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AI-generated responses appear like a direct risk to the traditional natural traffic sites utilized to get from search engines. Today, LLMs simply rip the content on sites and people no longer require to go to a website any longer.
While I personally think this risk is blown totally out of proportion (based on data from sites I've personally seen), I do not think it's an excuse to disregard it totally. From my own experience growing both blogs and YouTube channels, specifically to offer something, I can inform you that video converts way more than composed material.
It's a lot easier to tell if somebody is lying or full of it if you can see their facial expressions and their tone of voice. YouTube must definitely be in your SEO and content technique.
And since you have developed the trust with video, your standard SEO efforts will transform much better. There's even more to it. Previously this year, I had a hunch that if I turned a few of my best ranking post into YouTube videos, and embedded them into my existing blog site posts, my post would rank even better.
Maximizing Marketing Value for Advanced OptimizationI made a YouTube video about the topic, embedded it into that blog 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 simply SEO, the marketing neighborhood as an entire begun to get bombarded with influencers trying to ride the AI buzz train.
It ended up being tough to find relied on sources that weren't prejudiced or had a prejudice to sell us something. While I do think there are benefits to utilizing LLMs in our workflows, I do think it has been overhyped. And in 2026, I anticipate many online marketers will understand that ChatGPT and Perplexity are just a small part of the SEO market.
Maximizing Marketing Value for Advanced OptimizationGoogle still controls 90% market share and with its AI Mode and AI Overviews, it's in the best position to win the AI online search engine race. Search behavior hasn't essentially moved away from Google. Beyond simply that, there are a couple of things that have rubbed me the wrong way about the AI SEO pattern.
What these marketers do not realize is that Things like homepages, pricing pages, or bottom of funnel material, tends to be shown in ChatGPT. The educational top of funnel material is "eaten up" by LLMs and revealed to users without anywhere to click.
If you were to take that very same principle over to Google, you would see the exact same conversion rates. Google's conversion rates reveal less because the traffic is greater due to it being watered down by all the top of funnel material that remains in the equation. Other things like how ChatGPT can make things up, it never completely follows triggers properly (i.e.
I do still think that larger companies will reserve a speculative budget to test things like ChatGPT apps and other AI SEO tools. However in 2026, I anticipate people will recognize enhancing for Google will enable them to show up in ChatGPT and Perplexity also. Simply take a look at ChatGPT Atlas or Perplexity's Comet browsers.
These methods may work now in ChatGPT and other LLMs, however they're short-term plays that will ultimately get punished. Focus on white hat strategies that construct real authority and trust over time instead of going after quick wins that won't last.
ChatGPT and other LLM algorithms are not as fully grown. I can't name this person, however I met an SEO director at a substantial banking business.
And from there, they are utilizing their primary business domain, that has a very strong brand authority, and sending out backlinks to the microsite. And this has actually led to greater rankings for their brand name in LLMs like ChatGPT.It blew my mind that huge, trustworthy business are doing this. And I understood just how much black hat (or grey hat) tactics are going on behind the scenes.
In 2026, I forecast these techniques will continue to happen. Up until ChatGPT's algorithm gets as wise as Google's search algorithm.
Focus on quality over amount. Share real insights, use your own images and videos, and construct topical authority in your niche. This is how solo developers and little teams can beat big brands in 2026. Niche blogging is back infant. However with a twist. This is one of the biggest SEO patterns for material marketing I'm seeing today.
You require a genuine service, be it a newsletter business, a service-based company, SaaS business, or ecommerce shop. And after that you include on this human-centered niche blogging to the website to naturally grow your core product/service offering. In 2026, I anticipate that Google's algorithm will continue to get smarter about which websites consist of AI material and which do not.
In truth, I know lots of individuals silently squashing it with AI created material (even going after top of funnel keywords). However what I am stating is that engaging, human material will outrank AI created content with no original insights. There are two paths I see with SEO's right now: Produce thousands of AI-generated blog site posts and get them to rank in the middle/bottom of page 1.
Produce a hundred human article and get them to rank at the top of the first page. Quality over amount. The first route is based upon sheer volume, and can result in traffic development. But you do risk a prospective algorithm update injuring your rankings. And anyone who writes much better human material will rank higher in positions 1-3. The 2nd path is slower, however can yield greater ranking positions and more trust with readers.
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