This ONE Tool Makes SEOs Business Advisors

The SEO world is changing fast. Forget just tracking keywords; AI search is here, and it’s turning SEO pros into strategic business advisors. We’re moving beyond simple content creation to understanding customer feelings, tracking market share in AI results, and owning entire topics, not just single keywords. For businesses wanting an edge, understanding AI search isn’t just good, it’s becoming necessary for making smart decisions.

Key Takeaways

• AI Search tracking gathers customer sentiment from all over the web, giving businesses strategic insights usually only seen at the top executive level.
• Sentiment analysis, market share tracking, and topic dominance are the new foundations for SEO success.
• A new framework can help SEOs shift from just taking orders to advising on company direction based on real customer intelligence.
• Companies can use AI sentiment analysis to find gaps and opportunities worth millions.

The Evolution of SEO: From Keywords to Conversations

For years, SEO was all about keywords and search volume. The goal was to create content that lots of people searched for, get clicks, and build backlinks to rank higher. While that’s still important because AI tools use search in the background, we need to do more.

AI search looks at things like sentiment analysis – what people are saying about your company, products, or services. It also means we need to think about market share and topics instead of just specific keywords. People use AI search in all sorts of ways, so focusing on broad topics makes more sense.

Introducing the Semrush AI Toolkit

I’ve been using Semrush for about 10 years, and I recently got a chance to play with their new AI toolkit. While this isn’t a sales pitch, one part of this tool is going to make SEOs much more valuable to their companies.

This toolkit helps us track our market share against competitors in AI search and understand overall sentiment – how AI tools talk about our brand based on web data. It’s a game-changer for understanding how customers perceive us.

Analyzing Sentiment and Market Share

Let’s look at an example, like Vanguard. The tool shows that people really like Vanguard for their low fees and trustworthiness. But it also points out areas for improvement, such as limited human interaction in digital services.

This kind of analysis provides strategic opportunities, categorized as short-term, medium-term, and urgent actions.

The Business Landscape Report

This report shows how your business stacks up against competitors in the market. It gives high-level suggestions and shows your market share in the ongoing AI search competition. It also offers opportunities for action.

The Brand and Marketing Report

This section highlights features you should emphasize in your marketing. For Vanguard, this means focusing on reputation and trustworthiness. It also suggests how to address potential objections, like minimum investment requirements, or tailor ads to specific audiences.

The Audience and Content Report

This part feels most familiar to marketers. It breaks down different types of user questions, or query intents:

• Education: Getting general information (top of the funnel).
• Comparison: Comparing brands or products.
• Support: Seeking help or assistance.
• Purchase: Ready to buy (bottom of the funnel).
• Improvement: Looking for ways to get better.

This report also shows query intent broken down by topics relevant to your business. For Vanguard, topics like fees and cost comparison are significant areas where potential customers are searching.

Transforming SEOs into Strategic Advisors

Traditionally, SEOs were part of the marketing department, reporting up to a CMO. Top-level business decisions, like budget allocation and key initiatives, were made by company leadership, not the SEO.

However, tools like the Semrush AI toolkit are changing this. They provide strategic business recommendations based on detailed analysis of customer and AI tool sentiment. These aren’t just guesses; they’re data-driven insights.

For example, the tool might recommend accelerating ESG fund innovation because a company is losing out to competitors in that area for AI searches. It can also suggest modernizing a platform due to negative sentiment and competitors performing better.

These recommendations are detailed and based on the actual answers AI platforms are producing. They can guide decisions like upgrading digital advisory services to match or surpass competitors, especially since users are interested in digital advice and self-service tools.

It’s likely that company leaders are already aware of some of these issues, but having an SEO tool provide clear direction and strategy based on sentiment analysis is a significant shift.

The Future of SEO and Business Growth

As we use AI more, understanding conversations happening around our brand and ensuring our brand is recommended is becoming vital. This is the future of marketing.

If we only use these tools to find content topics, we’re missing the bigger picture. The real value lies in using them to gather customer sentiment and guide business strategy for maximum growth.

At Exposure Ninja, we help businesses improve their visibility and sentiment in AI tools. Some of our clients are seeing a significant portion of their online revenue come from recommendations by AI tools like ChatGPT. If you’re interested, you can request a free marketing review on our website. We’ll analyze your current visibility and suggest improvements. Just visit exposureninja.com to apply.

What do you think? Will AI tools make SEOs more influential in company leadership? Let me know in the comments!