83: SEO in the Age of AI: What Actually Works in 2025 with Mariah Magazine
Have you noticed something strange in your Google searches lately? Those once-helpful results are increasingly filled with bland, generic content that feels... off. There's a reason for that – AI-generated content is flooding search engines, making it harder than ever to find authentic human voices online.
As Squarespace website owners, we're facing a critical moment where the battle between AI and SEO is reshaping how we get discovered online. But before you panic or abandon your SEO strategy altogether, I want to share some insights from my recent conversation with SEO expert Mariah Magazine on the Think Inside The Square podcast.
The AI Content Invasion
Let's address the digital elephant in the room: AI-generated content is everywhere. From product descriptions to entire blog posts, artificial intelligence can now create seemingly "optimized" content at scale. As Mariah pointed out during our conversation:
"When we simplify the algorithm, of course people can show up ahead of us with content that sounds like AI, but what is that doing? Are they actually getting conversions from that?"
This is the crucial question. While AI content might be winning some search battles, it's losing the war for human attention and trust.
Why Your Human Voice Matters More Than Ever
The rise of AI content has actually created an unexpected opportunity for authentic creators. As users become increasingly savvy at spotting AI-generated material, genuine human experience, personality, and expertise stand out dramatically.
"Personal brand is going to become even more important," Mariah emphasized. "Why do my people work with me? Because it's me. They feel me, they know me, they like me, they trust me."
Think about your own searching habits. If you're planning a trip to Disney World, who would you trust more – an obviously AI-generated itinerary or a blog from a mom who's been navigating the parks with her kids for years? The human element creates a level of trust that AI simply cannot replicate.
Keywords Are Evolving, Not Disappearing
One common misconception about AI and search is that traditional keywords are becoming obsolete. In reality, they're just evolving to better match user intent.
"Keyword intent has always been important," Mariah explained, "but with AI, it's becoming increasingly more important because these AI chatbots can understand context way quicker."
This means we need to think beyond simple keyword stuffing and focus on understanding the problems our audience is trying to solve. Creating content that directly addresses user needs and questions is more valuable than ever.
Here's a practical tip: Instead of targeting broad keywords like "Squarespace designer," focus on specific problems your audience is trying to solve, like "how to add custom fonts to Squarespace" or "creating mobile-friendly navigation in Squarespace 7.1."
The YouTube Advantage
An interesting development in the AI vs. SEO landscape is the growing importance of video content – particularly on YouTube. As AI-generated text becomes more prevalent, many users are turning to video for a more authentic experience.
"People are going to crave human connection and I think that's what YouTube is. If you can get in your lane, share your expertise in a way that feels really authentic to you, people are going to feel that." - Mariah Magazine
YouTube's search capabilities, backed by Google's powerful algorithms, make it an invaluable platform for discovery. Unlike social media platforms where search is limited, YouTube functions as a true search engine that can deliver your content to people actively looking for solutions.
For Squarespace users, this presents an opportunity to complement your written content with video tutorials, behind-the-scenes looks at your process, or face-to-face explanations of your services.
Practical Strategies for Standing Out
So how can you ensure your content rises above the AI noise? Here are some practical strategies based on my conversation with Mariah:
1. Inject Your Personality
Don't be afraid to let your unique voice shine through. Share personal stories, use your natural communication style, and let your values come through in your content.
2. Focus on Real Solutions
AI content often lacks practical depth. Create content that solves real problems with specific, actionable advice that comes from your genuine experience.
3. Leverage Video Content
Consider adding YouTube to your content strategy. Video allows you to connect with your audience in a way that text alone cannot match.
4. Think Beyond Keywords
While keywords still matter, focus on understanding the intent behind searches related to your business. What problems are people trying to solve?
5. Build Trust Through Consistency
Consistent, quality content helps build trust with both your audience and search engines. Show up regularly with valuable insights.
The Future of AI and SEO
When I asked Mariah where she sees AI and SEO five years from now, she responded with optimism rather than fear: "I'm not nervous. I'm excited about how all of this is going to shift."
While none of us can predict exactly how search will evolve, one thing remains constant: people will always seek information to build trust before making decisions. As long as you focus on creating genuine value and connecting authentically with your audience, you'll be well-positioned regardless of how the algorithms change.
