How To Use AI For Smarter SEO Strategies

Let me be honest I never thought I’d use AI for SEO. I always figured it was just hype. Like, okay, a robot’s gonna write my blog posts and magically rank me on page one? Yeah, right. But over time, I started using little AI tools here and there mostly out of curiosity and it turns out, they actually help. Not in a “sit back and let it do everything” kind of way, but more like having an assistant who doesn’t complain when you ask for the hundredth keyword variation. So here’s what I’ve picked up, from one regular person trying to make SEO less of a chore. First off, keyword research used to drain me. Opening five tabs, comparing volumes, trying to figure out what people might be searching for it just felt like guessing. Then I tried asking an AI tool, “What’s a weird long-tail keyword someone might type if they were looking for a small business accountant in a tiny town?” And you know what? It actually gave me stuff I wouldn’t have thought of. Niche stuff. Stuff with potential. But here’s the catch: I didn’t just copy-paste what it told me. I picked what sounded human, made it my own, and double-checked that it wasn’t totally off base. It was like brainstorming with a really fast coworker. Writing-wise, I still do it myself. I like writing. But when I’m stuck staring at a blank screen, I’ll ask AI to give me a starting point or help tighten up a paragraph. It's not perfect, but it’s enough to nudge me forward. Think of it like a rough draft generator, not a ghostwriter. Where AI really surprised me, though, was in figuring out what people actually mean when they search. Like, I never realized how different “how to start a blog” is from “best platforms to blog.” One person wants a beginner guide. The other’s already halfway there. Once I started matching my content to the intent like actually thinking about what people were hoping to find traffic started picking up. I’ve also used AI for stuff like checking broken links, generating image alt text , and even writing short SEO titles when I’ve hit my creative wall. Does it make SEO effortless? No. But it does make it less painful. Would I recommend it to others? Yeah, if you’re doing everything yourself and feeling overwhelmed. Just don’t expect it to do all the work for you. You still have to guide it, check it, rewrite it. But it saves time, and in SEO, time is everything.