The search landscape is changing rapidly, as generative AI takes hold. Google’s AI search feature has been accused of stealing links, raising worries it could lead to a collapse of the industry. So, how is this changing link building?
Google’s AI Overviews could result in three-quarters of a news outlet’s internet traffic being lost. This is according to research commissioned by Foxglove and undertaken by Authoritas.
It is part of an ongoing legal challenge to Google’s theft of content, in particular, within the news and journalism industry.
This had led to increasing worries that generative AI could collapse the industry, having ramifications in all sectors. So, how will this impact link building for businesses?
The New Way to Search
The rise of generative AI is changing how the internet works. ChatGPT and Perplexity are driving searches in new ways, transforming what was SEO into GEO. Webmasters and marketing specialists must begin to change their mindset.
This involves a shift to quality, white label link building techniques that focus on high-quality backlinks from providers like Bazoom. A mentality of more is better must go, and quantity must be replaced by quality.
This necessity can be seen in recent changes to Google. Previously, when a search term was typed in, it would show sponsored results, followed by a list of the highest ranking websites that contained keywords and had optimised SEO.
Now, it shows an AIO overview at the top of the screen. This is taken by scraping websites, then summarising the text, suggesting that links must be more transparent and from relevant sources.
Googles Response
In response to this, Google has released a statement. It believes that AI mode and AI overviews have enhanced the user experience. Adding to this, it noted that people are searching more than ever and asking increasingly complex questions.
This was published on the Google blog by Liz Reid, the head of Google Search. She wrote that the volume of sites has remained stable and that the quality of traffic has increased.
This suggests people are clicking on websites and staying there to have queries answered, as opposed to leaving with their query unfulfilled.
This means one thing for link building: People need to have quality links that showcase their pages and quality efficiently.
While the company has acknowledged research conducted elsewhere suggests otherwise, it defends its position that AI overviews have not resulted in declining traffic.
It says that other research was done before the rollout of its AI systems, and is based on flawed methodology. It is worth noting that Google has provided none of its data or reports on this.
Google has also made no statements on how this will impact the financial infrastructure of the web. If sites make money from clicks and engagement, then AI chatbots will put them out of business. With them out of business, the AI chatbots have nowhere to get their information from.
AI and Content Marketing
There is no doubt that some AI tools can be helpful to content marketers and SEO experts. These can include spelling and grammar checkers, and even some planning tools.
Going deeper, it can even help them sift through huge databases such as Excel. They may need to find numbers or information that AI can find in an instant instead of employing hours of labour.
An example of this can come from one of the most trusted US publications, the New York Times. They used AI to sift through hundreds of hours of video.
This was for a piece of investigative journalism on activism and elections. There have also been cases where databases have been searched using AI in missing persons cases.
How to Link Build for GEO?
Link building for GEO starts with the quality over quantity approach. Citations from trusted sites with high domains will be extremely important, much more so than other low-quality links from unrelated websites. A high-quality backlink buying service should be able to locate these for you.
You can also embark on this yourself: get into other publications, such as trade papers, interviews, and guest articles based on your industry.
Secondly, improve the context of your anchors. The move to GEO has meant that programmes like ChatGPT are searching for people, looking for much more detailed information. The more information a page has in its varied anchor texts, the easier it is for AI to divulge.
This does not just mean a shift to longtail anchors that pack everything in. Instead, spread information out over a range of external and internal links, again using high-quality sources found by websites like Bazoom.
Finally, make sure your links are pointing to high-quality, factual content. These could include research papers your business has conducted. Annual reports and infographics are a great way to do this.
Link building is changing. While media outlets may be afraid that Google is stealing their links, for businesses, it offers a unique opportunity.
GEO will present a level playing field, allowing businesses to get in front of much bigger competitors. To do so, they must embrace link building in a new way, acting smarter than they have in the past.
