Can AI Improve Your SEO Strategy? A Complete 2026 Guide

Artificial Intelligence is the new feature of SEO and has completely changed search. Today's users are getting personalized search results depending on their past behaviors, their mobile devices or any other device, their geolocation, and hundreds of other different factors. AI featured search engines create tailored outcomes that cite web pages rather than ranking them by concentrating on intent and context rather than using conversational indexing techniques. Search engine web apps, particularly those that present AI based overviews, like SearchGPT, and apps like Perplexity, have advanced methods of search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is a traditional method and is very important for visibility but with the help of AI it is more strengthened.

As traditional SEO services are still important, artificial intelligence strengthens it, enabling automation through machine learning and data mining to boost productivity and discover new benefits in the organic channel. Page one results are more relevant because of the shifting competitive landscape, even though the SEO mentors we know still serve as an important part of optimization.

Artificial intelligence helps to find the relation between search intention and the content. the info reflected creates an image that is tailored to a certain content landscape. In simple terms, optimization methods that are effective for one family or we can say keyword, might not be effective for another family, group or keyword.

Introduction

Digital marketing strategy cannot be accomplished without planning a proper search engine optimization (SEO). It helps you to make sure that your content is in line with what people are looking for online by taking advantage of their search intent.

A study by SemRush says that 68% of businesses are pleased with the outcome of leveraging AI for SEO and content marketing and more than 65% of the companies use AI.

SEO is a method that can be a bit complicated sometimes. It involves keyword research, content drafting and website optimization. But a lot of manual tasks can be automated using AI tools. To be more precise, AI tools can help you:

• Enhance your content for on-page SEO
• Make a keyword strategy for you.
• Get some backlinks for off-page SEO.
• Optimize your website for technical SEO.
• Adjust location details for local SEO.

Before we talk more about them, let’s see why SEO is crucial as part of your marketing strategy and how AI affects SEO

What is Search Engine Optimisation and Why is it crucial

SEO, also defined as search engine optimization, is the technique of gaining traffic from organic, no cost or natural search results in various search engines like Bing or Google.

The main target of SEO is to raise your website’s place in search engine result pages or SERPs, as the more highly a site ranks, the more audience will check it.

There is a 2025 study by First Page Sage that says that the first organic result on Google has an average CTR of about 39.8% but the page that comes in second position or result averages around 18.7%.

So if your priority is the website ranking and the content ranking, it is an indication of SEO being the more important part or the center, depending on whether your plan is created for different digital platforms.

Top recommendation: Search engine optimization does not only focus on search engine platforms; it also focuses on social media networking channels like Youtube, Instagram or Reddit, which are more frequently being utilized to search for contact and should be optimized.

Effects of AI on Search Engine Optimization

AI is changing the landscape of SEO in many different ways, which makes it easy for marketers to use different channels.

A research shows that in year 2022 SEO sector produced $68.1 billion globally but following this, it has also been anticipated to touch $129.6 billion by 2030. But according to experts, these predictions were made before the emergence of generative AI that can expose the industry to the risk of becoming obsolete or can cause some sort of disruption.

A 2024 press release by Gartner says that traditional search engine volume is anticipated to drop by 25% by 2026 mainly because of the emergence and increased use of generative AI chatbots and virtual agents as replacements for answer engines in place of conversational queries. These changes mean that the expert digital marketers not only focus on optimization for traditional search engines like Bing or Google but also adjust according to answer oriented platforms or social media channels as AI based interfaces.

The ranking of search intent depends on the understanding of the search engine and what it is aiming for and what audiences are searching for or users are looking for in order to provide the perfect answer.

According to a recent report by SEMrush, the AI Overview feature from Google is now seen to be around 13.14% of all US desktop queries, which is a rise from 6.49% as calculated in january for year 2025.

There are some more reports delivered even higher usage. For instance, another study by Xponent21 predicted that AI Overviews will show up in over 50% of all Google queries as of mid 2026.

In simple terms, the change towards search engine result pages based on AI generated summaries highlights the relevance of adapting SEO techniques for this new landscape.

More than 96% of AI Overviews show up for queries with informational user intent, according to research by seoClarity, while only 1.2% show up for transactional queries. This implies that blogs and other informational websites will need to be AI-SEO optimized. 

Google's use of AI has expanded to incorporate sponsored results in AI Overviews. For instance, An example was given in their AI Overviews Ads announcement: a searcher asking "how do I get a grass stain out of jeans?" saw an advertisement for stain removers.

Important components of AI impact on SEO

AI Based Algorithms

Algorithms, like Google's RankBrain, leverage AI to improve search result precision and customization as they use machine learning (ML) to identify user intent. This needs content to be more useful, user centric, and conversational to rank highly.