Your Move: Embrace Your Humanity
The rise of AI content isn't the end of SEO – it's simply changing the game in a way that actually rewards authenticity. As Mariah put it, "AI bots don't feel like we do. They're not empathetic. They don't connect like we do."
Your unique perspective, experience, and personality are your greatest assets in the evolving digital landscape. By embracing what makes you human – your stories, your specific expertise, your authentic voice – you can create content that not only ranks well but also genuinely connects with the people you want to serve.
Have you noticed AI content taking over in your industry? How are you adapting your SEO strategy? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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[00:00:00] Have you noticed search results changing lately? Pages of AI generated content are flooding parts of Google, making it harder than ever to find authentic human voices. As website creators and Squarespace users, we're facing a critical moment where the battle between AI and SEO is reshaping how we get discovered online.
[00:00:18] Welcome to Think Inside The Square, a podcast full of tips and tricks to help you build a website that you're proud of. I'm your host, Becca Harpain, Squarespace expert and educator. And in this episode, I'm diving into the AI versus SEO struggle with someone who truly gets it. My dear friend Mariah Magazine.
[00:00:33] For a transcript of this episode, along with the links to any resources mentioned, visit Inside the square.co/podcast. The term Squarespace is a trademark of Squarespace Inc. This content is not affiliated with Squarespace Inc..
[00:00:46] My guest today is Mariah Magazine, an SEO expert who's been watching all of these changes unfold from the front lines. In this episode, we're going to have a conversation and explore what's really happening when AI content pushes authentic voices down in [00:01:00] search results, how this impacts small business owners using Squarespace, and most importantly, We'll be talking about practical strategies that you can use to stand out in an increasingly AI dominated landscape.
[00:01:10] And most importantly, we'll be discussing some practical strategies and the future of where we see AI and search working together. If you've been wondering whether SEO is even worth your time anymore, this conversation should give you some clarity and confidence that you need to move forward with that to do list.
[00:01:25] So without further ado, Mariah , welcome to Think Inside the Square.
[00:01:29] I am so happy to finally have you on the podcast. Thank you so much for being here today. For all of my listeners who are brand new to you and your experience here, give us a rundown. Tell me about yourself and your experience with Squarespace and SEO.
[00:01:42] Yeah, for sure. Thanks so much for having me.
[00:01:44] This conversation's gonna be so good. Okay, so I'm Mariah. I'm an SEO consultant and educator for entrepreneurs over at MariahMagazine. com. Basically, in a nutshell, I'm just a firm believer that showing up on Google, showing up on search engines, increasing your [00:02:00] visibility, does not have to be as overwhelming and as difficult as everybody always makes it.
[00:02:05] All of like the bro marketers or like the little gurus in the space. I feel like they use a lot of fear tactics to kind of like freak people out about things. Uh, so I really like coming in and like always coming back to the foundations. So, like, I don't have an SEO agency, I don't have done for you retainers for everybody, I'm not trying to talk you into, like, working with me forever.
[00:02:27] My whole thing is, like, I enjoy consulting and educating with the end goal of helping people take SEO and their website visibility into their own hands. That's, like, wildly important to me. You can probably, it oozes from my YouTube channel and, like, from my interviews and my digital products. Um, I was I've been in the space for God, it'll be 10 years this summer, which is pretty bananas.
[00:02:55] Um, but yeah, I got into the industry doing website design and development. [00:03:00] People kept asking me about SEO even back then. And I was like, get the hell away from me. This is awful. Uh, and then they kept asking me, I ended up testing some things for my own blog at the time, ended up seeing incredible results.
[00:03:11] And then I feel like the big shift for me was. When I found out that Google and search engines judge your site on over 200 factors, user experience, formatting, website speed, like all of these things actually play a role in a CO, that's when I kind of let the teeth of SEO kind of dig into me. I, at first, I didn't really care about like the ranking algorithm and like playing the game.
[00:03:38] I feel like my zone of genius is really like website strategy, noticing the patterns, finding the gaps in the market, and then coming back to like, how can we just help our people? Like, how can we show up as the solution? For the things that people are already searching for and so all of that to say I have been using Squarespace for [00:04:00] clients and like doing SEO on Squarespace websites for a very long time.
[00:04:06] I'm a big fan of the platform. We actually got to meet in person at Squarespace Circle Day last year and that was fun and like I love the Squarespace community and kind of like what, how everybody kind of bands together to find a solution. Like I'm really solution oriented.
