This week, the SEO world was startled with an “existential” threat. Over the weekend, Google instituted data blackouts by blocking scrapers and APIs used by many SEO-ranking tools like Semrush.
SEO-ers raced to figure out workarounds. Some entrepreneurial companies tried to use the blackout as a way to prompt switching to their own “unaffected” third-party tools.
By the end of day on Monday, January 20, many ranking tools were back to working normally.
Turns out, Google was primarily trying to limit access by AI LLMs to their search results and AI Overviews.
The moral of the story: News on algorithm updates, drops in usage, or other factors is often initially presented in a hyperbolic manner that commands our attention and prescribes immediate action.
How many times have we heard this new “thing” is the final nail in the SEO coffin and you need to change your optimization strategy now?! Then in the following days or weeks, you learn the issue was overblown and/or there are better workarounds than initially presented.
It’s best to take a breath, distill the new information, and investigate to determine the real threat — or opportunity — that lies ahead.
DBE’s “pause, gather, assess, respond” approach is how we have successfully helped our clients navigate through all the real and imagined upheavals in SEO best practices over the past 20 years. It also accurately describes what drove the development of our Search AI Optimization (SAIO) services complement to SEO, far ahead of many others who were looking at AI platforms simply for content shortcuts.
To paraphrase Robert Frost, sometimes the SEO road less traveled by makes all the difference.
