From Keywords to Conversations: Winning in an AI-First Search World With Audience-Focused Content

It’s a tricky time to be in SEO. AI-driven search is reshaping how people find answers, but measuring visibility within LLMs is almost impossible (despite what many tools are claiming!) - and likely will be for a while, because prompts are not keywords.

Audiences might type more 'traditional' search terms into tools like ChatGPT to start with but as their understanding and trust develops, user prompts will evolve to become more complex, contextual, and deeply personal (i.e they'll shift from 'best running shoes' to 'I'm thinking about training for a 10k for the first time - my current trainers are knackered so I need some new ones. I'm size 5 and prefer well cushioned shoes although I don't know about my pronation. What should I get?') and so we'll never be able to prioritise according to 'prompt volume'.

This talk explores how we can adapt by shifting from chasing search volumes to deeply understanding audiences, needs, and behaviours. Sophie shares tips for finding killer audience insights and turning them into content that will resonate with Google, LLMs and real people, now and in the future.

Transcript

1. From Keywords to Conversations: Winning in an AI-First Search World With Audience-Focused Content Sophie Coley Head of AI & Strategy, Propellernet @coleybird | Speakerdeck.com/sophiecoley
2. It’s an *interesting* time to be in search From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
3. Keyword research SERP & market analysis Opp. analysis Strategy definition Tech, Content & Digital PR execution Measurement From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
4. Keywords ≠ Prompts We’ve been spoilt • Highly variable & unpredictable • Inconsistent • Only Microsoft sharing data • Some 3rd party tools • Predictable • Relatively consistent • Data shared by tech platforms • Numerous, trusted 3rd party tools From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
5. Keywords ≠ Prompts We’ve been spoilt • Highly variable & unpredictable • Inconsistent • Only Microsoft sharing data • Some 3rd party tools • Predictable • Relatively consistent • Data shared by tech platforms • Numerous, trusted 3rd party tools From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
6. From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
7. Google search habits will linger From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
8. Google search habits will linger From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
9. From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO But eventually, users will be confident prompting
10. Probabilistic Deterministic Volume-based thinking doesn’t work From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO Keywords ≠ Prompts
11. ‘Invisible personalisation’ - the layer you can’t see at all From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO + “I’m a big Adidas fan”
12. ‘Invisible personalisation’ - the layer you can’t see at all From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO + “I have unusually small feet”
13. ‘Invisible personalisation’ - the layer you can’t see at all From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO + “I’m vegan”
14. ‘Invisible personalisation’ - the layer you can’t see at all From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO + “I’m getting a bonus next month”
15. Invisible context Different prompts Different answers It presents a triple measurement problem + = From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
16. It gets worse… From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
17. Some tools claim to capture prompt volumes From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO A proprietary mix of (largely publicly available) data
18. Some tools claim to capture prompt volumes Number of times your site appeared as a source for specific ‘grounding queries’ From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
19. Some tools claim to capture prompt volumes Data licensed from consumer panels From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
20. But even the most rigorous approach has a fundamental issue From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
21. From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
22. Do people who agree to ‘help improve AI products’ truly understand that their private ChatGPT conversations are being captured, anonymised, and sold to marketing teams as a commercial data product? From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
23. Before you build strategy on any prompt volume data, ask these seven questions: From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO 1. Where does this data actually come from?
24. Before you build strategy on any prompt volume data, ask these seven questions: From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO 2. How big is the sample and who's in it?
25. Before you build strategy on any prompt volume data, ask these seven questions: From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO 3. Do the numbers stay consistent?
26. Before you build strategy on any prompt volume data, ask these seven questions: From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO 4. What are they actually counting?
27. Before you build strategy on any prompt volume data, ask these seven questions: From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO 5. Can they separate search intent from generative intent?
28. Before you build strategy on any prompt volume data, ask these seven questions: From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO 6. Would you be comfortable if your own AI conversations were in this dataset?
29. Before you build strategy on any prompt volume data, ask these seven questions: From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO 7. Is this telling me something I couldn't learn by understanding my audience?
30. If we can’t prioritise by volume, what do we prioritise by? From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
31. Understand your audience deeply enough that you don't need volume data to know what matters to them From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
32. Search Listening remains valid From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
33. Reddit & Forums are hugely valuable From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
34. Reddit & Forums are hugely valuable From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
35. As are reviews From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
36. You should be looking for ‘audience facets’ – the building blocks of prompts From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO … not queries or volumes
37. You should be looking for ‘audience facets’ – the building blocks of prompts From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO … not queries or volumes Needs Lifestyle Situ
38. You should be looking for ‘audience facets’ – the building blocks of prompts From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO … not queries or volumes Needs Lifestyle Situations Trig
39. You should be looking for ‘audience facets’ – the building blocks of prompts From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO … not queries or volumes ds Lifestyle Situations Triggers La
40. You should be looking for ‘audience facets’ – the building blocks of prompts From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO … not queries or volumes yle Situations Triggers Labels Co
41. You should be looking for ‘audience facets’ – the building blocks of prompts From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO … not queries or volumes ions Triggers Labels Context
42. You should be looking for ‘audience facets’ – the building blocks of prompts From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO … not queries or volumes ers Labels Context
43. It’s easy to find content opportunities within audience facets The best trainers you can wear to work and the gym From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
44. Be specific and cover off why as well as what… From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
45. From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO Be specific and cover off why as well as what…
46. From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO Be specific and cover off why as well as what…
47. From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO Be specific and cover off why as well as what…
48. … bonus points for the other Ws ho hat hy hen here (and ow) From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
51. From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
52. We’ve spent 20 years in SEO getting better and better at measuring things CTRs Keyword volumes Rankings From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
53. You can’t measure a conversation the way you measure a keyword From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
54. Stop chasing prompt volume. Start chasing understanding…. From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
55. … and plan your content accordingly From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO
56. Thank you! Sophie Coley sophie@propellernet.co.uk linkedin.com/in/sophiecoley/ From Keywords to Conversations | #brightonSEO