[00:04:21] The community is really the part that is my favorite thing about being a Squarespace or as well as the, we're all there to support each other and band together to make our websites and our clients websites the absolute best they can be.
[00:04:32] And I think part of something you said in the very beginning, as you talked about how annoying the bro market or fear based strategies are that are out there about SEO. And I think that really ties into the Squarespace community that we don't want our clients to be running in fear from like, how do I get my business to rank on search engines?
[00:04:48] The sky is falling. Everything's wrong. I probably don't. Don't add a keyword to every alt tag that I put on my website, like trying to get away from that fear based mentality. So important. And I think it's also important that you [00:05:00] focus on overall strategy. You can't spend one hour doing SEO and launching your site and then you're done.
[00:05:05] That's not how it works. That's absolutely not how it works. And yes, you could put people on a retainer like a lot of website designers do, and that's fine for the clients that are too busy to do it themselves, but yeah, giving them the power and teaching them how it works, why we do it this way and creating a general strategy so that all of the do it yourselfers using Squarespace out there know what to do three months down the road, nine months down the line.
[00:05:27] I think that's genius.
[00:05:28] Yeah. And it's funny because it's like. This, this is what I love about SEO is like it's a forever testing and tweaking project. It's forever an experiment. That's what most people hate about SEO. So I kind of know that I'm in the right industry because like I'm obsessed with it, but that's kind of it.
[00:05:47] Right. So like what happens when you hire an agency and I have friends that run very successful, really, uh, values based and transparent agencies, which I care a lot about. But a lot of these agencies, people think that [00:06:00] that's the only solution to the problem. And, but instead they're like, they wish that they could understand this stuff because maybe they want to roll up their sleeves and like, get in it or just be like, I don't, uh, more confident in looking at their data and making decisions because like, That's all us SEO people do, like we literally look at like, how things are showing up on Google, who's showing up, and then we essentially try to work backwards to create a strategy that combines what's working with what people are already doing, and then we use some data layered in there, so it is a little bit more complex, but like, having these skills to understand SEO.
[00:06:37] Once you, once you understand SEO and how it works, which I think is very logical, once you understand it, I feel like it completely shifts the way that you look at your website and like you look at content.
[00:06:47] I would totally agree with that. And I love that you talked about being a detective, really, we're like digital detectives.
[00:06:52] We take a look at what's showing up and we're like, okay, how did they get there? And how did they get there so fast? And how come this got moved there? That's [00:07:00] such an important part of just the SEO strategy in general. We're never bored. Right? SEO is never boring. So I feel like we talked about this in the past, but years and years ago, I want to say 2007, 2008.
[00:07:13] That was when I first started doing search engine optimization for what then was a very small company, MindBody Online. And my boss handed me 10 keywords and said, I want you. This is how long ago it was. I want us to show up on Yahoo and on Bing on the front page of search results for these tens of words.
[00:07:28] I was like, okay, how do we do this? And back then, we still had the bro marketers taking over and the spammy tactics of put these words on your website in the same color as the background and all of that. I just had
[00:07:40] somebody do that literally like three weeks ago. I was like, no way, dude.
[00:07:46] How is this still happening?
[00:07:48] crazy. There's no way that should still be happening. Oh my gosh. Well, thinking of those spammy tactics, I feel like as terrible as it is, that is the dark side of the origin of SEO and where a lot of the [00:08:00] spam and fear really started. If you don't do all of these 5, 000 things, even the shady ones, you're never going to rank.
[00:08:05] And I'm curious now with AI taking over so much when it comes to content creation and so many people abusing the tool that AI is to generate just absolute crap content. That crap content can be tweaked to try and beat the algorithm. What are some things that you've seen, or I guess your perspective of it when it comes to the AI content that's starting to take over search results?
[00:08:28] How do you feel about this? How have you seen that impact your own
[00:08:32] work? So here's the thing, I think that like when we simplify the algorithm, of course people can show up ahead of us and like their content sounds like a, but what is that doing? Are they actually getting conversions from that? Because here's the thing, I think as users, as consumers, We're done with it.
[00:08:50] Like we've seen it. We can kind of like pin it out. We're like, this literally sounds like anybody, like everybody else. And so if we come back to the reason of [00:09:00] why do you want to show up on page one, it's probably to serve your people, to help your people, to convert, to get clients, to get leads, to get sales.
[00:09:09] And so I think if you're using AI and just like copying and pasting what AI is giving you, you're just getting mediocre things. People won't buy from mediocre things. It doesn't hit the trust factor. It doesn't hit the no factor. No like and trust really comes in here. And I feel like that gets overlooked when people talk about AI and like the search algorithm.
[00:09:29] It's like, yeah, but the goal isn't just to get on page one. That's kind of like the very, very basics. Like, cool. We're on page one, but now what? Well, the next goal is to get them over to the site and then. I want them to pay me. I want them to become a customer and client. And so I think that what becomes increasingly more important is your tone, your personality, your brand values that makes people go new.
[00:09:51] I want to hire you. And so I think that like, when you're showing up on Google, I feel like personal brand is going to become even more [00:10:00] important. Like I know my people, I'm in an industry where like, there is no shortage of SEO people, but why do my people work with me? Because it's me. They feel me, they know me, they like me, they trust me, they want to hang out.
[00:10:12] And the people that don't want to hang out or like hire me, I didn't want to work with them anyway. So it doesn't really matter. And so I think that we just have to think about it in like a much deeper context. It's not just about getting the traffic. Or it's not just about the rankings. It's about that deeper connection that we have with people to bring them into our world.
[00:10:32] And then hopefully they stay for a while.
[00:10:34] Absolutely. I feel like that tone, that personality, those brand values, that is the energy you can put into your content. It's palpable when someone reads it. Yeah, are they having a conversation with you or are they having a conversation with the bot that you trained to sound like you?
[00:10:47] There is a difference and we can tell. I remember the last time I was hanging out with my dad. He's showing me a couple pictures on his phone and it was so funny because my sister and I both looked at these photos like, Dad, that's not real. Dad, that's AI. Put it [00:11:00] away. Dad, that's AI. And I feel like we get the exact same impact when we see content in search engine results that we know was not written by a human, that we know was not generated with any energy, with any personality, with any brand values that we actually want to get behind.
[00:11:14] So that's a really great point. That stuff is going to help us stand apart.
[00:11:17] I just want to back this up with just like one more example here. So like, I have friends that are starting families now and so like they have kids, they have a bunch of young kids and like I just imagine them going to Google and they're going to search for something.
[00:11:31] So like a lot of my friends were like trying to plan a trip to Disney World, right? And it's just like you're planning this trip, who are you going to trust? An itinerary very obviously created by AI or are you going to go to somebody's blog and then read and it's like a mom who's got X amount of kids and like she's been doing this forever and she's teaching you tricks of the trade and you feel like you could be friends with her like you're going to trust her, you're going to trust her information, you're going to follow her on social media, you're going to check out her YouTube which I think that [00:12:00] YouTube in the age of AI I think YouTube's gonna blow up even more because like you get that personal connection with people.
[00:12:05] So it kind of just validates everything that we were saying, but like just more examples, like think about you as a user.
[00:12:12] Absolutely. I totally want to go back to the YouTube concept that you just mentioned there. But before we do that, let's talk a little bit about finding that mom blogger who's giving you the tips on Disneyland, right?
[00:12:22] I'm with you 100%. I would absolutely invest in her itinerary before buying one that I know is generated by AI. So when it comes to search engine rank with a lot of AI taking over results or AI generated articles showing up in results, how do you think Google's going to respond when it comes to algorithm updates?
[00:12:42] We had the EAT, the experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness update. I personally got impacted by that because Google decided that every single one Squarespace was spam. And it knocked my website down. I lost 80 percent of my traffic overnight and I had to [00:13:00] restructure everything about my business and restart my blog.
[00:13:02] It was a nightmare, but in that approach, Google's automated systems and Google's AI marked me as AI, even though I'm not. So I'm really curious about your perspective and what you've seen out there with AI articles being pushed to the forefront. And a lot of us having that experience, do you think Google can make any more?
[00:13:27] I mean, this is like an impossible question for me, to be honest, because I, I don't know, do you know what I mean? Like, I, I don't have a, I don't have a clue. I like to hope. I know that, like, if you use any bigger SEO tools, like SEMrush is like my go to. And so you can see, like, they'll mark in their things when there was like algorithm changes.
[00:13:47] Changes are happening all of the time. So that's why even SEO people, it's like, if things tank a lot of the time, it's like, well, wait a second. Sometimes when like the algorithm gets all funky chicken, sometimes if you give it just a hot [00:14:00] second, sometimes it'll bounce back up because it does make mistakes like that.
[00:14:03] But I think that we have to hope that they are learning from us and like. our search behaviors. And so I think with these, even these like little incremental changes in the algorithm, I feel like they are trying to still figure out a way to serve the best solution to the problem because their entire business depends on it.
[00:14:23] If Google keeps showing AI and people get annoyed with Google, they're leaving. They, there are new options in the game. And so I feel like Google has. to like really, really focus in and figure this out so that the users are happy. And so I also want to make a note that like, when we say SEO, it's not just Google, like SEO goes into all search engines, AI search engines, being like, whatever, it's still it's search engine optimization.
[00:14:51] It's not Google optimization. We're just so used to saying Google because Google's had the biggest market share for literally ever. But I just wanted to go ahead and [00:15:00] mention that Google's a business. People are going to leave and they're going to start jumping on a different train.
[00:15:04] Absolutely. 100%. And we're already seeing the impact of that traffic for sure.
[00:15:09] And we're seeing them double down on a lot of sources, especially like the YouTube concept we were talking about. So a lot of people aren't aware that Google owns YouTube. And that's why YouTube search runs on the same algorithms that Google search does. And that's why adding search optimization to YouTube is so important.
[00:15:24] But before I go down that rabbit hole, which I'm so excited to go down as my second time jumping back in there, I want to talk a little bit about the evolution of keywords. Cause you, you hit on something really important talking about the fact that the search optimization that we do, it's not just for Google, right?
[00:15:39] This is also impacting our search results on platforms like chat GPT and on other AI powered search engines. So how do you see the traditional concept of keywords evolving? Are we moving towards more conversation?[00:16:00]
[00:16:02] It's funny because this is always how I viewed keywords, intent, keyword intent. Has always been important, but with AI, it's becoming increasingly more important because like these AI chatbots can understand context way quicker and then serve you solutions way quicker. And so it's like, you need to really understand the keyword.
[00:16:23] And I feel like when people get freaked out about this, it's because they don't understand keywords and they think that keywords are like. SEO, SEO consultant, SEO consultant for Google. Like they think that like just those are keywords, but like technically anything that you would put into a search engine can be considered a keyword.
[00:16:43] We have to remember how. Everything works. And it's essentially these AI bots are scanning the content on your website. We're scanning the content on your page. They're picking up on context clues, and then they're picking up on key words so that it can get context so that it can organize you [00:17:00] correctly into the big filing cabinet.
[00:17:02] And so it's like, you have to understand like the context and the intent behind the keyword. It's not just like, I want to show for SEO consultant. So I'm going to put that on every page of my site. It's like. No, but like, what about the specific keywords? So, like, wedding photography packages for, uh, in Buffalo, New York.
[00:17:21] And it's like, I'm not going to hit wedding photography packages in Buffalo, New York. I'm not going to hit that keyword on my homepage. That doesn't align with it. Where am I going to hit it? I'm going to hit it on my wedding photography packages for people in New York. Like, On my actual services page. So when you're seeing these keywords and stuff like that, a lot of people have been missing this boat for a very long time.
[00:17:44] And then they think that SEO is completely changing in my opinion. It's always been about intent. You have to understand the why. Because if you want to get listed in AI, if you want to get listed on Google, you have to be the best solution to the problem. How can you [00:18:00] be the best solution to the problem if you don't understand the problem or the solution that somebody's looking for?
[00:18:04] You bring up a good point about how the context of search is already there. So many of us really fail to recognize that, like you said, AI has been used by Google for such a long period of time. Just because ChatGPT is really blowing up in its own version here, in its own concept of search and results and question and answer, creating that feedback loop.
[00:18:22] AI has been a part of Google's algorithm for quite a long time. I want everyone listening who has one of those at home, either an Alexa or a Google or anything along those lines, when you ask it, what's the weather today? It's not Googling what's the weather today. It is telling you, Oh, they want to know the temperature and whether or not it's going to rain in the specific region that I know that they're at.
[00:18:42] And it uses that AI language model to understand the context of what you're searching for. So that's already there. So important to remember.
[00:18:49] Yes, and I wanted to mention that when you search for chatgbt, it is using Bing's database. It's using Bing's index. [00:19:00] So like we think that chatgbt has its own huge index of like everything that's happening on the internet.
