marks a new era for SEO. It's a time when automation and human expertise work together to achieve remarkable levels of efficiency and impact.
People like Julian, who were quick to adopt this AI revolution, are showing that SEO professionals who embrace it can enjoy huge benefits. By adding tools like ChatGPT into their work processes, they can greatly expand their operations and achieve impressive results without compromising quality.
However, successfully using AI requires active supervision and adjustment from humans. Simply relying on AI to generate content without a human touch will lead to average or mediocre outcomes. The key is to use automation for handling routine tasks in large quantities while reserving human input for strategic oversight, quality control, and creative optimization.
When the balance is struck correctly, as Julian has done, the competitive advantages are extraordinary. Julian's agency and personal brand have experienced explosive growth, thanks to the utilization of ChatGPT.
One thing is certain: AI is here to stay and will continue to become more advanced. Online entrepreneurs who are forward-thinking are already leveraging AI to gain an edge over their competitors.
As Julian puts it, "Online marketing even a year from now will be unrecognizable compared to today thanks to AI. So you have a choice: either get on board or get left behind."
