At the current time, there are eCommerce managers that are practically scrambling to invest in AI optimization services because they are thoroughly convinced that if they don’t they will get left in the dust.
But the truth is that eCommerce SEO services probably still offer more value on the whole than dedicated AI optimization services, provided the SEO services are effective.
Here’s what you should know.
What eCommerce SEO Services Offer
First things first, eCommerce SEO services consist of a systematic effort to improve ranking signals so that a website shows up higher in the search results. Over time, SEO will:
- Boost organic visibility and credibility
- Encourage higher organic revenue and sales
- Provide support for your other organic marketing efforts
- Diminish your reliance on paid search marketing
And, critically, effective eCommerce SEO services will also boost visibility in AI models, which is the main reason that SEO services (assuming they are effective) offer more value than AI optimization services.
The Current Problems of AI
Let’s leave alone the fact that SEO can improve a website’s visibility through AI engines like ChatGPT for the time being.
Let’s just look at some of the other things that are going on. First, the AI market is potentially massively overvalued. There are analysts that are predicting a cataclysmic collapse.
Truthfully, that’s not likely. Too many people use it and there are too many providers, so it’s not likely that AI will collapse completely. But it could happen, and if it does, then whatever work you put into it will be wasted.
Also, AI is highly inaccurate, which is a separate problem but still serious. It gets a lot of basic facts wrong which severely limits its utility.
On top of that, AI is censored, and a lot worse than Google, if Google even is at all. Go ahead and try to ask ChatGPT for anything controversial, or for anything related to a restricted industry like tobacco or gun parts. It won’t help with any of that. Google will.
And let’s just take a closer look at the numbers. Google gets somewhere around 8.5 billion searches per day. ChatGPT gets 2.5 billion, at most, and probably most of those are like “Chat, what’s the weather?” which should give you some indication of who’s using it and what they’re using it for.
Moreover, ChatGPT has launched search engines, and now lets consumers buy through the platform. The problem is that their “search engine” is a low-rent facsimile of Google, and that old habits are hard to break. Most people still buy through search engines or even social media, not AI models.
The fact of the matter is that way more people use Google than use AI models, and even if AI models grow, it’s going to be a while before they eclipse Google.
The Bottom Line
At the end of the day, all of this is to suggest that you don’t need to separately invest in both eCommerce SEO services and AI optimization, provided the former furnishes you with high quality copy.
And, if you have to pick one, the potentially more lucrative one is SEO, since SEO is proven, has borne fruit over the last ten years, and since traffic through search engines is well demonstrated.
Of course there is also the fact that quality SEO services are also going to result in greater overall visibility through AI engines like ChatGPT and others.
There are just too many question marks associated with AI right now. Investing in what has always worked is a more conservative play and one that is more likely to prove effective.
Invest in eCommerce SEO Services Today
At the end of the day, you can invest in either of these services, or both, but eCommerce SEO services are likely to pay off more reliably. Look into some providers in your industry and get started working with one today.