[00:19:05] Do you know how much time Google and Bing and like Yahoo spent into crawling and creating this massive index of the entire web? There's, like, it would take so many resources, it would take so much energy, and it would take so much time for ChadCPT and these AI models to basically redo this. So Bing essentially, like, sold them rights to be able to use their index.
[00:19:29] Now, ChadCPT does rank things with its own kind of algorithm, it doesn't necessarily use Bing's algorithm. If your website essentially cannot be found by like the straight up Bing search crawlers, like old school SEO, it's not old school, but whatever. It's like if you can't be found there, you're not showing up in some of these AI models.
[00:19:52] And so I think that people think that, like, AI is, like, pulling things out of the ether and whatever, and it's like, eventually, [00:20:00] probably, it can probably, like, come into my brain and pull things out. But, like, right now, it needs some kind of database to learn from, and so right now it's using the Bing database.
[00:20:09] I love that. Such good information to share because I, that's a really, really good point because when you think about it, you're asking a question, it's going to need to know which file cabinet to start looking in. It's not going to hop out there and just generate it from indexing every single web page that's ever existed in the world and categorizing it.
[00:20:24] That's basically impossible at this point. So it will use the database that already exists. And I bet so many people listening had no idea it was Bing. Any personal thoughts on why they went with Bing? I think
[00:20:35] that they wanted to give Google competition. I think that that's a huge thing of like, Google's, Google's got the market share.
[00:20:42] Right.
[00:20:43] Can we combine forces over here and see what we can create?
[00:20:46] That's a pretty, pretty cool perspective there. I like it. Now, I think it's the perfect time for us to dig back into YouTube. We gotta talk about it a little bit. because I think it's a very important thing to recognize how much it is growing.
[00:20:58] I myself, after losing a lot [00:21:00] of the blog content and blog rank, saw a huge increase in my YouTube exposure in the amount of people finding my content through YouTube and then reaching out to my blog and hiring me to help out with things. I feel like YouTube is the reason I still have a business. If I didn't have YouTube and I lost all of that blog rank, I'd probably be working at my favorite bowling alley, which wouldn't be too bad.
[00:21:18] I'll take discounted games. I'm fine with that. But, I want to make sure that I emphasize how important YouTube has been to my strategy and positioning myself as an expert in my field. So, I'm curious about your thoughts on the impact of AI and SEO when it comes to YouTube.
[00:21:34] I think that people are going to, like, crave human connection, and I think that that's what YouTube is.
[00:21:39] I think if you can get in your lane, share your expertise in a way that feels really authentic to you, I think that people are going to feel that. People are, you can trust people more when you see their face. And that's why I think YouTube is just going to blow up even more because people are going to be done with like the, you can easily create AI content with written text.
[00:21:58] Absolutely. And I think [00:22:00] something that's important to recognize here too, is a lot of people will say, okay, video is taking over, but then we have platforms like. TikTok and Instagram reels, whatever video platforms are out there. Those aren't as searchable, but quality of search results that we get when looking for stuff on YouTube, even short form content, but especially for long form content that's unparalleled by any other service that's out there.
[00:22:20] Any other one of these handheld mobile based, you know, platforms that people are using to find content. Yes. You'll be able to find some cool things on TikTok that could be really helpful for people, but at the same time, my tutorial videos. work on YouTube because you need to see the whole screen and it's much easier to find something.
[00:22:37] No one's going to hop in a TikTok and say, how do I change the font for my blog post title in Squarespace? Maybe they do, but I feel like that video content is much better suited for the desktop version. Those are the people I want to reach are the ones working on their computers right then and there on their website.
[00:22:52] I doubt that they're on their phone to look it up. So I feel like doubling down on YouTube is going to be a solid strategy for a lot of us here in 2025. [00:23:00]
[00:23:00] Yeah, and it's just like their search capabilities are so much better. Like we've said before, it's like they get a lot of their algorithms and understanding of keywords and all of that data, like from Google, because it's owned by Google, where Instagram, TikTok, of course, isn't search function, but that doesn't mean that it's a search.
[00:23:16] Engine and I think that that's where people get a little confused where it's like these search engines are literally databases for things where social media platforms like yes there is a search function but if you type in like a very specific keyword into Instagram it will literally say like Uh, no results shown.
[00:23:34] If you take that and you search it in Google or you search it in YouTube, something is going to show up. The search functionality is so much more advanced there.
[00:23:41] Yes, I love this. Search function is not a search engine. Those are two very, very different things and people need to realize this. Yeah, and
[00:23:48] I also, I mean, it just comes back to like passion, energetics, life path too.
[00:23:54] These AI bots. don't feel like we do. They're not [00:24:00] empathetic. They don't connect like we do. I think that there's a deeper spiritual soul resonance. I feel like that comes from like interacting and like human connection that like we all really need. And so yeah, I think that like if you get too caught in the weeds of like, will this happen with this?
[00:24:17] And what about this? That's like, come back to like what makes us human.
[00:24:21] And I
[00:24:21] feel like that feels really grounding. Absolutely. If you get caught up, like, in your head too much.
[00:24:27] And I think AI can do a great job of mimicking us, but it can't actually replicate us. Like, it can, like, even looking at the AI video, I spent some time over the weekend playing around with Adobe's Firefly, which was a ton of fun, but also really fascinating.
[00:24:40] I had to do a few videos where they're panning around, and the person looked at the camera, and you could tell that there was nothing behind those eyes. And we, as humans, instead Instinctively know that there's this, that aspect of the human connection that we still have. Even if it's subconscious, even if it's instinctual, it's something that's never going to be able to replicate.
[00:24:57] We can tell when a smile on a person is [00:25:00] real or not. AI can't.
[00:25:01] Mm-hmm .
[00:25:02] Yeah, that's a really good point. So with all of these developments and all of this stuff that we're excited about, all this stuff, we think people just need to calm down. About five years from now, Mariah, where do you see AI and SEO five years from now?
[00:25:16] Assuming that the planet isn't on fire. Yes.
[00:25:20] Uh, thanks for the context. Um, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know where it's gonna be. Not from a scared place am I gonna have a job. Like, not from that. I'm excited about it. I feel like I can't even imagine where it's going to be. Because in just like one year things have shifted.
[00:25:43] Right. Quite a bit. And so I think it excites me. But I think it excites me because I understand the internet. Everything needs keywords. If you're searching Amazon, eBay, Etsy, literally anything that [00:26:00] you are going to when you are typing something in, that is like SEO keywords. And so I'm not nervous. I'm excited about how all of this is going to shift.
[00:26:12] And I think that having a need to find somebody, especially like a service provider or a consultant or something, I'm always going to have to find like a nail salon to get my nails done or to get a pedicure. I'm always going to have to find service providers. I'm always going to have to find educational and informational stuff.
[00:26:32] And like, even last week I jumped into a course. self paced course last week and how I found it was I googled it. I googled I had a problem so my psoas muscle has been tight and so I'm googling how to relieve like the tightness of the psoas muscle whatever ended up finding this girl on page one. She wasn't the first option.
[00:26:52] Couple, a couple down, maybe like five or six. I liked her SEO title, meta description. I wanted to click on it. Read her blog post about it. Was [00:27:00] super informed about information. I loved her perspective. That's what sold me on it. She didn't sound like everybody else. And then she said, and you think that the issue is this, but it's actually this.
[00:27:10] Explained why it was that. And then mentioned, and I have a course that walks you through everything. Click on the course, read it instantly. And so it's like, In five years, I don't know if, like, our user journey like that is going to shift so much. I think that, like, how search results show up and maybe, like, how we search the internet will serve, like, will change.
[00:27:30] But I don't see, like, as humans needing to gather information to build up trust. I don't think that that will change. So, like, I think it will shift, and I'm excited to see how it shifts.
[00:27:43] And I like that. Gather information to build trust. I agree with you. I don't think that's going to change. I think we as a species have done that since the dawn of us as a species.
[00:27:51] We gather information. We gather information from others around us. We gather information from every resource we possibly can to try and assess the information we [00:28:00] have and then make a decision, and AI can't change that. I will say that. My own prediction for it, if I do have to throw a prediction out there, is that within the next five years, I imagine a more dramatic shift in the Google interface, and how we see search results, because that's been the same for so long.
[00:28:19] It's archaic. It is, isn't it? It's ridiculously archaic. started to make a bit of a change by introducing the favicons, which was what, 15 years ago that they threw those in there. I feel like Google is going to make a shift in the way that they display search results. I feel like they're going to add motion or at least imagery because it's so outdated because it's so archaic.
