How AI Is Changing SEO (and What to Do About It)

Search isn’t what it used to be. With AI transforming how people look for answers and how platforms deliver them, it’s time to rethink your content strategy. In this episode, I’m breaking down the major shifts happening in SEO and what small business owners need to know to stay visible online.

We’ll talk about how search behavior is evolving, what today’s algorithms are really looking for, and how to show up with content that’s both strategic and personal. If you’ve been relying on keyword tricks or hoping AI can do all the writing for you, this episode will help you course-correct and focus on what still works.

Chapters

• 1:53 What Is AI SEO Really?
• 3:54 How People's Search Habits Changed
• 4:53 Search Engines Adapting With AI
• 5:59 Writing Content That Ranks Higher
• 8:11 Common AI SEO Pitfalls
• 9:15 Recap and Weekly Challenge

Transcript

Janice Hostager: 0:04

I'm Janice Hostager. After three decades in the marketing business and many years of being an entrepreneur, I've learned a thing or two about marketing. Join me as we talk about marketing, small business and life in between. Welcome to My Weekly Marketing.

Janice Hostager: 0:28

I was at a conference last week and, after listening to a speaker talk about SEO, someone in the audience said you know, there's now AI SEO too, right? And I thought, oh my gosh, of course there is. Why wasn't I thinking about this? So I thought I needed to do a deep dive on this topic and share what I found out. So welcome back to My Weekly Marketing. I'm your host, Janice Hostager, and today we're diving into a topic that is kind of like shifting sand. How artificial intelligence is changing search engine optimization and what that means for your business. Now, if you're thinking SEO already confused me and now AI is getting involved, I get it. Take a deep breath. In this episode, I'll share down-to-earth information about what's changing, what matters more than ever, and how you can adapt your marketing strategy without a tech degree or like a 10-person team. So, of course, AI is changing the way people search and, as a result, people need to change the way we as businesses rank in the search engines. So today we're going to talk about first what AI SEO really is, how people's search has changed, how search engines are adapting with AI, how to write with AI so that you rank higher, and a few common pitfalls with AI and SEO. So let's get into it.

Janice Hostager: 1:55

Okay, first, what is AI SEO really? SEO, of course, is search engine optimization, and it's for helping search engines understand your content so it shows up on the search engine results page, like Google or Bing, when someone is looking for what you offer. AI, artificial intelligence, is a machine's ability to learn from data and make decisions or generate content that feels human. Put them together you get two big changes. AI is changing how people search, such as ChatGPT or voice assistants. AI is also changing how Google ranks and displays content. Google now uses AI-driven models and algorithms to prioritize content that's not just keyword stuffed but actually useful to real people. That means keyword strategy is still relevant, but context, clarity and helpfulness have taken the front seat. For those of us running a business, that means using the right keywords on your website still matter, but it's no longer enough just to sprinkle in a few popular search terms onto a page. Now Google and AI-driven search tools are much more focused on context, so what the content truly is related to and what that person is searching for. Clarity, is it written in the way that's easy to understand? And helpfulness. Does it actually answer the question or solve the problem that the researcher has? So, in simple terms, think of your website like a helpful conversation with a customer, instead of trying to guess the magic words they might type into Google. Focus on being clear, useful and on topic. AI looks for content that feels like it's written for humans, not just for search engines. So, yes, include keywords, but focus even more on creating content that's genuinely helpful and clearly explain what your business does and how it helps.

Janice Hostager: 3:54

Number two, how people search has changed. Before, people search for phrases like Life Coach, Dallas pricing or best CRM for small business. Now they ask full questions like how much should I expect to pay for a life coach in Dallas or what CRM works best for solopreneurs who hate tech? They're also using voice search more often with Alexa and Siri. They're expecting instant conversational results and getting answers directly in Google. Have you noticed that AI is on top of Google search results? Sometimes people are skipping Google entirely and going straight to ChatGPT or even TikTok or YouTube, or doing searches directly in Amazon or Pinterest, especially for products. That means being searchable doesn't just mean being on Google anymore. It means showing up wherever your customer is asking questions.

