ChatGPT & AI-powered Content: What They Mean for Your ecommerce Site’s SEO

What is the role of AI-generated content in SEO?

here are a lot of new opportunities with the rise of AI-powered content tools.

Early reports show that ChatGPT can be a valuable tool for generating short, basic product descriptions that are created quickly and require minimal edits. But when the content gets over 100-150 words, it becomes increasingly challenging for it to sound natural and to ensure it’s unique. With longer content, we’re seeing a good chunk of repetition or sections that are almost identical to the source material the tool used.

Ultimately, the output is only as good as the input, which still requires expertise and time. To assess just how much time and expertise are needed, we’re currently running controlled experiments and tests.

How should I use ChatGPT in my SEO and content strategy?

If you want to test out the technology on your own, don’t jump in and publish a bunch of new pages just yet! We recommend only using the tool for short, simple product descriptions or for idea generation.

As with any content (either written by AI or a human), be aware of Google’s guidelines for automatically generated content. The key takeaway is to make sure you’re adding value and keeping the content original beyond what is automatically produced. The human element is something that Google has consistently espoused as imperative to developing user-centric content. Keep this in mind as you’re experimenting with various tools.

What are some of the other SEO implications we can expect from the rise of AI?

While it’s speculation at this point, some of the changes in the SEO landscape might include:

• More frequent Google algorithm updates. It’s impossible to know what this will look like. More focus on verified human-generated content? More emphasis on backlinks? Social signals? Keep an eye on Google’s documentation and announcements!
• More searchers moving to Bing when they roll out ChatGPT within their search engine. This possibility alone warrants that companies relying on ecommerce claim their Bing Webmaster Tools accounts to ensure their site is being properly indexed by the search engine. This will ensure that they capture any additional search traffic coming from Bing.
• More emphasis on quality backlinks. Search engines may have to rely more heavily on links from reputable (human!) sources to confirm the usefulness of certain content.
• Slower site crawling and indexing as the web is flooded with new content. It will be more important than ever to make sure your site has an optimized crawl budget so search engines can find more of your high-priority pages.
• Larger emphasis on author bios within web content. Content that’s clearly tied to a single author through a bio and connected social media accounts could be given more weight than content that’s authored under a general name.

As AI tools and technology evolve, they will continue to disrupt more and more industries, making significant changes in the way companies approach anything from logistics to content development and SEO. Quick adoption, smart testing, and continuous process iteration will be key to taking advantage of these disruptors and building a future-proof business.

Special shout-out to Frank Tenaglia and Vlad Shvorin for their tireless research into AI technology.