[00:28:40] I see that being the only major change and that doesn't even have anything to do with how The content is generated or how it's ranked, but I do see visuals
[00:28:48] playing more of a role. Interesting. And it's going to be interesting to see where they draw the line between being helpful and being overwhelming or being stimulating or being [00:29:00] distracting.
[00:29:00] It's going to be interesting to see how that comes into play because I do think that like visuals are needed, but like to what degree? And where's the line between supportive and helpful and distracting?
[00:29:14] Absolutely. And how do we make sure that the content that's still being presented, again, is, it's not distracting, but it is useful information?
[00:29:23] I don't know. It's a tricky one. Remember when they used to have a sidebar, when Google had the sidebar in search results way back in the day? We're talking about Emory 2010. And they got rid of that because it was too distracting. But they've also stopped. the end of the first page. You just keep scrolling and keep scrolling.
[00:29:37] And those are the only two major changes we've ever seen. They brought that back. They
[00:29:41] did. Yeah. Now it's pagination again. They redid it because people didn't like the forever scrolling. They liked like a definitive
[00:29:48] end point. And I think that really does define exactly or really highlights exactly what you were just talking about is that we need to have that.
[00:29:55] specified endpoint being overwhelmed is the opposite of what we need. So who knows, [00:30:00] maybe they'll leave the search engine results exactly the way they were when they were first released in the early, what was it, early thousands, 1998, something along those lines.
[00:30:07] Yeah. And I, I remember being in third grade when like the internet was like a cool thing.
[00:30:15] And I remember search engines were a thing then. Anybody remember Ask Jeeves? Oh yes. And
[00:30:20] his little, his little butler
[00:30:21] tray
[00:30:21] that he had. Yes!
[00:30:23] Yes! And I'm just like, yeah, these things aren't going anywhere. This stuff was around before social media, before all of that stuff. I think it's just going to be interesting to see how it shifts.
[00:30:34] And I think that we forget as users, we have a role in how it shifts. All of these data companies, and I know that it's creepy, but they're tracking, they're tracking what we're doing and how we're doing it. And they're making decisions based on how we're interacting with things, which I think is why Google removed that forever endless pagination.
[00:30:52] Because people didn't like it. And so it's like, I think that we have to consider that too, that like, they make [00:31:00] money off of us. We're the people that, like, our decisions and how we navigate things play a role in their decisions. Absolutely. I
[00:31:10] gotta interject. I think
[00:31:10] that's pretty cool.
[00:31:11] Yeah, I think so too.
[00:31:12] And I gotta interject with one of my favorite quotes that I remember when I first started learning about marketing and all things online, if the product is free, you are the product. Yep. And we got to keep that in mind when we're using Google and we're clicking on these AI generated search results and we immediately leave and we don't try to engage and we don't dig more on those blogs.
[00:31:30] Google pays attention to that. That is how we as users can start to provide feedback saying, this is garbage. Show me more humans. Truly, truly. Awesome. Well, I think this is going to be a good place to wrap it up. Uh, before I let you go here, Mariah, let my audience know, how do they find you other than Googling Mariah Magazine SEO expert on YouTube?
[00:31:49] Yeah. Yeah, baby. Okay. So the website is mariamagazine. com. You can read more about me, the services that I offer. You can check out my digital. [00:32:00] Creating workshops and like actionable tangible things that people can use to start taking SEO into their own hands. So definitely check out my website. I hang out on Instagram too, mainly in like stories and DMs, but I'm Mariah Magazine.
[00:32:15] there. And then YouTube, just search Mariah Magazine and I should pop right up. I got, I think I'm at like 160 something tutorials now about like SEO and website tech and all of that good stuff. So definitely check out those things too. Awesome. Thank you so much for joining us today, Mariah. It was so good to chat with you.
[00:32:33] Yeah. Thanks so much for having
[00:32:35] me.
[00:32:36] Thank you for tuning into this episode of Think Inside the Square. Visit insidethesquare.co/podcast to find the show notes for this episode, where I'll include links to additional content about SEO, AI,
[00:32:47] and links to Mariah's content. Thanks again for tuning in, and most importantly, have fun with your website. Bye for now.
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Mariah’s website: mariahmagazine.com
Mariah's YouTube tutorials: Mariah Magazine on YouTube
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