"I could give AI the perfect prompt & it still gives me crap output."
Can AI help you optimize for SEO? I get asked this ALL the time—and when Nora Virginia asked me on her show, the Glow Up to Blow Up Podcast, I literally started laughing.
Not because it's a silly question. (There are NO dumb questions over here!) I was laughing because every single example I've ever seen flashed before my eyes.
So many business owners pop into ChatGPT or Claude, type something like "Can you optimize these show notes for SEO?"... and walk away thinking they have done SEO.
I’m answering this question once and for all and, of course, I’ve got a story that paints the picture beautifully.
The time a student ran her own AI experiment…
The first or second time I ran the SEO Sprint, one of my students submitted homework for me to review: her SEO titles & meta descriptions.
Quick translation in case those terms are new to you:
SEO titles & meta descriptions are the two pieces of copy that show up on a Google search results page. You plug them in on the back end of your website pages. (If that doesn't make sense yet, just stay with me!)
So I'm going through her homework and I se… they're not following the length I shared with students. There is not a single keyword in here. (What the French toast?! 🍞)
I could tell AI was used, but I hadn’t said anything to her. I went through & made modifications; I changed like 90% of what was there.
She responded: "This is so great. I totally used AI to create it. I wanted to run my own experiment!"
My first thought: “THANK YOU! Thank you for proving I still have value in a world of AI.”
I knew it. She knew it. And she ran an experiment that benefited both of us.
AI doesn’t follow SEO best practices
It was really cool to see just how crappy the things were that AI drafted. It wasn’t even following the best practices I’d laid out in the SEO Sprint. Even when I give it the perfect prompt, it still gives me crap output.
SEO titles & meta descriptions have limits: I teach SEO titles should be 40-60 characters & meta descriptions should be 140-155 characters. (Sounds limiting, but we just need them to share enough so the right person leans in & clicks over to your website.)
When the length is off or the keywords are missing, those SEO pieces cannot do their job of getting people to your site.
Why does AI get confused about SEO?
Picture this… If I'm working with you 1:1 on SEO, I'm the only one giving you advice. You don't have fifteen people in your ear about SEO. But AI does.
AI is scouring the internet and finding that five people say this, four people say that, & this other person says this other thing. It's trying to figure out how to make sense of it all & it just can't (especially when things are conflicting).
And AI doesn't know you. We already know AI can't fully master your voice in content, so why would we expect it to master your keywords when it doesn't understand your business or your voice?
So... can AI help you optimize for SEO?
AI can't do your SEO for you—not if you want it done well.
I'm not anti-AI. I’m pro you having a website that works for you, which starts with a good SEO strategy.
If you hand your SEO titles & meta descriptions to a bot and paste whatever it gives you... you're not doing SEO effectively. You simply cannot expect those SEO pieces to yield results (traffic, sales, inquiries).
Working with an SEO coach or strategist who deeply understands your business, you, what you're comfortable with, & how you want to phrase things is a whole different ballgame.
What to do Instead » Follow the North Star Method ⭐
This is the very same 3-step process I guide business owners through in my SEO Sprint (whether you join for a 5-day or 2-week version).
1️⃣ Find your North Star. Answer the big 3 questions: Who do you help? How do you help them? Why you?
2️⃣ Find your keywords. Use your North Star to find the words your people are actually typing into that search bar. (My favorite tool is Keysearch!)
3️⃣ Write SEO titles & meta descriptions that follow best practices AND sound like you. Then plug them into your core website pages.
SEO is so very doable & you are NOT behind! Your website is the best place to start.
You can explore the blog or the podcast for more information. And when you’re ready to take action, you’ve got DIY options in the SEO Shop or the DFY website SEO setup service.
But the place to go so you really get this SEO thing to sink in for the benefit of your entire business…
Want an SEO strategist to review your work before you plug it in?
That's exactly what happens inside the SEO Sprint. You learn how to do keyword research, you build an SEO strategy for your core website pages, & you get everything plugged into your site.
The best part is you’re not putting anything on your website that I haven't reviewed personally. 💨
