Out with the Old SEO: What Happens When LLMs Become Part of the Search Algorithm
When Google became a massive source of traffic back in the 1990s, it gave birth to the art of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In the battle for attention and the top spots for the most high-traffic keywords, the SEOs (and I count myself among them) started gaming the search algorithms.
In the early days, SEOs were relying heavily on keyword stuffing, creating fake authors, doing spammy blog comments, and over-optimizing the alt text of their images.
One practice that’s still going strong to this day is linkbuilding. Many SEOs end up buying links, either directly through independent vendors or through larger marketplaces. Another common tactic is the use of PBNs, or Private Blog Networks.
Quick note: In simple terms, a PBN is network of websites owned by an individual or company, primarily used to build backlinks to a single site to manipulate its search rankings. PBNs are prohibited, and Google will penalize you if caught.
“Content is King” — the King of faking it
But no matter how much we gamed the algorithm, one thing became clear: content was, and still is, king. If you wanted that coveted number one spot, you had to start making content.
