Feature
The Gist
- AI revolution. AI in SEO is streamlining off-page elements like backlinks and enhancing technical website audits.
- Backlink benefits. High-quality backlink opportunities can be easily identified and organized through AI tools.
- Audit assistance. AI can eliminate numerous manual tasks, expediting the fine-tuning of your SEO efforts.
In a previous Part 1 post, I discussed how AI in SEO is beneficial for on-page strategies. Similarly, these tactics can also be applied to off-page approaches.
Each current AI tool has limitations in relying on web data for responses. However, these tools streamline the inspection of off-page SEO elements by organizing backlinks and consolidating essential tasks. As a result, they facilitate faster technical website audits by eliminating guesswork in link management.
How AI in SEO Fits Within an Off-Page Strategy
As I had mentioned in the on-page SEO post, the current iteration of AI tools consolidates information to reflect a best match between the subject of a prompt request, such as keywords, and a model’s given knowledge reflected within its trained data.
For backlinks and other technical SEO elements, AI frameworks can identify high-quality opportunities. Using prompts can expedite the fine-tuning of your search engine optimization efforts, eliminating numerous tasks.
Here are a few ideas to start.
Related Article: State of Search: Top SEO Strategies for 2023
Matching Backlinks
Marketers should assess the quality of a site's backlinks, as they indicate interest from other websites. The quality of these referrals has long influenced how search engines rank sites. With the advent of AI features in search engines like Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) and Bing Chat, backlinks gain renewed importance. These AI capabilities summarize information from top online sources, which often have a high volume of backlinks.
A larger number of backlinks imply an exposure to a number of platforms, so these sources of backlinks should be noted. This means looking at referring platforms and seeing if they are the ones that you want an association with.
Related Article: Sustainable Search Engine Optimization: Build a Lasting SEO Strategy
Get the Right Backlinks
A crucial off-page SEO task is modifying the sources of your backlinks. Over time, adjustments are often needed as websites become deprecated or undergo "301" redirects to new domains. Therefore, it's essential to regularly check Google results to gauge the online landscape, noting whether new competitors have emerged or old ones have shut down.
Internal Links
Internal links should also be scrutinized, particularly as a website ages. Similar to how backlinks can point to deprecated sites, internal links may direct users to deleted pages. Additionally, the choice of anchor text may evolve over time. A reliable tool should report the total number of internal links, identify broken links and provide a list of anchor text where applicable.
With an AI tool, you can create a series of prompts to streamline the evaluation of each site and its online authority.
A prompt can focus on the types of backlinks available. For example, I used Google Bard to inquire about the number of backlinks to my company's site:
Link Assessment
Note that the prompt response cites Ahrefs, a very reputable source, suggesting that a user could have performed the same steps without AI. However, in this case, Bard summarized the number of do-follow versus no-follow links, listed top sources and assessed the overall link quality. This demonstrates the convenience of receiving a summary, presented with a directional tone.
Response Logic
Answers like this are teaching marketers how to weigh AI prompts, using them to guide large language models (LLMs) to determine how to frame information to support their marketing objectives. LLMs have the ability to create fluent answers to prompts, but to do so, they use statistical calculation of the underlying tokens — tokens are the word stems from the prompt phrases. The calculation creates a prompt response based on what the underlying LLM “believes” will make sense to the user. The interpretation is based on both the LLMs trained data and context of the prompt.
Related Article: Prompt Engineering and Its Vital Role in AI-Driven Marketing
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Further Verification
This implies that the answer received may serve as a good starting point, but further verification of each site's authority is advisable. To confirm the information, use SEO tools like Ahrefs and Majestic, which display technical SEO activity over time.
Added Insights
Reviewing Google Search Console can provide added insights into how your site's pages are being indexed. Recent indexing activity influences how search engines perceive your site's authority.
Final Word on Backlinks and SEO
Backlinks are often overlooked in SEO efforts because their impact can seem disconnected from a website or app's searchability. However, AI tools can remove some of the guesswork, making an SEO strategy more effective.
