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What Future Does SEO Content Have? Interview with Elena Geiger

Benjamin O'Daniel

Is AI Killing Content Marketing? What happens to content when no one clicks anymore? Instead, Google summarizes everything with its AI Overviews or ChatGPT with its AI answers?

Everyone is currently discussing this very fundamental question. The spectrum ranges from striking obituaries (“SEO is dead”) to ignoring it (“No one will be talking about this next week”).

And then there are experts who actively address how companies need to adapt their SEO and content strategy. Elena Geiger is one such expert, who has published an interesting article on this question here.

We invited the experienced SEO and content consultant from Berlin to our Content Performance Podcast. We speak with Elena about how she personally experiences the AI transformation as a copywriter – and how SEO content must be structured in the future.

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Our Guest: Elena Geiger, SEO and Content Strategist

After her studies, Elena Geiger learned her craft at an SEO and content marketing agency. After three years, she became self-employed and has since worked as a freelancer in SEO and content.

In our industry, Elena is known for pinpointing current and relevant topics on LinkedIn in the form of graphics – thereby initiating professional discussions.

Furthermore, Elena will speak this year at the SEO conference Campixx about the topic of search intent.

In her free time, Elena also gives creative workshops for children – a topic we discuss at the end of our podcast. Adults can learn a lot from how children approach their projects in content production and create absolutely unique results.

Elena Geiger SEO Content Strategin

Does No one Click on Search Results Anymore? The Public Discussion – and Reality

How high are the losses due to Google’s new AI Overview feature? On LinkedIn, the numbers are skyrocketing: 50, 60, 90 percent are mentioned there. The origin of these figures is often unclear.

Elena reports that she does not see any declines in her projects. In many projects, we observe that it strongly depends on whether Google displays AI Overviews in that area, whether users click on them, and what content the respective website offers.

Conducting analyses for this is complex. SEO traffic depends on numerous factors, such as seasonal fluctuations or general ranking changes for individual articles or keywords with high search volume.

Furthermore, most companies have zero SEO traffic. They lack SEO visibility and thus relevance for users or customers. The goal here is to get started in the first place – for visibility in Google and in AI systems in the future. SEO basics remain crucial.

AI Overview Traffic Einbruch

In our Academy Workshop, we recently conducted such an AI Overview analysis.

Previous Traffic Drivers Face Challenges

Glossaries

Many SEO strategies rely on keywords with high search volume. Traditionally, this includes single-word keywords where a term is explained generally. Those who rank highly for these generate a lot of “top-of-the-funnel” SEO traffic. However, these general explanations are now also being taken over by AI Overviews. At the same time, several sources are still provided alongside them. Therefore, it is still possible to receive further traffic through this. However, the content then needs added value – a reason why users should click.

Skyscrapers

A similar situation arises with large overview articles, known as “Skyscrapers” in SEO jargon. Here, a great deal of diverse information is compiled into a long article. Many marketing managers and users have always questioned these articles because they are very long and confusing. However, the fact is that they have generated a lot of traffic in the past. But here too, AI Overview or AI systems offer a much clearer and simpler overview.

This Content Will Still be Clicked in the Future

Expertise

AI answers are always general answers. Expertise is the exact opposite: What is truly important? Especially with complex topics, it is about considering many perspectives, classifying them, and weighing them. Experts do this based on their years of experience. Marketing faces the task of enhancing its existing “SEO Content” in precisely this way – and thereby differentiating itself, Elena emphasizes in the conversation. As a copywriter, she works with interviews to extract this expertise.

Assets

Many companies have content assets in their field that they can utilize more effectively. These include, for example, tools or proprietary data. Elena states in our conversation that these should be evaluated to develop PR campaigns. This way, SEO topics can be substantiated with a proprietary database and relevance can be built. While this is more elaborate, it contributes much more significantly to the brand, backlinks, and relevance.

Multimedia

AI systems are primarily text-based. However, users very often consume entirely different media formats. These include infographics, with which Elena herself is very successful, for example, as well as videos or tables. YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine. One can also score points with proprietary images, especially in contrast to general AI-generated images, which are quickly generated but completely interchangeable.

Which Websites Will Users Visit in the Future?

Affiliates & Platforms

Websites that are purely based on creating SEO content and earning, for example, through affiliate marketing, will face significant challenges in the future. Such websites often lack proprietary products and expertise. A similar situation applies to platforms that merely aggregate without offering their own services or assistance to users. Users will quickly realize that a click is not worthwhile here.

Brands & Providers

Brands that users trust will continue to receive clicks. Either at the beginning of the search, when users actively want to inform themselves on the companies’ websites. Or at the end of the search, when a conversion or purchase takes place. Through SEO and content marketing, these companies gain visibility and relevance – also to be mentioned during product research.

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Benjamin O'Daniel
SEO and GEO expert Benjamin O'Daniel is responsible for all strategic content topics. He analyzes the existing visibility of companies, whether it be Google rankings or mentions in AI systems such as ChatGPT, Copilot, AI Mode, or Perplexity. Benjamin O'Daniel focuses on content and sources or links. He analyzes existing content, from landing pages and product pages to blog articles. He develops content strategies and roadmaps, content templates, and concrete suggestions for content optimization. Benjamin O'Daniel is a lecturer in the Online Editing program at TH Köln, where he is responsible for the Content Marketing seminar.