Speaker 1: 0:54

Hello and welcome to SEO is not that hard. I'm your host, ed Dawson, the founder of the SEO intelligence platform, keywordfupoleasercom, where we help you discover the questions people ask online and learn how to optimize your content to build traffic and authority. I've been in SEO and online marketing for over 20 years and I'm here to share the wealth of knowledge, hints and tips I've amassed over that time. Hello and welcome back to SEO is not that hard. It's me here, ed Dawson, hosting as usual, and in today's episode I'm going to be discussing something that's evolved rapidly over the past few years, and that is conversational search. But specifically, I'm going to talk more about the written chat based variety we see in AI chatbots like ChatGPT, bing Copilot and Google Gemini. While many conversations about conversational search may focus on voice assistants like Siri or Alexa, today I'm really going to be talking about those text-based ones, because I think we're all more becoming accustomed to typing longer, more natural questions into search bars or chatting with AI tools. We're moving from simple sort of keyword-based queries like best SEO tips to multi-turn discussions, like you might start with how do I improve my site rankings? Or actually, can you give me some examples for e-commerce and how you will then have that turn-based interaction with a tool like Chachi Gemini, rather than doing the old traditional keyword heavy search that people used to do. So I wanted to explore today what this means for SEO, how we can keep up in kind of a rapidly changing landscape. So, first of all, let's you know, let's define what is written conversational search, k? Um. So, rather than a single query leading to a list of 10 blue links, it typically involves a dialogue, generally in a chat interface. So, for example, you know you'd start with an initial user query like how can I optimize my website for better google rankings? Then the chat bot, the ai, will respond with a summary of key on page and technical seo techniques and you might follow up with a query of key on-page and technical SEO techniques and you might follow up with a query that says which of these techniques should I prioritize first, and then the AI will respond with it might suggest focusing on site speed and link building strategies, that kind of thing. In this scenario, each additional question is building on the prior conversation. So instead of you having to sort of restate context, the system remembers and refines its answers as you go along and you talk more with it, and this is the kind of like the hallmark of conversational search. It's more collaborative and context aware than one-off keyword searches. Now why is you know?

Speaker 1: 3:30

The next question is why is conversational search on the rise? Now what we're seeing is so many chat based you know interfaces and multi-term queries. Why is it so? First of all, it's only come about because of the advancement in large language models. So tools like ChatGPT, google, gemini, they all use massive neural networks which train on vast amounts of data and they can handle queries with a deeper grasp of context and sort of nuance. So users feel like they can actually converse with the system. You feel like you're actually having a conversation and users prefer this kind of natural interaction.

Speaker 1: 4:10

People find it more comfortable to ask follow-up questions in a chat. So traditional search might require you know multiple rephrase queries to sort of get down to where you want to be. But in a chat. So traditional search might require you know multiple rephrase queries to sort of get down to where you want to be. But in a chat interface it feels more like you're talking to, you're like a digital or virtual assistant, and it gives efficiency and depth. With chat style queries you can refine or pivot your search on the fly. So you might you know, you might change the context. You might say, actually, I mean e-commerce, seo, not just general tips for all websites, and then the AI, you know it will adapt, potentially reducing the back and forth of trial and error keywords, so you can actually refine that context as you go along. It's a big difference. And the integration everywhere you know, chat-driven searches no longer just confined to specialist tools. We're seeing it pop up all over the place, on web browsers, productivity software and even on websites to guide users through product selections or faqs.

Speaker 1: 5:03

So what are the mechanics of chat based, conversational search? How does it actually work? So the first big thing, as I mentioned, is context retention. So instead of each query being independent, the search or the chatbot keeps a conversation history. So that means, if you say, tell me about optimizing titles and later ask, um, what about headers? The ai still knows you're on the topic of seo. Okay, it's not going to have to think what kind of headers are we talking about here? Because headers can be used in all sorts of things. It could be used in football, it could be used in a whole number of things, but it knows we're still on the topic of SEO.

Speaker 1: 5:38

Secondly, they have natural language understanding. So these chatbots, they break your sentences into tokens, they apply deep learning to interpret grammar, semantics and then they pull from relevant information and the result is a real, human-like response that often feels more direct and tailored to you than direct, than you know, than reading a blog post. And the third thing is multi-turn dialogue, so each question and answer loop it refines the context. So this is what sets conversational search apart. It's iterative, it builds a deeper thread than a single type query in a normal search bar. And finally, it's aggregated or summarized content, so the AI might combine info from multiple sources to give a unified answer rather than just pointing you to one web page. This can be amazing for users, but it does raise questions for site owners about attribution and traffic. So how does conversational search impact SEO? You know this is time to get practical now.

Speaker 1: 6:34

If conversational search is all about multi-turn Q&A's in like chat interfaces, how do we as SEO's, adapt? So, first of all, we need content that directly answers questions. We need short, direct explanations. Ai chat systems often quote or summarize web content. Having direct, concise answers in your articles helps the AI present or reference your site and a conversational tone. If you have a more natural style with your language of your content, it might align better with how AI tools are passing language and delivering snippets to people.

Speaker 1: 7:06

Secondly, you want to focus on intent and topics, not just keywords. I mean, this is something I've been saying for years. You know clusters and entities. We want AI chatbots to. They parse topics semantically, so consider topic clusters like site speed, titles, indexing, et cetera. If your content covers these comprehensively, the chatbot is more likely to see your site as an authoritative resource. It's kind of this topical authority piece and user intent. You know you want.

Speaker 1: 7:31

Written conversational queries often reveal clear intent, like problem solving or research. So we want to tailor our content to address specific user questions and this means we'll stand a better chance of surfacing in ai responses Structured data and markup. So for faqs, how to or product details, structured data might help search engines and ai based models better understand and surface your content and well-organized sections. Using headings, bullet points and QA blocks, ai tools will typically look for neatly organized chunks of information to quote in chat responses. There has been some stuff posted recently about how LLMs work and whether they strip or mark up and this kind of thing and yes, they will. But if you've still got well, well clearly defined and well structured content, it will help you organize it in context so that when it strips everything, at least it's got things in order. And we know that when tools actually go and do as more and more of these ai tools are doing, and going and doing searches online to add additional context to their answers, they are at that point going to be looking at sources that come up well with structured data, because those are the sources that will rank well when they're searching.

Speaker 1: 8:41

Fourthly, this is going to have a potential drop in click-through and I've covered this in previous podcasts. You know that. You know we are going to see less and less traffic coming from search engines because in a chat environment, users might get all the need from the ios summary. They might not click through to your site. Now, this isn't bad because it does still raise brand awareness. Even if you lose clicks, you're still gaining brand exposure, especially if the chatbot cites your source, and I'm seeing this happen with sites of mine. The chatbots are citing us as a source. Now, this doesn't help us with traffic, but it does mean that our brand is raising it. It does mean that when people actually want to go to the purchase, then your brand is top of mind. Your brand is there as part of their mix, and when they see you doing more traditional searches, then you are likely to be, more often than not, the one that they will choose. And finally, eeat that experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness that Google is so keen on. You know it gives you credibility. Ai tools are going to prioritize content from authoritative sources Government sites, recognized brands, subject matter experts bolstering your authority by demonstrating these same signals that Google's looking for. Anyway. It's going to help you in other sources as well.

Speaker 1: 9:55

So let's look at some real world examples of what I mean by written conversational search. So here's a few examples. So the first one is chat GPT for research. So users might type explain the difference between on-page and off-page SEO, focusing on e-commerce. Chat GPT will then summarize data that's come from multiple sources into a single neat explanation. You might use Bing Copilot for travel plans. A user could say I'm planning a trip to Paris what's the best time of year to visit? Followed by how much should I budget for a week-long trip? And the chatbot's going to reference multiple sources and it's going to weave it one-to-one cohesive chat thread, or you might use Google Gemini for code snippets. So a developer might ask how do I implement schema markup in HTML? And Gemini can provide code examples and if your content is well-structured and recognisable and authoritative, it might feed into those examples.

Speaker 1: 10:45

So where's this all headed? What does the future look like for a conversational text search? I mean one. We're going to see more personalization. Chat interfaces can integrate with your past search history or your user profile to tell answers more precisely to you. So I'm seeing this in ChatGPT. You know that it might remember that you're an e-commerce site and tell a SEO advisor accordingly. Chatgpt now remembers you know that keywords people use is related to me, that this podcast is related to me, it knows things about me. It's personalizing more and more to me as we go on.

Speaker 1: 11:21

Secondly, real-time data and citations. You know we're already seeing experiments where chat tools are citing their sources, be this in ai overviews, be this in gemini, be this in chat gpt and you know this might evolve so that each snippet of text starts to include direct, and that will help us get recognized and possibly even drive traffic to us. There are ethical and there are actually concerns. I mean chat ais can provide. You know they can hallucinate so they get incorrect or incomplete answers. Fact checking could become more essential for people, and so that role of building trustworthy, high quality content becomes even more vital.

Speaker 1: 11:55

If you want your data surface to accurately and I think we're going to see more hybrid search results search could easily and probably is going to become a blend of chat based summaries and traditional search beneath, and users are likely to scroll if they want more detail, if they want to potentially purchase things, because obviously you know you can get as much information as you want out of a chat interface off chat, gpc or for those other other ais like that but you can't buy a product off them, at least not at the moment. So when people are actually looking to buy something, take that next step they're still going to need real sites underneath. They're going to need real content. So that's why it's important not to get freaked out about how chat is going to change the face of search. You know it may well lead to much fewer people visiting your site, which is terrible. If you're relying on display advertising, I completely get that. You know that's a real challenge. If you're relying on display advertising, I completely get that. You know that's a real challenge for people who rely on display. But if you're not, if you're a site, that's e-commerce, if you have a product, if you rely on affiliate sales, you are still going to be valuable because people still have got to get that purchase and it's only so far they can get through these chat interfaces.

Speaker 1: 13:18

So what are some practical tips you? You know that we could take to? You know future-proof yourself. You know, prepare for conversational, text-based search. So, first of all, carry on as you've always been doing answering real questions. You know, include direct q a content within your articles. Think about the follow-up questions user might naturally ask and answer them. Embrace long tail, conversational phrasing Again, stuff that I've been saying for years, you know. Look for those low volume or zero volume searches, things like how can I improve my page speed? What are meta titles and why do they matter? You know, talk about your content and answer your content in a way that is conversational and answers questions.

Speaker 1: 13:56

Thirdly, keep content well structured. Break down complex concepts into sections or bullet lists. Label things clearly. Make it so your content is easy to understand, both by users and by AIs. Maintain author expertise. Okay, put in things like credentials. If you've got author buyers, you can put in all those kind of things. Help put those trust signals in.

Speaker 1: 14:25

Finally, experiment with AI tools. Try your own queries with ChatGPT and Copilot and Gemini and see how your site's content is being summarized, or if it's appearing at all, and start to make adjustments around that. I'm seeing my sites appear in these LLMs, in these chat interfaces, and being referenced, and we're seeing traffic come from them Small at the moment, we are seeing it, so it is happening. So, yeah, that's it for conversational search. I think we're going to hear more people talking about conversational search as opposed to keyword search. It's going to become more and more important. So if you haven't thought about it before, do start thinking about it and think about how your content addresses it. So that's it for now. Yeah, so until next time, keep, keep optimizing, stay curious and remember SEO is not that hard when you understand the basics.

Speaker 1: 15:19

Thanks for listening. It means a lot to me. This is where I get to remind you where you can connect with me and my SEO tools and services. You can find links to all the links I mentioned here in the show notes. Just remember, with all these places where I use my name.

Speaker 1: 15:30

The Ed is spelled with two D's. You can find me on LinkedIn and Blue Sky. Just search for Ed Dawson. On both. You can record a voice question to get answers on the podcast the link is in the show notes. You can try our SEO intelligence platform, keywords People Use at keywordspeoplesusecom, where we can help you discover the questions and keywords people are asking online, poster those questions and keywords into related groups so you know what content you need to build topical authority and finally, connect your Google Search Console account for your sites so we can crawl and understand your actual content, find what keywords you rank for and then help you optimize and continually refine your content and targeted, personalized advice to keep your traffic growing. If you're interested in learning more about me personally or looking for dedicated consulting advice, then visit wwweddawsoncom. Bye for now and see you in the next episode of SEO is not that hard.