Content Optimisation & Creation 

AI based tools such as ChatGPT or Jasper make it simpler for businesses to create content instantly. Yet, human involvement is always suggested to assure the content is precise, useful, and unique. Google has said that AI-generated content won’t influence search rankings but is more centered on the quality of content. To use this, marketers should focus on EEAT based content to rank.

Keywords

Choosing the perfect keyword or keyword combination is very important in SEO. Yet, AI is centered on the content and intent behind search queries, which makes keywords less relevant in searches. This needs keywords to be part of a comprehensive SEO strategy instead of the key focus and to be incorporated into appropriate and informative content.

How To Utilize AI for SEO?

There are many changes and restrictions in SEO but you need to maintain considering SEO as an important component of your marketing team's broad strategy. 

Develop A Keyword Strategy

Artificial intelligence can enhance keyword research by identifying search intent, trending topics and gaps in content on your website. There are various AI based tools to optimize your SEO strategy and find new keyword opportunities. Ahrefs is an SEO tool that integrates AI to evaluate SERPs and decide whether the user’s intent is informational or transactional. This helps you target keywords in a more effective manner that aligns content with user intent.

Optimize Content for On-page SEO

Search engines like Google always appreciate and prioritize content that is well structured, user fiendly and easy to follow. Using AI tools helps a lot, as these tools can recommend content structure, headings and narrative flow based on search engine result page (SERP) analysis. Companies can use AI to improve writing quality, create outlines, generate title and optimize keyword placement effortlessly. These improvements boost content relevance and ranking opportunities.

Improve Your Website For Technical SEO

Technical SEO provides your user with a smooth, fast and more accessible user experience. With the help of artificial intelligence, one can identify traffic drops and evaluate potential causes like Google algorithm updates easily. By using AI you can automate bulk technical improvements like adding alt text to images. AI features for tools like Screaming Frog can automatically generate alt text for images effectively.

Locate Backlinks For Off-page SEO

Off-page search engine optimization focuses more on building authority using backlinks for reputable or trusted websites. Using AI tools like Gemini or ChatGPT can help generate link building strategies and outreach ideas. It helps you target industry blogs, influencers, online magazines and news outlets for backlink opportunities. If you are able to create high quality backlinks, it can boost your website credibility and search visibility.

Optimizing Location Details for Local SEO

Artificial Intelligence promotes local SEO by improving or optimizing Google Business Profiles, replying to reviews and evaluating performance data. To generate a more optimized description, use tools like Semrush’s AI Google Business Profile Description Generator. These AI tools help your business shine in the local searches and Google Map results. In simple terms, it strengthens your local visibility and attracts more nearby customers.

24 Powerful AI-Based SEO tools

It is very crucial to recognize that there are various SEO tools and platforms like Moz, Semrush, and Ahrefs that have built-in AI abilities for more efficiency. There are some efficient AI-based SEO tools mentioned previously for some important tasks but this is a dedicated section where the tools are categorized by their use and area of usage. These are some of the most efficient SEO tools that use AI.

For Keyword Planning

• SurferSEO
• Clearscope
• Ahrefs
• Semrush
• MarketMuse
• Moz

For Content Generation & Optimization

• ChatGPT
• Perplexity
• TextOptimizer
• Google’s Notebook LM
• SurferSEO
• Jasper
• Frase
• Yoast’s SEO Content Assistant

For Local SEO

• Semrush
• Falcon
• Whitespark
• BrightLocal
• Ahrefs
• Moz Local

If you depend on search engine optimization as an approach to having your content identified and brand ranked, It is very crucial to comprehend how artificial intelligence can influence your activities. But keep in mind that it can also assist your SEO strategies, so think about trying some of these tools.

Use AI To Boost Your Marketing Campaign Performance

Artificial intelligence is not just limited to ChatGPT. Dedicated marketers need to have an understanding of how to make digital marketing strategies based on AI to gain more in minimum time and with minimum effort. We provide professional SEO well versed with all the AI aspects to support and optimize your digital marketing activities. They understand how to use AI to analyze and generate content and use certain tools in channels such as SEO, social media and PPC. MSM Coretech incorporate digital strategies to improve planning and increase efficiency at different stages of the customer journey. What are you holding out for? Get in touch with us today!.

The Author

Dhananjay Singh Rathore

Dhananjay is someone with a deep fascination for technology. He loves all tech ranging things from gadgets to applications that make life easier. Apart from the tech world, he derives happiness from translating his knowledge into words that can make almost everyone technologically literate. When not composing any tech-related or other forms of writing, you can find him capturing the beautiful moments of the day in a camera, spending hours binge-watching, and hanging out with dear ones.