Just a quick article today about some of my morning personal thoughts (locked in my hospital room – it’s a long story I won’t tell more on these pages).
Ten years ago, SEO was a simpler game: it was possible to outsmart search engines by using the right techniques— (“placing the right keywords in the right places” and similar techniques). SEO managers could achieve high rankings for their websites.
However, search engines have become much more sophisticated. This has made traditional SEO tactics less effective, as search engines can now recognize and penalize manipulative practices.
One of the major factors contributing to the potential decline of SEO as a standalone role is the rise of generative AI, such as ChatGPT. If you’ve not lived in a cave over the last two years, you know these AI systems can create content, analyze data, and optimize websites more efficiently than humans in many cases.
As AI becomes more advanced, the need for human intervention in SEO decreases.
Currently, many companies still rely on SEO specialists because the industry has become incredibly complex. However, there is a growing realization that SEO managers have limited control over search engine algorithms. If you’re an SEO manager, yourself or working on SEO techniques everyday, you must honestly acknowledge that using SEO techniques to “outsmart Google” no longer really works. It is increasingly difficult to guarantee top 3 SERP results to your manager or to explain why a result in the featured snippets or in the first position has suddenly dropped, or how to regain it the following month.
This awareness is leading to a shift in how businesses approach their digital marketing strategies.
Personal Opinion
My personal opinion is that, at some point, companies (first the smaller ones, then gradually the larger ones) will realize that their SEO manager has no control over anything and that their position is no longer useful.
It is often said that AI (especially generative AI) will never truly replace humans. In this case, I think the role of the SEO manager will gradually disappear in favor of more versatile positions. The SEO manager will no longer be just SEO but will take on other roles within the marketing department. They might need to train in SEA (if they haven’t already), project management, or new advertising methods. Or perhaps the “organic” aspect of SEO will push them to specialize in other organic digital formats, such as managing influencers or partners.
I think we all should acknowledge that the old ways of using SEO techniques to outsmart Google no longer work effectively. More than ever, no one can guarantee you TOP position ranking while applying basic SEO methods.
If the “magic of SEO,” as I like to call it, may persist for a few more months or years, companies will eventually realize that they no longer need a purely SEO-focused role or a generalist SEO profile. If you’re concerned, you’ll need to change and “reinvent yourself” (as I’m doing for a few months now).
What do you think about it?
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