Content strategists are losing their minds right now.
OK, maybe I shouldn’t over-generalize.
What I really mean is I’m losing my mind right now, and I’m assuming that if I am, you must be, too.
Here are a few reasons why:
- Google is dead.
- SEO is dead.
A lot is going on with online marketing now, and these are nuclear bombs. There are others that are more like the dull, throbbing pains you’ve learned to live with, and I’ll get to those later.
But first…
Google is Dead.
So SearchGPT launched, and it’s pretty badass. My dream of having an intelligent A.I./robot companion is one step closer to fruition.
After you activate the SearchGPT function by clicking on the globe icon, you’ll ask your question, and then SearchGPT delivers an answer.
**Note** You must have the paid version of ChatGPT to use SearchGPT.
I’ve circled the steps to access and use SearchGPT here:
- Click the globe icon.
2. Notice the blue highlighted Search feature is on.
3. Your answer has clickable sources.
4. You’ll also see the sources at the end of the answer.
Now, instead of refining the question or information yourself, you can actually have a conversation with Chat. You can do this in Gemini, too, but if you prefer ChatGPT or Bing, you’ll stay there.
Right now, I’m having trouble deciding between Chat and Gemini. I love ChatGPT but use the Google Suite, and I’m considering switching my $19.99/month payment over.
IDK, I’ll test them both for awhile longer before deciding.
Meanwhile, on top of lawsuits, judge’s orders, and competition…I foresee Google’s power waning quickly.
Talking With Your A.I.
Speaking of literally talking with your A.I., I’ve been using ChatGPT to summarize articles for months now.
Working with A.I. on this helps me stay up to date with current events in my industry and the world at large, but reduces the time spent reading articles.
I’ll paste a URL and prompt ChatGPT to summarize the article for me, and then ask follow-up questions or read the article for myself if I deem the details intriguing enough.
Not only has this allowed me to reduce my reading list, but I’m also able to go down important rabbit holes on a topic to understand it better.
With SearchGPT, this process gets better right inside of the ChatGPT app, so no need to rely on Google search or it’s products as heavily.
Bing is Now More Important for SEOs
BTW, the release of SearchGPT means Bing’s search traffic and data are more valuable (see the text in the image above).
Remember: Microsoft is a massive investor in OpenAI and has already incorporated ChatGPT into the Bing search engine. So, SearchGPT will return results from the Bing index.
As SearchGPT grows, we’ll want to include optimizing for Bing results in our SEO strategies increasingly.
SEO is Dead
I say this a lot on my site. But, building off the SearchGPT release, I’m forced to ask this again: What is SEO anymore?
There’s still a lot of positivity around SEO. Many of us are trying to convince ourselves and others that SEO isn’t going anywhere. But I’m increasingly convinced that we’re simply allaying our fears.
I mean, I have SEO clients now, and I continue to do the work daily; I continue to see data that my SEO efforts are working. I’m also reading articles that tell me that generative search is still heavily dependent on SEO, but I can’t help but feel that’s a bit optimistic.
There’s Something Called GEO Now
Piggy-backing on that thought: I learned the term GEO recently and even wrote a bit about it in recent posts regarding my thoughts on SEO content strategists and the questions surrounding whether SEO ruined the internet.
Essentially, GEO, or generative search optimization, is the process of optimizing your pages for AI-generated search results. I personally thought that there would be a heavier lift involved with this type of optimization.
I found myself wondering how to change my content so it meets Google’s broadly vague “high-quality content” definition, appeals to A.I., and also actually connects with humans.
In both of the articles on my site that I’ve linked you to above, I mentioned that I’d “delve into GEO” further at some point.
This is that point.
As far as I can tell, as much as I’ve researched, there really is no difference between GEO and SEO right now. But you’ll find a lot of marketers producing content that purports to give you new information on GEO-ing your content so that it’s better for generative search.
I say read them so you’re up to date on best practices, but don’t get overwhelmed thinking your need to re-invent your entire SEO process. You’ll quickly notice you’re probably already optimizing your content for A.I.
Other, Eternal Content Strategy Pains
These are the eternal, dull, throbbing pains I alluded to earlier:
- Social media specialists are angry because they are being told they need to learn SEO.
- A.I. has only reinforced the misconception that digital marketing can be a one-person job.
Social Media and Its Importance in an SEO Strategy
Social media specialists are incensed because they’re hearing that they need to learn SEO. I saw another post on this take off on LinkedIn. At first, I thought that this was a non-issue to be ignored, but after thinking about it, I can see their point.
In my opinion, very few businesses capitalize on the potential of social media. I find numerous companies simply posting because they understand social media is a thing and want to have a presence there, but they are still failing to put effort into using social media to its fullest.
They’re still failing to connect with their audience.
In comes a social media pro who has branding, graphic design, video and audio production skills, copywriting skills, networking skills, and works their assess off to be in touch with the zeitgeist and industry to help your company take advantage of social…
And now you’re telling them that’s not good enough for you. They also need to bring increased data analysis and interpretation skills to the table. Not to mention they also need to learn how to use SEO tools that typically have nothing to do with social media listening tools.
Are you beginning to see why social media marketing pros are pissed at your expectations?
I can see that SEO and social media have some commonalities, but they’re still highly-specialized positions.
Which brings me to this..
Nothing Gets Done With a 1-Person Marketing Team
Clients still think that the catchphrase “digital marketing” means they only need a one-person marketing team. A.I. has made this misperception even worse.
Let me clarify the term “clients” in this context.
I mean unorganized or misinformed clients.
In my experience, these tend to be small- to mid-sized business owners who are in a period of growth or failed to dedicate money towards marketing spend.
Those in a growth transition may not understand that marketing needs to scale with the size of the business and think they or one of their employees can handle things, while also operating the business.
Others have simply forgotten, never thought to, or intentionally did not allocate a part of their operating budget to marketing.
I remember this was one of the differentiators my professors at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership mentioned. These “differentiators” were the things that set a successful restaurant or business owner apart from an inexperienced or unprepared one.
Guess which of those two makes money, instead of losing it.
Long/short: Allocate the budget for a dedicated marketing person, or better, work with an agency. You will get a better ROI this way.
A.I. Does Not Do Jobs, It Only Makes Jobs Easier
BTWs – If you haven’t realized it yet, A.I. is a tool that makes marketing easier, but it cannot replace people.
This is evident in the huge amount of crappy content that search engines are now updating their algorithms to deal with. Publishers flooded the internet with A.I.-generated content, a lot of it published without anyone even proofreading it.
Now there’s a backlash.
Humans learned to spot shitty content, and publishers realized they should revisit how they use A.I. in their content strategies before their brands were damaged.
I’m also going to throw in an incendiary “I told you so” for all of those who panicked back in 2022 and swore the robots were coming to take their jobs. If anyone really lost their job, it was because that corporation was using human labor as a tool, and simply found a cheaper tool that won’t give its opinion and does what it’s told without asking questions.
What About Content Strategy in Late 2025?
That’s my “State-of-the-Union” address for now. I’ll touch on my latest thoughts about content strategy and where it’s going in my next post. I just feel that it might be a huge can of worms that deserves its own article.
Deven Bhagwandin 