A Beginner’s Guide to AI SEO

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What Is AI SEO?

AI SEO means utilizing artificial quality (AI) for tasks related to improving your website’s visibility successful integrated hunt results.

AI tools for this are capable to rapidly analyse tons of data. And supply recommendations based connected their learned understanding.

This means that AI-powered tools tin velocity up time-consuming but indispensable SEO tasks. Like:

  • Generating contented ideas and outlines
  • Adding schema markup to your website (i.e., codification added to webpages to assistance hunt engines amended recognize your content)
  • Analyzing contented selling data

In different words, AI tin assistance you get your enactment done faster.

For example, ContentShake AI tin make afloat articles that are optimized for SEO. And connection tips connected however to amended the content.

Semrush ContentShake AI generated nonfiction  dashboard showing options to publish, edit, and regenerate article

And Semrush Copilot analyzes your content’s performance. And gives you a summary of information and recommendations astatine a glance.

For instance, the instrumentality volition archer you erstwhile your competitors accrued their visibility oregon if you’ve mislaid rankings for keywords. And what to bash successful those cases.

Semrush Copilot recommendations

Further reading9 Tips for How to Bring AI into Your SEO and Content Strategy

How to Use AI for SEO

Many SEOs and contented marketers usage AI to constitute contented briefs, outlines, and drafts. 

But you tin leverage the exertion successful tons of ways.

Here are 7 AI SEO usage cases:

1. Do Topic Research

If you’re caller to SEO, it’s a bully thought to commencement gathering immoderate taxable ideas. Which you tin aboriginal usage for probe to find circumstantial topics you’ll cover.

Trying to travel up with ideas connected your ain tin beryllium tricky. But AI tin springiness you viable ideas successful minutes if not seconds. 

You tin usage a instrumentality similar ChatGPT to participate a punctual like, “Hi, tin you make fun, SEO contented ideas for the keyword ‘makeup.’”

And the instrumentality volition springiness you a database of amusive ideas.

ChatGPT effect   to punctual  asking it make  SEO contented  ideas for the keyword 'makeup'

But tools similar ChatGPT don’t typically person entree to reliable keyword data. So, usage these arsenic starting points for your research.

2. Conduct Keyword Research

Keyword research is the process of uncovering words oregon phrases that your people assemblage really searches for. So you tin people those keywords and look successful beforehand of the close people.

AI tin importantly velocity up the keyword probe process. And alteration you to get much personalized keyword data.

Use Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool for this.

Enter a connection oregon operation related to your manufacture oregon products/services, participate your domain, and click “Search.”

Semrush Keyword Magic Tool commencement  with keyword and domain entered and Search fastener  highlighted

You’ll get a database of keywords. With the pursuing data:

  • Search intent: What a searcher wants to spot erstwhile they hunt for a keyword. For example, erstwhile searchers look up informational (I) keywords, they privation to larn much astir a topic—not bargain a product.
  • Volume: The estimated fig of times a keyword gets searched per month
  • Keyword Difficulty (KD %): How pugnacious it is to fertile for a keyword connected a standard of 0% to 100%
  • Personal Keyword Difficulty (PKD %): An AI-powered metric that shows however pugnacious it is for your circumstantial website to fertile successful the apical 10 hunt results
Keyword Magic Tool results with Intent, Volume, PKD, and KD columns highlighted

Look done the database of keywords. And instrumentality enactment of the ones with precocious hunt volumes (higher than 100) and little Personal Keyword Difficulty scores (lower than 50%).

Once you’ve picked a keyword, click connected it to entree the Keyword Overview tool. And get adjacent much data.

Like your domain’s topical authority (i.e., however authoritative your website is successful the analyzed term’s niche).

Personalized Keyword Overview study  for selected keyword

You tin besides scroll down to spot keyword variations. And the top-ranking contented connected the hunt motor results leafage (SERP).

Use this information to make a database of keywords that are some applicable to your marque and feasible to fertile for. And repetition the process utilizing the different ideas you came up with.

Or, fto ContentShake AI bash the probe for you.

Go to the instrumentality and commencement a escaped proceedings if you don’t person an relationship yet.

During the setup stage, you’ll supply accusation astir your marque and voice. So the instrumentality tin tailor its suggestions for you.

After you’ve acceptable up your account, the instrumentality volition make a database of contented ideas. Grouped into categories that are based astir a superior keyword.

Semrush ContentShake AI dashboard with class  tabs and Ideas database  highlighted

Go done each thought and click “Start writing” to get article-specific suggestions like:

  • Titles
  • Target keywords
  • Recommended connection count
  • Brand dependable (which you tin create)
  • Readability level
Title suggestions and Create nonfiction  fastener  highlighted

You tin adjacent inquire ContentShake AI to make the afloat nonfiction for you. By clicking “Create article” > “Go to editor.”

AI generated SEO nonfiction  with Go to exertion   fastener  highlighted

3. Perform Content Optimization

Content optimization is the process of creating oregon updating contented to guarantee it performs arsenic good arsenic imaginable successful integrated search. 

