AI Will Kill Your Organic Search Traffic, What Can You Do About It?

15 Jul AI Will Kill Your Organic Search Traffic, What Can You Do About It?

From Perplexity AI to Google’s AI Overviews, AI poses a serious threat to your organic search traffic and the consequences could be devastating. 

In this article, I’ll explore how AI will impact organic search traffic, as well as key strategies your business should consider to continue driving traffic to your website from Google — and to get the most out of your current website traffic.

How Is AI Impacting Search Engines?

First, we have to understand how AI is impacting search engines and why it’s a problem for your business. According to BrightEdge, 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine — meaning any changes to search engines could starve your business of traffic.

ChatGPT

When we discuss AI, most people automatically think of ChatGPT. While GPT-3.5 gave most users their first experience of generative AI, GPT-4 took this to the next level: Browse with Bing.

Source: Search Engine Journal

When enabled, ChatGPT formulates a keyword search based on the user’s prompt, then submits the prompt to Bing and retrieves the relevant results. This functionality made AI-powered search chatbots popular and stirred its competitors into action.

Google SGE/AI Overviews

At Google I/O in May 2024, Google announced that the controversial AI Overviews experience was rolling out to all users. Using Google’s Gemini model, AI Overviews will help with “increasingly complex questions” in the same conversation — eliminating the need for users to make multiple searches to cover one query.

Google claims this new feature will “serve as a jumping-off point from which people can explore a wide range of content”, but will users click through to websites if they can get the information they need directly in SERPs? 

WebFx estimates a 140% decrease in organic visibility, inevitably decreasing organic website traffic. We won’t know the full impact of AI Overviews until more data is available.

Perplexity AI

Perplexity AI launched in 2022, describing itself as the “fastest way to get information” based on conversational context clues. The AI-powered chatbot answers queries using a Large Language Model (LLM), similar to GPT-4 and Google SGE.

With 10 million active monthly users and over 500 million search queries in 2023, Perplexity AI continues to grow — 25% month on month between March 2024 and April 2024. 

Search Engine Land argues that although Perplexity AI is currently “dwarfed by Google’s massive search volume”, it offers “a glimpse into how AI could reshape the search experience”.

What Is The Solution?

BrightEdge describes the impact of AI on search as a “searchquake”, impacting “every industry, company and marketer”. Now that we understand the problem, it’s time to create a solution with these strategies — curated specifically to preserve your organic traffic in the age of AI.

Avoid zero-click searches

A zero-click search occurs when Google displays the answer to a query at the top of the SERP – the answer does not require a click-through to any of the listed results. For example, a user search query converting miles into kilometers is a zero-click search because the calculation is performed in the SERP and then provided directly to the user.

Other examples include:

• Calculations
• Conversions
• Definitions
• Local Packs (map with local search results)
• Weather
• Featured snippets
  • Paragraph Snippets (short, encyclopedia-type answers to search queries)
  • Lists
  • Comparison tables
  • Video snippets

With the launch of Google AI Overviews, zero-click searches will become possible for a much wider range of topics. So, which topics will be impacted the most? 

In a study of 100,000 keywords, SEranking found that keywords from the food and beverage niche (e.g., Recipes) triggered AI Overviews most often, while topics related to news and politics saw far fewer responses using generative AI.

Emphasize internal link optimization

Internal link optimization is the process of building links between pages on your website. 

This strategy can help boost your rankings and ensure the benefits of your top-ranking pages are distributed throughout your site — particularly important for high-converting content (e.g., passing “link juice” from a page that has a lot of backlinks to a blog post targeting a high-intent keyword).

One of the best ways to find internal link opportunities is to use Ahrefs’ Best by links report. By identifying your top-performing pages (by number of links), you can then add internal links from these pages to others on your website that you want to improve in Google (i.e., rank higher).

For instance, imagine your business has a high-intent blog post that converts visitors into leads at a high clip (e.g., a large number of visitors navigate from this page to your demo request page and submit a form). 

Say it’s ranking 5th for your target keyword, but you want to improve its ranking to attract more traffic to the page (even a small change in position here could result in a big increase in traffic, see the graphic below).

Nearly 1/3 of searchers click on the first result in a Google SERP. After that, CTR starts to drop significantly. (Source: Backlinko)

By going through your top-performing pages and linking to this high-intent blog post, you may just give your content the boost it needs to enter the top few results — meaning more traffic and more conversions.

Find these pages by entering your domain into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer, then click “Best by links”. The report will show your top pages according to the number of backlinks each page has. If you need to refine further, use the “Word or phrase” search box to narrow down by pages only on your blog (e.g., Using “/blog”). Or, refine by the number of Dofollow or Nofollow links a page has.

Proactive backlink building

As of Google’s March 2024 update, Google has placed a big emphasis on authoritative websites ranking at the top of its SERPs.

Why? Larry Ludwig argues that with the rise of AI content creation, there is “just too much content out there on every topic” and Google cannot distinguish good content from bad. So, in response, Google is “relying on big brands to deliver good content”.

For years, EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust) was considered the gold standard of SEO — but for Larry Ludwig, it is clear that EEAT is “no longer an important factor in Google search results”.

Businesses must now focus on “backlinks and overall domain (read: brand) authority”. 

Authoritative websites often have a high Domain Rating, which is a measure of a website’s backlink profile. Generally speaking, the more relevant, high-quality backlinks your website has, the higher your Domain Rating will be — and often, the better your chances are of ranking content.

However, rarely (in my experience) do companies have a competitive strategy for building backlinks. Most businesses view backlinks as a by-product of publishing content, assuming that “if we create high-quality content, we will naturally attract backlinks”. While this is true to some extent, it is not a foolproof strategy. Businesses that want to be competitive in search need a defined strategy for building backlinks manually.

Which types of content attract backlinks?

Certain types of content naturally attract more backlinks. Your business needs a strategy for consistently generating this type of content — for example, create one to two “backlink-generating” pieces of content per month.

Here are a few examples:

• Statistics blog posts, e.g., 124 SEO Statistics for 2024
• Deep dives into types, e.g., The 4 Types Of Cloud Computing: Choosing The Best Model
• Examples, e.g., 14 Content Marketing Examples to Inspire Your Strategy

To find content ideas that generate a lot of backlinks, you can use the Ahrefs SEO Toolbar. Enable the “search tools” functionality, then start searching seed keywords.

Below each result, look at the “RP” (Referring Pages) metric. The more Referring Pages a result has, the better — this means many websites link to this page and it’s potentially a good topic to attract natural backlinks.

Remember: If you can create a piece of content that beats the top-ranking result (or, at least manages to get in the first results), you stand a high chance of attracting backlinks to your page.

Crafting a Digital PR backlink strategy

Companies also need to capitalize on a Digital PR or outreach approach to building backlinks. 

I suggest working with a specialist agency for both of these approaches as an agency will already have a large list of media contacts they can outreach — it can be challenging and time-consuming for individuals to establish these types of relationships on their own (which often takes years to establish).

Be sure to work with a digital PR agency that has a large list of quality media contacts, then strategize a piece of content that you believe will get the attention of publications. The agency will pitch this to journalists to help secure mentions and links back to your content.

Data-driven content typically does well — original reports, studies, and white papers. Here are a few examples of data-driven content we created at CloudZero (and that have led to attracting a high number of links and media mentions):

• The State Of Cloud Cost In 2024
• Best Global Cities For A Career In Tech
• The Leading Countries Breaking Barriers For Women In STEM

Establish a link insertion strategy 

Link insertion is a process of having another website add a link to one of their existing pages or blog posts back to your website. Again, it’s best to work with an agency as you will benefit from their relationships with bloggers and websites, allowing them to easily insert links into posts on those websites. 

Just be careful who you go with. There are a lot of spammy agencies out there that will build low-quality links to your website. A good link-building agency should allow you to review any backlinks before they’re placed (so you can ensure the websites are a good match for your industry — and that they don’t look too spammy). 

Refresh outdated content

Businesses often get stuck on creating more and more new content while forgetting all about their “old” content. If your company has been blogging consistently for a few years, you likely have a lot of outdated content that is in dire need of a refresh.

One advantage of refreshing old content (versus creating new content from scratch) is that it’s already indexed — and, hopefully, ranking at least on the first few pages of Google. This means that updates to the post are likely to have a quicker impact than publishing a new piece of content. 

Why? New content needs to first be indexed by Google, then it takes time to climb up the rankings. Old content skips the first step because Google is already aware of it.

For instance, if an old blog post is on the second page of Google, refreshing it could give it the boost it needs to reach the first page. If it’s the 8th result on the first page then updating it could help boost it into the top five results — significantly impacting how much traffic the post receives.

When trying to find posts that need to be updated, look at the publish date of the blog post. Is it more than a year old? If so, it needs a refresh to stay competitive — especially if it’s an important keyword for your company.

An alternative method is to use Ahrefs to find keywords that are ranking outside the top five results.

1. First, make sure you are tracking any keywords targeted by your content (blog posts, landing pages, etc).

Then, in Ahrefs’ Rank Tracker Tool, change the Positions dropdown to only show content outside the top three positions. These results indicate posts that need improvements — by updating them, you may be able to improve their rank.

1. Look at which keywords show and inspect the ranking URL. Is the publish date more than a year old? Consider updating it.

Remember: You want to keep your most important blog posts updated regularly. I recommend checking high-intent content at least every six months.

Create content that no one else can

It’s easier said than done but in the age of AI content (where anyone can use ChatGPT or a more specialized AI content creation platform like Jasper to write articles in minutes), one way to stand out is by creating human-driven content that no one else can.

Create expert-driven thought leadership from experienced people on your team who can offer a unique perspective. AI is not capable of original thought; it regurgitates what is already out there. Make your content stand out by offering unique opinions on your industry: how it’s evolving, where it’s heading, and what people should be aware of.

Data-driven content is hard to create but it is invaluable to your audience. Take the example of a “State Of” report — it involves surveying people, which is expensive and time-consuming, but it offers unique insights that no one else can and is backed by data that no one else has.

Nurture the traffic you already have

It’s crucial to focus on getting the most out of the traffic you already have. There are several ways to strategize this:

Conversion rate optimization (CRO)

You should be testing key areas of your website (e.g., homepage, pricing page, demo request page, etc). Could a new layout improve the conversion rate? What about a new color scheme or changing the copy? Maybe adding a testimonial video to your demo page is the missing piece it needs to double your conversion rate. 

Since Google Optimize is no longer an option, I like to use Zoho Pagesense.

Email database nurturing

Capitalize on the traffic you are getting by converting users who are not ready to financially commit into blog post subscribers instead. This means you can continue to speak to them, educate them, and later promote your product. 

When it comes time that they are ready for a solution like yours, you’ll already be on their radar.

Lead magnets

With an effective lead magnet, you can create a lead-nurturing strategy. This could be as basic as manually sending one to two emails per week or creating a fully automated email workflow.

The best types of lead magnets are relevant to your audience, provide value, are trustworthy, and make your audience want more – for example:

• eBooks (providing deep dives into topics)
• Webinars (that can be followed in real-time)
• Tools (e.g., calculators and generators)
• Resources like checklists, workbooks, and templates

SEO Is Changing, But Don’t Lose Hope

Is your business ready for the “searchquake” that is coming? It’s time to brace for impact. Organic traffic has never been more turbulent, from established AI search engines like Perplexity AI, to ChatGPT-4’s Browse with Bing, to the recent launch of Google’s AI Overviews.

Any changes to search engine algorithms have the potential to mitigate your hard work. Google claims AI Overviews will act as a “jumping-off point” for search, but they’re likely to reduce your CTR, especially for zero-click searches. With WebFx estimating a 140% drop in organic visibility from Google AI Overviews, your business will inevitably lose traffic.

You need to create a strategy to defend your business against AI search engines. Take a look at your content strategy. Are you relying on simple queries? If so, it is time to adapt.

Focus on addressing new, complex topics as well as refreshing old content to give it a much-needed boost. Working with a digital PR agency will help win vital backlinks while optimizing internal links will ensure that authority is distributed throughout your site — particularly towards those high-intent pages that are making you money.

Remember: Your skills, experience, and insights are valuable to your audience. Focus on engaging pieces of thought leadership pieces to demonstrate this, as well as data-driven content that your audience will share.

Change is coming, but don’t lose hope. By following the key strategies we discussed in this article, your business can build a contingency plan to avoid losing all the organic traffic you’ve worked so hard to accumulate.