SEOs are feeling the heat and worried that AI is swooping in and putting them out of work. But I’m feeling more hopeful about the whole situation.
Sure, AI has transformed SEO in a big way (and it will only keep evolving), but it’s not the end of the road for us. What we need to do is adapt. How do we do that? Focusing on creating “deep content” that dives into topics that can’t be wrapped up in a quick answer.
What Is Deep Content?
Deep content refers to high-quality, timeless material that genuinely benefits readers. Unlike content churned out by AI, which depends on set algorithms, deep content is created by human writers who can think critically, analyze a variety of sources, and present information in a way that promotes a thorough understanding of the topic.
From an SEO standpoint, deep content aligns perfectly with Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines, which emphasize the significance of expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness. While AI can sift through online resources, it often struggles to verify facts and judge their reliability. Google’s use of human search raters to assess content quality highlights the importance of human insight — a realm where deep content truly excels.
In essence, deep content bridges the gaps where AI tends to falter, providing depth, nuance, and emotionally engaging storytelling that can enhance your digital branding in a landscape increasingly saturated with AI-generated material.
To better understand why deep content is crucial for brand protection, let’s explore the limitations of AI-generated content.
Here are three reasons why this is the way forward for SEO.
Deep content answers questions that AI struggles with.
If you ask ChatGPT how to reinstall macOS, it will provide you with clear, step-by-step instructions on how to get it done. It outlines exactly what you need to do and how to do it.
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It is the type of “shallow” topic that AI is targeting.
Once Google launches SGE for everyone (likely to happen soon), people searching won’t have to click through for answers to these straightforward questions. Thanks to AI, the information will be right there in the search results. The bots will be taking the traffic away.
Compare this to Deep Seek answer for a topic like Why Content Is Important For SEO?
Even though part of the answer is missing, the problem is pretty straightforward: it tells us what we need to do, but it doesn’t explain how to do it.
- So, how do we pick the right objective?
- How do we gather data from Google Analytics, our CMS, and website crawlers to create a content inventory?
- What are the “right tools” that can assist with the audit?
Since this is a more complex topic, it deserves a more thorough answer. You won’t find that from AI alone. You’ll need to click through to a tutorial from someone who has real-world experience with content audits.
Read this also: What is the Importance of Content Marketing in Your Business?
These are the kinds of subjects you should focus on in a world dominated by AI.
How can you discover “deep” topics?
There’s no foolproof method. It mostly comes down to having a solid understanding of your industry and using a bit of common sense. However, when you’re conducting keyword research, you can refine your search by avoiding keywords that lead to featured snippets. After all, if Google believes a query can already be answered effectively with a featured snippet, an AI-generated response will likely suffice too.
You can do this in Keywords Explorer by using the SERP features filter:
You can also hit the “Identify intent” button in Keywords Explorer to get a better grasp of what searchers are really after. If it looks like something that can’t be answered quickly or easily, chances are it’s a “deep” topic.
For instance, it shows us that a lot of folks searching for “content audit” are looking for “a detailed process for conducting a content audit, including templates”:
Generative AI is going to struggle to provide that—especially when it comes to the templates.
If you’re still on the fence about whether a topic is “deep” enough for AI to stumble, try pasting your topic into ChatGPT or Gemini and see what pops up. If the response leaves you wanting more and only covers the what, not the how, then it’s likely a deep content topic.
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Deep content is the key to earning more backlinks.
Backlinks still play a crucial role in ranking, and AI hasn’t changed that fact. If you want to compete in the rankings, you need to earn those backlinks. The best way to do this is by showcasing unique experiences, expertise, and data in your deep content.
For instance, we received a link from adobe.com (DR 96) when they referenced a statistic from our study on the number of pages that receive no search traffic:
We also got a link from hubspot.com (DR 93) when they cited the SEO report template we created:
But here’s the problem:
It’s tough to achieve this with shallow topics because there’s not much to add.
Take the topic of reinstalling macOS, for example. What can you really say beyond the same basic instructions that are already covered in countless other posts? Not much. Creating “linkable” content on this subject is nearly impossible due to its lack of depth.
Read also: Why Content Marketing Matters.
Ranking for shallow topics is challenging because your content lacks uniqueness. It’s just a collection of words that have been repeated a million times. There’s nothing substantial for people to reference and link to.
Ultimately, it’s what lies beneath the surface of your content that attracts backlinks!
Deep content is fascinating… and that’s exactly what Google is after.
Let’s be real, it’s tough to make shallow topics captivating. I think that’s why we see so much bland “SEO content” floating around. You know the type I mean: lifeless, just generic responses to mundane questions buried under keyword-heavy H2s.
Now, I can already hear you saying:
“But Josh, this is what works! We’re only doing it because it’s what Google wants!”
Sure, that might hold for those surface-level topics, but we’ve already talked about how AI is going to snatch up the traffic from those in the near future. When it comes to deeper subjects that need a bit more unpacking, your content has to be engaging and intriguing.
There are (at least) two reasons for this.
Interesting content = “information gain”
Even if you’re not racking up backlinks by offering something fresh and intriguing, it can still boost your Google rankings.
That’s because Google values originality in content and likely has systems designed to recognize and reward it. In fact, they even patented a method for scoring “information gain” back in 2022.
Engaging content = better user signals
If you want to ignite a lively discussion among SEOs, just bring up user signals.
For years, many in the field have believed that user signals, like click-through rates, play a role in rankings. You might recall Rand Fishkin’s famous mini-experiment from 2014, where he encouraged his Twitter followers to click on a search result all at once, which surprisingly led to a #1 ranking that very evening.
Final Thoughts
If you want the ChatGPT-style summary of this post, here it is: Prioritize deep topics that AI can’t fully answer, and craft engaging, insightful content around them. That’s how you build an unshakable SEO moat in an AI-dominated world.
I get it—this might feel like a waste of time in an era of shrinking attention spans. It’s tempting to assume that bland, AI-generated answers are all people want.
I used to think that way too… until my boss, Tim, set me straight. 😅 And while some of that might just be workplace respect, he’s onto something big: People still crave great content—but only if it’s truly valuable, engaging, and insightful.
So here’s the challenge: Let’s stop fighting losing battles over shallow topics and instead focus on depth, originality, and expertise. Because in the end, AI might handle the basics, but it can’t replace real thought leadership.
The future of SEO isn’t about competing with AI—it’s about outthinking it.