Let me say this upfront: AI search isn’t “unfair.” It’s just brutally honest.

Google, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews — they don’t feel your brand’s effort. They don’t care that you published 500 blogs last year. They don’t reward “hard work.” They reward signals.

And right now, your competitors are simply sending stronger AI search visibility signals than you are.

This reminds me of a principle we’ve lived by for years: great content is not enough — you need to market it. That was true in classic SEO, and it’s even more true now in AI SEO and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization).

AI search is basically SEO + reputation + PR + structure + consistency — all rolled into one big trust machine.

So if you feel like competitors are “winning” in AI search, here’s why.

Why do competitors show up more in AI search?

Competitors win in AI search because they build stronger authority signals, publish more extractable content, and earn more third-party mentions across trusted platforms.

That sounds simple. It’s not easy. But it’s straightforward.

1) Competitors have stronger authority signals (backlinks, mentions, citations)

AI systems don’t just look for answers. They look for answers they can safely repeat.

That means competitors with:

• more reputable backlinks
• more branded mentions
• more citations in industry sites
• more “people talk about them” signals

…get picked first.

It’s the same concept as a courtroom: the AI is asking, “Who has witnesses?”
Backlinks and mentions are those witnesses.

And here’s the part that stings: you can have the same quality content, but if they’re more validated, they’ll still get cited more.

AI SEO takeaway: authority signals still matter — and in AI search, they often matter more.

2) Your competitors write in a way AI can quote

Most websites write like they’re trying to impress a professor.

AI prefers content that’s easy to extract and justify — content that can be quoted cleanly in one paragraph, with a clear heading above it.

If your competitor does this:

H2: What is AEO?
Answer: AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is the practice of structuring content so AI tools can extract clear, direct answers and cite your brand.

And you do this:

H2: Understanding the landscape
(then 6 paragraphs of background before the actual answer)

Guess who gets picked?

AI doesn’t hate you. It just can’t “pull” you.

So yes — BLUF works (Bottom Line Up Front). Give the answer early. Then explain.

This is why in my AEO/GEO  series, I started with the shift that matters most: search behavior moved from keywords to conversations — and our content needs to match that reality.

AI SEO takeaway: write answers like they’ll be quoted — because they will be.

3) Your competitors dominate the places AI loves to reference

AI engines don’t only read your website. They also read the internet’s “public proof.”

Meaning: Reddit threads, G2 reviews, YouTube breakdowns, niche forums, Quora, community discussions — all that messy, human stuff.

If your competitor is present there, they become a familiar entity in the machine’s brain.

That’s why I keep telling people: citations are the new backlinks. Not because backlinks don’t matter — they do — but because AI is watching who gets mentioned consistently across the web.

And if you want the PH-specific context for why this public proof matters more than ever — and where Filipino brands are actually winning or losing attention online — I broke it down in the Digital State of the Philippines whitepaper. It’s the macro view that explains why AI visibility is now tied to presence, trust, and discoverability across platforms — not just your website.

AI SEO takeaway: if nobody talks about you outside your site, AI will struggle to recommend you.

4) Your competitors are building topical authority, while you’re building random content

Some brands publish like they’re playing bingo: “Let’s blog about this keyword. Let’s blog about that keyword.”

But the brands winning in AI search build a “topic fortress.”

They cover one topic deeply:

• definitions
• how-tos
• comparisons
• FAQs
• use cases
• mistakes
• templates
• troubleshooting
• pricing logic
• examples

So when AI tries to answer anything in that topic neighborhood, it goes:  “Ah. This brand again. They keep showing up. They must be the authority.”

Topical authority is basically repeated excellence + repeated association.

AI SEO takeaway: AI rewards the brand that owns the topic, not the brand that posts occasionally about it.

5) Your competitors have clearer entities than you do

AI doesn’t just read words. It recognizes entities: brands, people, products, locations, services.

If your site is inconsistent (different naming, unclear positioning, messy About page, weak author bios, no schema, inconsistent NAP), you look “fuzzy.”

Fuzzy brands don’t get featured.

Clear brands do.

AI SEO takeaway: make your brand and offerings unmistakable to both humans and machines.

6) They make their claims verifiable (and you might not)

AI likes content it can defend.

So if competitors are:

• citing credible sources
• showing author credentials
• referencing data
• linking out properly
• using schema markup

…they become safer to cite.

And AI is obsessed with being safe.

AI SEO takeaway: the more verifiable your content is, the easier it is for AI to cite you.

What to fix first so you start showing up

If you want a simple priority order, here it is:

1. Fix structure first (fastest ROI)
2. Build mentions like your visibility depends on it (because it does)
3. Build topic clusters, not “blogs”
4. Get present where the internet has conversations
5. Implement schema properly

Step 1: Fix structure first (fastest ROI)

On your key pages:

• Use question-style H2s that mirror real prompts
• