The shift of people from traditional search engines to using artificial intelligence tools for direct answers is profoundly changing the internet and the future of websites, blogs, and content creators.
An immediate effect is less direct traffic to websites and more AI mediation. AI tools provide direct and personalized answers, resulting in fewer users visiting websites. This means a decline in organic traffic from traditional search engines. AI is becoming an “intermediary layer” between users and content sources.
AI answers are based on existing content, but users receive information without visiting the actual website. Organic traffic (SEO) is becoming less significant, while other marketing channels like precise targeting of nano-audiences, newsletters, closed communities, and social networks are becoming more important.
Is there a future for content creators? There’s still a need for quality, original, and authentic content, especially in fields requiring deep understanding, creativity, or high credibility. Currently, AI cannot completely replace human creativity, emotion, and differentiation, but it’s definitely changing how content is consumed and produced.
Content creators who specialize in creating unique value, precisely targeting nano-audiences, and building communities will remain relevant.
Two essential things must be done consistently for content creators and media companies to survive:
- Implementing a signals strategy — collecting signals about nano target audiences before any content creation or promotion activity. Signals primarily involve identifying hot topics that interest your target audience, gathering information about the types of content that generate higher engagement, and identifying terms and keywords your target audience uses when discussing your category. This model is called TET- Topics, Engagement, Terms. Using this model allows content creators to produce content that receives high attention and engagement, leading to good performance in an era of weak organic distribution.
- Implementing a content distribution strategy called “Detachable Content” — this approach is based on the assumption that your audience visits your website or blog less frequently. You need to reach the places where they are and distribute (relatively small) pieces of content relevant to the target audience now (based on signal collection for that moment). Distributing many small, relevant content units to your target audience may also be effective in terms of attention level from AI engines.
So what is the future of SEO (organic website promotion)? SEO is changing, not disappearing. The basic principles of SEO — creating quality content, understanding user intent, technical optimization — are still relevant, but the emphasis is changing. All activity in this field needs to be based on the new essential pair (signals marketing & detachable content strategy).
Additionally, no less important — content owners, websites, and media players must invest properly in branding, credibility, and differentiation — so that AI (and users) will choose them as preferred information sources.