Janice Hostager: 4:53

Next, you might be wondering how search engines are adapting with AI. Let's zoom in on what's happening under the hood. Google's Search Generative Experience, or SGE, is in testing. It answers questions at the top of every page in paragraphs, and only sometimes shows links below. Google doesn't just match keywords, it looks at meaning. So if your post is titled what eat when you're sick, it might also rank for comfort foods with a cold, even if you've never used that exact phrase in your article. It also looks for helpful content updates. It prioritizes content that's written for people, not just search engines. If your blog is generic or AI written with no personal voice, it probably won't rank well. So the takeaway: Google wants clear, original insights, organized content with headings and bullets and regular types of structure and trust signals about the page, the author's bio and links to real businesses. Next, how to rank with AI so that you rank higher. Google can detect patterns in AI-written content. If it's bland or regurgitated, it won't rank and it won't convert.

Janice Hostager: 6:08

So you want to start with human strategy. AI can't replace your beautiful creative brain, so define this first. Who are you writing to? What do they care about? What questions do they have? What actions do you want them to take? If you have an ideal customer avatar, this all should be really easy. Don't let AI guess your goals. Tell them exactly what you want clearly. Then use AI as a smart drafting assistant. Ask AI to help you organize your thoughts, generate an outline draft sections of your homepage or your service pages and rewrite something to be clearer or more engaging. You can use prompts like write a friendly, helpful paragraph explaining how a life coach helps a mom of three who's overwhelmed with life and kids.

Janice Hostager: 6:58

Next, humanize it and personalize it. Ai is great at structure, but your voice and stories will make it real. Add your tone, humor and real-life examples. Edit anything that sounds robotic, vague or repetitive, and include customer stories, testimonials or metaphors to make it sound real. Finally, focus on Google's quality signals, also called EATT, spelled E-A-T-T. Google's looking for Experience, so show you've done the thing you're talking about. Expertise, so share insights that you have that would benefit your visitors. Authoritativeness, so link to trustworthy sources or include credentials that give you authority and Trustworthiness. Be honest, transparent and accurate. In other words, be a real person. AI can also help you enhance SEO. It can help you brainstorm long-tail keywords, blog post titles, faqs and even meta descriptions, but always pair this with your own understanding about what your audience is actually searching for.

Janice Hostager: 8:06

Next, we can't talk about AI and SEO without touching on a few common pitfalls. We'll call them sinkholes, as I like to call them. These are places where people get stuck. First, letting AI generate all your content without oversight. As I pointed out earlier, Google can detect patterns in AI written content, so use it as a tool, not as a replacement.

Janice Hostager: 8:36

Next, it's better to rank for a helpful, specific post, like how midwives support dads during birth, than to stuff birth coach 20 times into a post. You want to focus on the topic instead of obsessing over keywords. Finally, ignoring your unique expertise. Remember, the most helpful content is the stuff only you can say. Think about your client conversation. That's the content everyone finds golden.

Janice Hostager: 8:58

So let's do a big recap. First of all, seo is not dead. It's evolving and fast. AI is both the challenge and the tool that can help you adapt, and Google rewards real, helpful, human-first content. So this week, here's your challenge. Pick one question your ideal customer asks. Write a blog post, faq or a social post that answers it in your voice, clearly, simply and helpfully. Then use ChatGPT to outline it. But make it yours, then track it, post it, share it, optimize it. That's SEO in 2025. So if you found this content helpful, would you do me a favor and leave a review? Or share this episode with somebody else trying to navigate the AI and SEO maze? And if you'd love a simple AI SEO starter kit, you can grab one. You can go to janicehostagercom forward slash 115. That's 115. And I'll leave a link where you can download that. I'll walk you through everything we talked about today in a downloadable format. So thanks so much for joining me today. See you next time. Bye, for now.