This tin see tasks like:

  • Finding and utilizing applicable keywords
  • Updating titles, headers, and meta descriptions
  • Reworking sections to amended conscionable hunt intent

Over half (53%) of the marketers and concern owners we surveyed said they saw engagement summation aft optimizing content. And 49% said their rankings and postulation improved.

Semrush infographic showing barroom  illustration  for results achieved aft  updating content

Luckily, AI tin assistance you with 2 contented optimization tasks:

  • Identifying contented that’s performing poorly and needs to beryllium updated
  • Updating your contented to assistance it fertile amended and scope much people

Semrush’s Copilot does the archetypal task—identifying contented that’s declined successful performance.

Simply spell to your projects dashboard to find problems and suggestions from Copilot.

Semrush Copilot suggestions showing Visibility drop, rival  rankings, and Broken pages

After you’ve identified contented that needs to beryllium optimized, tally it done Semrush’s SEO Writing Assistant.

It’s an AI-powered exertion that evaluates and grades your contented based connected 4 cardinal factors

  • SEO
  • Originality
  • Readability
  • Tone of voice

And offers real-time recommendations connected however to optimize your contented for each aspect.

SEO penning  adjunct  dashboard

Keep notes for your semipermanent AI SEO strategy erstwhile auditing and optimizing existing contented for search. And usage what you larn to usher your aboriginal contented instauration efforts.

4. Improve Your Internal Linking

Internal links are links from pages connected your tract to different pages connected your site. They assistance hunt engines amended recognize your site architecture and observe caller pages.

This tin perchance assistance your pages fertile better.

Use ChatGPT-4o to enactment your interior linking strategy.

Just inquire it to find interior linking opportunities for your tract oregon blog and supply your sitemap.

The instrumentality volition past spell done your links. And archer you which pages you tin adhd interior links to.

Like this:

ChatGPT generated suggestions for interior   linking

Then, spell 1 measurement further and look for your orphaned pages. Which are pages without immoderate links pointing to them. These pages person a little accidental of ranking due to the fact that they’re harder for Google to find.

First, you’ll request a instrumentality that tin bash a afloat SEO audit. Like Semrush’s Site Audit

Once you’ve acceptable up your project, click connected “View details” nether “Internal linking.”

Semrush Site Audit study  with Internal Linking thematic study  tab and View details fastener  highlighted

Scroll down to “Orphaned sitemap pages” nether “Notices” to find pages without immoderate interior links pointing to them.

If you person orphaned pages, you’ll spot an “# issues” fastener successful that row. Click connected that fastener to find a database of your orphaned pages.

Notices array  with Orphaned sitemap pages contented   highlighted

Add links from different pages to your orphaned pages. So Google tin find them much easily.

Backlinks (links from different sites that constituent to yours) are similar votes of confidence. So, if an authoritative website links to your content, Google sees that nexus arsenic an indicator that your contented is trustworthy.

AI-powered tools tin assistance you place imaginable high-quality link-building opportunities. And archer you erstwhile you’ve mislaid backlinks from authoritative domains.

Semrush’s Copilot automatically evaluates your backlink health. And delivers recommendations arsenic soon arsenic you motion successful to your Semrush account.

In this case, it’s showing the domain has mislaid invaluable backlinks.

To travel up connected these suggestions, click the nexus successful the bottommost country to rapidly entree the Backlink Analytics tool.

Backlinks Lost proposition  by Semrush Copilot AI

You’ll beryllium taken to the “Referring Domains” tab. Where you tin reappraisal your mislaid backlinks much closely. And find which websites you privation to interaction to recoup those links.

From there, spell to the “Overview” tab and adhd immoderate competitors to comparison yourself to.

Steps to adhd  a competitor

Hit “Compare,” and you’ll get a study similar this:

Updated backlinks study  comparing rival  metrics

Here, you’ll spot information points that tin assistance you gauge the effectiveness of your and your competitors’ link building campaigns. And find caller backlink opportunities.

6. Generate Schema Markup

Schema markup (also called structured data) is codification that helps hunt engines amended recognize your content. And makes it eligible to show affluent results that look much salient and instrumentality up much abstraction than plain substance results.

For example, look schema tells Google further accusation that tin look similar this:

Google hunt  results for 'cookie dough recipe' with standing  affluent  results highlighted

Google uses schema markup to place 31 contented types (e.g., books, how-to guides, events, etc). So it tin service up much enticing, applicable results and adjuvant snippets.

But penning and implementing schema markup tin beryllium a daunting process. Because you request to adhd codification to your website. 

This is wherever generative AI tools travel successful handy—they tin make the codification for you. Jasper’s FAQ Schema Generator is 1 option.

Then, you tin transcript and paste that codification into the HTML of your chosen webpage. Through your content absorption strategy (CMS) oregon different website platform. 

To enactment updated connected the presumption of your schema, notation to Semrush Copilot.

Copilot volition archer you astir immoderate structured information errors. To reappraisal these errors, simply click connected the linked tool.

Semrush Copilot Technical Issues proposal   with arrow pointing to structured information  error

7. Quickly Analyze Data

One of AI’s strengths is analyzing ample volumes of data.

For example, Semrush Copilot draws from Semrush tools to supply insights astir postulation dips, ranking declines, etc. 

Semrush Copliot AI SEO recommendations showing postulation   driblet  and declined keywords

So you don’t person to sift done idiosyncratic tools to find SEO tasks that request attention.

And you tin usage AI Narratives for GA4 to automatically import information from Google Analytics 4. 

It volition past crook that information into personalized insights. To assistance you amended recognize idiosyncratic behaviour and marque data-driven decisions.

AI Narratives for Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

3 AI SEO Best Practices for Beginners

Here are 3 champion practices to assistance you maximize your usage of AI SEO tech:

Figure Out Where AI Can Help the Most 

Consider wherever you and your squad really request enactment erstwhile integrating AI into your SEO efforts. By focusing connected things that dilatory you down oregon that particularly align with AI’s strengths.

From there, you tin find wherever AI logically fits into your workflows.

For example, AI excels astatine information investigation and signifier recognition. So, it would beryllium a astute determination to usage AI to place trends and patterns. 

Or, if determining which presumption are astir applicable during keyword research is slowing your squad down, usage AI to help.

Further reading14 Best AI Assistants for Marketers

Write Detailed Prompts 

The output you get from AI tools is lone arsenic bully arsenic the inputs. Which means your prompts request to beryllium circumstantial and supply details. 

For example, here’s a LinkedIn station generated utilizing a one-line prompt:

ChatGPT's reply   to 'Write an acquisition  LinkedIn post' prompt.

And here’s 1 with a much elaborate prompt:

ChatGPT's reply   to a much  elaborate  prompt

You tin besides adhd custom instructions to ChatGPT to further refine your output.

Just click your illustration sanction successful the apical close of the ChatGPT model and prime “Customize ChatGPT.

AD_4nXdVVRL39t2zx7yhYk3iUPy9hdqTe4eFrG4pki84N29p6WtfLOAtNbuiUs3vIYGZWHtKXL4A81J3Qjzdm-GcVRtE7ijcM8Qjj78WOGDebCzVCsPAfmRwFRIxp9Ox1kVorIcfikvN5AbTX0F6osXbJHn--4k?key=x3k-qxCqHEn6OeixbNcNXA

Then, adhd the specifics successful the substance boxes. Like this:

AD_4nXcZ7ToOSWqPctr7EsXuboPeXCPoqSxRLh6atccbwQUYztVxQ8wf8lIR-6_7dAlholcr6Da_P0T40N8BuIn8YdxXE3lg2jLwp7xV0g11wsfFkCWYr54HsYJarYwm1LdaZCaSrND5trPm7uTmNSysemUqTVk5?key=x3k-qxCqHEn6OeixbNcNXA

The much elaborate you tin beryllium with your input, the stronger the AI’s output volition be.

Continue to Involve Humans

AI is particularly adjuvant for speeding up contented creation. But you inactive request radical to reappraisal what it generates.

AI can’t bring the aforesaid nuances and discourse to the leafage that humans can. And it’s not ever accurate.

So, regularly reappraisal and refine immoderate AI-generated contented to guarantee it’s accurate, relevant, and aligns with your marque dependable and prime standards. And ever check for plagiarism.

Here’s what Semrush’s Managing Editor Alex Lindley recommends:

Whether you’re asking AI to make contented oregon implicit immoderate different SEO task, interrogate the output: 
Is it helpful? Is it high-quality? Does it adhere to Google’s guidelines? 
If the reply to immoderate of those questions is no, marque changes until the reply is yes.

Further readingThe 9 Best AI Copywriting Tools successful 2024

AI successful SEO: What Does the Future Hold?

The astir commonly reported uses of generative AI tools are successful selling and sales, according to research from McKinsey & Company

And arsenic Semrush Content Writing Manager Ana Camarena notes, marketers who are discerning erstwhile utilizing AI SEO tools volition payment the most:

Knowing however to usage AI is important. But I judge what’s cardinal is to cognize what you shouldn't usage it for. AI—and, specifically, ChatGPT—is not the solution to each things SEO. Even if immoderate marketers are treating it arsenic such.
For instance: When utilizing ChatGPT to behaviour keyword research, it’s communal to get incorrect hunt volumes oregon zero-volume keywords (it’s a overmuch amended thought to usage our Keyword Magic Tool).
When utilizing it to constitute articles, you’ll astir apt get factually incorrect contented that doesn’t travel Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines and doesn’t fulfill hunt intent.

The bottommost line?

AI tin enactment your work. But shouldn’t regenerate skilled SEOs, contented marketers, and editors. 

Ultimately, humans inactive request to beryllium progressive to make high-quality contented that follows Google’s Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) guidelines Camarena mentions above.

Lindley sums it up best: 

Let AI make ideas. And fto humans take the champion ones.

Every selling squad has antithetic needs. An AI instrumentality that works for 1 mightiness not enactment for another. 

That’s wholly fine.

Learn however to physique your strategical SEO tech stack with our guides to the champion AI-powered tools: