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    • AI SEO is the Marketing Industry’s Latest Snake Oil Tactic

    Imagine this: your competitor just “AI-optimized” their entire website in a weekend.

    Their AI SEO agency promises they’ll outrank you in Google faster than you can say “OpenAI.”

    They are also promising top rankings in LLM responses.

    Should you panic?

    Not yet—but maybe grab some popcorn.

    In the marketing world, every few years we get a shiny new toy that promises to “change everything.”

    Right now, that toy is AI.

    And while artificial intelligence has real potential in search engine optimization, the industry’s current obsession with fully automated “AI SEO” tactics smells less like innovation and more like the 21st-century version of snake oil.

    Let’s break down why.

    SEO Has Always Had a Snake Oil Problem

    First, some history.

    SEO has never been short on schemes and scams that promise effortless rankings.

    • Remember keyword stuffing?

    • Or article spinning?

    • How about private blog networks (PBNs) that linked everything and everyone together like a bad MLM?

    Each tactic started as a loophole, got overused, and was eventually crushed by a Google update.

    Yet each one was sold with confidence by self-proclaimed “experts” to unsuspecting businesses.

    Now, we’ve entered the AI era—and wouldn’t you know it, the same old pitch has returned: “Just push this button, and boom—rankings.”

    Or, promising an LLM chat output as if the AI SEO agency could control the model itself!

    What AI SEO Is (And What It’s Definitely Not)

    Let’s be fair. AI can be incredibly useful in SEO—when applied thoughtfully.

    Ranking in LLM (large language models) results can be hugely beneficial. For instance, we have started to track our lead flow coming from ChatGPT and others and the uptick is promising!

    Here’s what real AI SEO looks like:

    • Natural language processing to analyze SERPs and user intent

    • Machine learning models that cluster keywords into intelligent content silos

    • Predictive analytics for link acquisition strategies

    • Algorithmic site audits and technical fixes

    • Ranking in results from LLMs as either a brand mention or a direct link to your company website

    But most of what’s being sold as “AI SEO” today? It’s just:

    • Mass-generating blog content with ChatGPT

    • Plugging that content into your CMS without edits

    • Adding AI-written meta descriptions that read like a toaster instruction manual

    • Promises of LLM rankings with “new and improved AI SEO tactics”

    • Repeating the above until Google deindexes your site (albeit slowly)

    Spoiler alert: Google’s Helpful Content Update was specifically built to sniff out that kind of junk and traditional SEO tactics like entity and semantic optimizations are the same things that will get your ranking in AI mode and ChatGPT as it will in the traditional “10 blue links”.

    The Problem With AI-First SEO Tactics

    The real issue isn’t the tools—it’s the over-reliance on them. Here’s what happens when marketers treat AI as the strategy, not just a supplement:

    1. Loss of Brand Voice

    AI-generated content has the personality of soggy cardboard. You lose nuance, tone, and trust when your “thought leadership” reads like it came from a 2005 instruction manual.

    2. Topical Authority Dilution

    AI can write 100 blog posts on random topics. But if they’re not part of a strategic content cluster? You’re just spamming the web.

    3. Google Will Catch On

    Actually, they already have. With the rollout of SGE (Search Generative Experience), AI Overviews and now AI Mode, Google’s getting better at surfacing original, helpful content—while burying regurgitated AI fluff.

    4. LLMs Can’t Be Manipulated As Much as an AI SEO Might Promise

    We’ll use the following ChatGPT response to “What is the best SEO agency” as an example:

    The problem here is that this is a personalized result tailored to me (results will vary depending on how you have previously interacted with the particular LLM).

    Second, LLMs run off many of the same signals traditional search algorithms do including things like semantic and entity weights and even traditional link building.

    There are some pretty stark differences, however. This is one of the reasons we launched LLM.co (among others), but I digress.

    5. Strategy Becomes an Afterthought

    If your SEO “strategy” is just uploading 10,000 AI blogs and praying for backlinks, you don’t have a strategy.

    You have an automated mess ready for a Google penalty.

    Spotting AI Snake Oil: Red Flags to Watch

    If you’re considering hiring an “AI SEO” provider, here’s your checklist of flashing red lights:

    • “We’ll rank you in AI Mode and LLMs in 30 days!” (No, they won’t.)

    • “1,000 articles per month!” (Are they legible? Will they pass an “AI content” scan?)

    • No mention of backlinks, technical SEO, or on-page audits (How do you think LLMs determine rank in their algorithm?)

    • Proprietary AI that’s a total black box (aka ChatGPT with a new logo or running on an API key)

    • No human editorial review process

    • No mention of content lifecycle, branding, or user experience

    If it sounds too good to be true—it’s probably snake oil in a SaaS wrapper.

    So, What Does a Smart AI-Enabled SEO Strategy Look Like?

    AI should enhance, not replace, your SEO strategy.

    Here’s how pros are doing it right:

    Use AI for:

    • Keyword research and semantic clustering

    • SERP and competitor analysis

    • Drafting content briefs and content outlines, not final content

    • Analyzing data trends and user behavior at scale

    Keep humans in the loop for:

    • Creating original thought leadership

    • Editing for tone, voice, and flow

    • Building backlinks through real relationships on real websites that have traffic

    • Adding the right semantic context and entity keywords to disambiguate the content body

    • Mapping user journeys and conversion flows

    It’s not AI vs. humans.

    It’s AI plus humans—at least if you want to rank and retain your brand credibility.

    How to Vet an AI SEO Provider (Your Own Frequently Asked Questions)

    Before you sign that contract, ask:

    • “Where does the AI stop and the humans begin?”

    • “Can you show me real case studies—rankings, traffic, conversions?”

    • “How do you ensure the content is unique and brand-aligned?”

    • “How does your strategy adapt to Google’s/ChatGPT’s/Perplexity’s algorithm changes?”

    • “Tell me about ‘corpus injection,’ ‘synthetic anchor creation,’ and ‘LLM fine tuning’?”

    • “What does your editorial process look like?”

    • “If I scan your content with the likes of Originality.ai or ZeroGPT will it get flagged as ‘AI content’?”

    If the answers feel vague, fluffy, or automated—you know what to do.

    Don’t Drink the Kool-AI-d

    Did you pick up on my pun there? 

    The future of SEO absolutely includes AI, including AI rankings and mentions.

    But don’t mistake AI SEO tools for AI SEO strategy, or you’ll end up with a bloated content graveyard and zero organic traction.

    The AI SEO agencies promising overnight rankings through AI alone?

    They’re selling digital snake oil in a fancy bottle.

    Don’t fall for the hype.

    Look for expertise, transparency, and a healthy mix of tech and human insight.

    Because in SEO—as in life—there are no shortcuts worth taking.

    As AI proliferates, we have found that following our local SEO checklist provides more wins for businesses that still want to dominate, but can’t seem to get above and/or compete with national brands.

    That’s where we can help! Contact us today!

    Nate Nead
    Nate Nead
    Nate Nead is the Owner of SEO.co, an SEO agency that has served some of the most well-recognized online brands since 2010. Nate has personally helped the likes of Qualtrics, Box.com and GoDaddy improve their online rankings with his expert team of SEO gurus. Formerly licensed as an investment banker, Nate holds an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of Washington and an undergrad in Business from Brigham Young University.
    Nate Nead
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