Beyond The Hype of Al: Real Workflows & Real Results

1. How are SEO’s Using AI?

2. What Can AI Be Used For?

3. Beginner Workflows & Outcomes

4.Intermediate Workflows & Outcomes

5. More Advanced Workflows & Outcomes

6.What This Means For In-House & Agency SEOs

Transcript

1. Beyond The Hype of Al: Real Workflows & Real Results Ahrefs Evolve San Diego 2025
2. Who Am I? I’m Sophie, co-founder & director of StudioHawk US And what I’ve seen the most when it comes to AI is that there is a lot of hype and a lot of people building a lot of cool stuff…. But not a lot of actions that the everyday SEO specialist can integrate into their day to day.
3. What will we be covering today? How are SEO’s Using AI? 1. What Can AI Be Used For? 2. 3. Beginner Workflows & Outcomes 4. Intermediate Workflows & Outcomes 5. More Advanced Workflows & Outcomes 6. What This Means For In-House & Agency SEOs
5. How Are SEO’s Currently Using AI?
6. Source: https://ahrefs.com/blog/what-percent age-of-new-content-is-ai-generated/
7. Source: https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-generated- content-does-not-hurt-your-google-r ankings/
8. Source: https://developers.google.com/search/blo g/2023/02/google-search-and-ai-content
9. Why? Lack of time to spend testing AI features and building internal tools Lack of internal buy-in that these tools / features will help to get the job done well Lack of knowledge or skill in how to utilize these tools or build them in the first place
10. And all of these things are okay
11. Because chances are someone’s already done it, tested it, proven the value and now you can replicate
12. What Can SEO’s Use AI For? Content briefing Content creation Transcribing notes Automating keyword research Audience Insights On-Page Recs Technical fixes Schema Mark Up Performance monitoring A/B Testing Building tools CRO Tests So much more!
14. Let’s look at some basic prompts for some standard SEO tasks
15. Task: Content Briefs
16. Example 1 Topic Structure Word Count
17. Rule Number 1: The better the prompt, the sharper and more actionable the SEO content brief
18. Example 2 Page Type, Purpose & Topic Goal Keyword Research
19. Example 2 Target Audience & Demographics Pain Points Tone & Style Competitors
20. Rule Number 2: Refine, Refine, Refine
21. Create your own Custom GPT to really hone the tone of voice & style
22. Task: Traditional On Page
23. 1. Page Titles / Meta Descriptions In Bulk 2. Basic On Page Optimization 3. Basic Keyword Research* 4. Page comparison vs. competitors *Use for inspiration, not for final decisions
28. Watch for repetition, non-specific guidance & inaccuracies or hallucinations
29. Source: https://github.com/vectara/hallucination-leaderboard - Updated September 8th
32. Task: Deep Research Audience Insights
34. What Can This Help You With?
35. Understandin g audience behavior
36. Competitor Deep Dives
37. Gain Strategic Insights
38. Task: Internal Link Auditing & Suggestions
40. 783 collection pages mapped related collection pages for a new internal linking widget in minutes, with ½ day of human checks to ensure accuracy. Without AI, this would’ve taken at least 2 days to manually complete.
41. Rule Number 3: Human Checks Are Imperative
43. Why are these next few points classified as “advanced ”?
44. They take time and nuance May need some dev experience May not be for everyday use
45. Creating Browser Extensions
47. Revenue Style ID Transactions
48. • Combination of Gemini & CSV files • Clear & structured explanation • A bunch of back & forth • More patience…. • And a tiny bit more fine tuning
50. N8N Workflows
51. Blog Brief Automation
52. Automate SEO Keyword Research Source: AI Workshop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfIAfpGAapM
53. Claude Subagents Source: Eric Siu, Single Grain Source: https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code/sub-agents
54. Really, all of this is just scratching the surface
55. What Does All Of This Mean For SEOs?
56. In-House More time on stakeholder management Advanced strategic roadmap Become the translator & advocate Scale research & technical QA Become AI-literate strategists Deliver more but set expectations Agency Automate repetitive tasks Reduce time on low-margin tasks Value in frameworks & creativity Scale processes across dozens of clients Master AI-Assisted Workflows Deliver tasks faster to deliver more value
57. Pitfall To Avoid
58. Why do I need an SEO when AI can do everything? “ ” - CEOs everywhere
59. The future of SEO isn’t about ticking boxes. We need to move away from checkbox culture and learn how to unlock value. Your job is to be the strategist who uses every tool available, but always with creativity and critical thinking tailored to the unique needs of the business. “ - Sophie Brannon, StudioHawk US
60. Scan for Your AI Search Toolkit • AI Search Toolkit (Traffic Report + Templates) • AI SEO 45 page white paper
61. THANK YOU! Ahrefs Evolve San Diego 2025 Find me on LinkedIn, visit https://studiohawk.com/ or give me a shout when you’re in Atlanta!