AI and SEO— Is This the Future of Intelligence?

Large, cumbersome and slightly frightening, the human-sized metal machine rumbles slowly but unstoppably towards you, raising one pistoned claw… and passes you a cup of freshly-brewed tea. Informing you as to what will be served for dinner that night, it moves slowly back to the kitchen, vacuuming the floor on the way and humming mechanically to itself. And at night, as its domestic circuits slow down, who knows what notions of power will begin to form in its rudimentary ‘brain’...?

This vision of the future seen from the middle of the last century is laughable now yet, at the time, was considered to be the future of artificial intelligence. Like many prophetic scientific visions, however, there is definitely a nugget of truth. Whilst it is true that domestic robots beyond standard appliances do exist, they do not enjoy mainstream popularity and the science of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has entered our lives in a very different way. AI primarily features as part of internet and mobile apps that are designed to facilitate consumer processes - say hello to the digital assistant that's teaching itself to be smarter...

Digital assistants act as an intermediary between the user and the search engine, offering a variety of services such as processing and responding to a vocal command before fetching appropriate results. They are increasing in number, diversity and popularity as the technology improves, with focus beginning to shift towards the early stages of mobile app development.

Instead of using AI to facilitate user experiences directly, new programs are designed to run smoothly and silently in the background, enhancing and optimising the apps all the time. The human-like interactions experienced with digital assistants such as Apple’s Siri aren’t there but the results are entirely more useful.

Google RankBrain

Ask somebody to name a search engine at random and, wherever they are in the world, chances are they’re going to say Google. The last word in search technology, Google are known to frequently update their algorithms, keeping rankings in a constant state of flux - Google’s algorithm is now starting to update itself. RankBrain is an addition to Hummingbird, the update that focused on identifying human speech patterns to deliver intention-specific results. RankBrain can better clarify ambiguous or complex search terms and learns all the time, connecting semantic phrases with successful results and self-modifying with little need for human interference.

This is just one example of how AI is becoming more important to those concerned with SEO and search engine rankings, such as webmasters of e-commerce websites. What does this mean for your company. Call us to find out.