The Future of SEO: 5 Bold Predictions Based on 10 Years of SEO Experience

Is SEO dead? 

↪ No, it’s not. (I’ll explain below)

Will SEO exist in 10 years? 

↪ Yes, it will. (In some form or fashion)

What’s the future of SEO? 

↪ A marriage between AI, SEO, & Humans. 

Do I have your attention? 

My name is Connor Gillivan. I’m an SEO and Entrepreneur. I’ve built multiple businesses online in the past 10 years to 6, 7, & 8 figures using SEO w/ an exit in 2019. Today, I teach SEO to millions through LinkedIn and my personal website. 

In this article, I’ll break down simple-to-understand answers on the future of SEO so that you (as a marketer, SEO, or entrepreneur) can benefit from SEO instead of being dominated by it. 

Here’s what we’ll cover:

5 Predictions About the Future of SEO #1: AI & ChatGPT Will Enhance & Hurt SEO #2: GrE-A-T Content Will Win the SERPs #3: Mobile & Voice SEO Will Continue to Rise in Popularity #4: The Best “System SEOs” Will Outlast the AI Rush #5: Is SEO Dead? Absolutely Not. Will SEO Exist in 5 Years? Yes! Here’s Why Actionable Steps to Tap Into the Future of SEO

5 Bold Predictions About the Future of SEO

In the next 5 to 10 years, SEO will undoubtedly change. 

It’s been that way for the past 20 years since Google was founded and search engines became a staple in all of our digital lives. 

This idea of “seo is dead” isn’t a new one either. 

It’s been said time and time again, but SEO continues to grow and live on. 

Why? 

Because people still have questions that they want answers to. 

That’s the core of SEO. 

Let’s dive into 5 predictions I have about where SEO will head next.  

#1: AI & ChatGPT Will Enhance AND Hurt SEO

I believe in looking at both sides of the argument. 

Some think AI is a godsend for SEO and others argue that it’s the worst thing that could happen to SEO. 

I see both sides and I take the pros and cons into account as I incorporate AI and ChatGPT into my SEO processes and strategy. 

Let’s break it down.

How AI Enhances SEO: 

Speed up SEO processes that were manual before. Help marketers better understand their customer avatar.  Open marketers up to new ideas they didn’t have before.  New tools to make the research & optimization process better.  

How AI Hurts SEO: 

Marketers relying solely on ChatGPT and AI writing tools. Massive influx of poor quality AI generated blog content. Race to the bottom w/ AI generated content.  Make marketers think they can do SEO w/out all of the other steps involved.

It ultimately comes down to HOW you USE AI for your SEO. 

If you try to abuse it, it will most likely come back to bite you. 

If you intelligently build it into your current SEO processes and stay focused on high quality content targeted at the customer’s search intent, you should be in good shape. 

#2: GrE-A-T Content Will Win the SERPs

With that understanding under our belts, let’s talk a bit about what type of content will reign supreme in the next 5 to 10 years. 

It’s GrE-A-T content!

What is GrE-A-T Content? 

Here’s a spectrum to define it for you…

Bad: Solely AI generated. No editing. No optimization.  Poor: Human written. No keyword research. Minimal optimization.  Good: Human written. Keyword research. Okay optimization. 

GrE-A-T: Human written. Displaying Experience, Expertise, Authority, & Trustworthiness. 

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust. 

It’s a measure that Google takes into account when rating content published on the Internet. 

When creating SEO content, you want to hit on E-E-A-T as much as possible.

Granted there may be adjustments to it over time, it all comes back to creating the best possible content for people searching on Google. 

That’s what will continue to win, no matter how AI impacts the process. 

#3: Mobile & Voice SEO Will Continue to Rise in Popularity

According to Exploding Topics, 56.8% of searches are performed on mobile. And that figure has doubled since 2015. 

Similarly, 50% of the US population uses voice search features daily (according to Oberlo).

As mobile phones and voice enabled devices become more popular in households worldwide, we’ll see increasing amounts of searches performed with them. 

AI and companies like ChatGPT contribute to mobile and voice search experiences enhancing the ability for new features to increase growth. 

As we approach SEO over the next 5 to 10 years, voice and mobile will rise in importance. 

#4: The Best “System SEOs” Will Outlast the AI Rush 

All content is NOT created equal. 

It’s the System SEOs that go above and beyond to create the highest quality content on the internet. 

What’s a “System SEO”? 

System SEOs = SEOs & marketers that are experts on the end-to-end SEO process and build systems and processes to support high quality at quantity. 

The end-to-end SEO process: 

Competition research Keyword research & clustering Content planning & clustering Matching intent Drafting outlines from 1st page SERPs High quality human written content Content editing & optimization Quarterly upgrades Backlink building

AI tools can help SEOs & marketers in the entire pipeline. 

The craze right now is ONLY focused on one of the stages: Writing content. 

As AI tools progress and get stronger, they’ll bleed into all areas of the SEO pipeline. 

The SEOs, marketers, and entrepreneurs that focus on building a high quality content creation system will be the ones that win in the short and long run. 

#5: Is SEO Dead? Absolutely Not. Will SEO Exist in 5 Years? Yes! Here’s Why

At its roots, SEO is all about your ideal customer avatar. 

Customer avatar = your ideal customer that you want to reach with your business. 

SEO is answering questions for your customers & providing them with answers to questions, pains, problems, and frustrations that they have. 

Yes, Google’s AI generated content will be able to answer questions to a certain extent, but millions of people will still seek deeper answers, content, services, and products. 

People will still see a brand on social media or in an advertisement and want to know more. 

Where will they go? Google and other search engines. 

The same goes for people wanting to learn about specific topics, concepts, ideas, etc. 

I argue this customer trend will continue to thrive in the next 5 to 10 years. 

Actionable Steps to Tap Into the Future of SEO

The future of SEO is exciting! (If you’re an SEO or marketer that believes in SEO).

With the power of AI, creating high quality content will become more and more efficient. 

Here’s 7 SEO tips to take action on today: 

Focus on your ideal customer – over everything else! Test out the new AI tools Learn the end-to-end SEO process Optimize an SEO system w/ efficient processes Design with mobile first in mind Focus on 10/10 GrE-A-T content Optimize often w/ intelligence

If you follow these in the next 5 to 10 years, you’ll be in great shape to adjust to the AI changes. 

Just remember: It’s all about the reader and customer. 

Conclusion on the Future of SEO

The future of SEO is upon us. 

In just the past 12 months, we’ve seen a tremendous amount of change to the industry. 

But that doesn’t mean SEO is dead. 

In fact, it may be more alive than ever. 

With ChatGPT and AI tools, SEO content can become even better than it was before. 

It’s a matter of combining SEO + AI + Humans to create the highest quality content on the Internet. 

Join that tribe and let’s make the future of SEO a bright one!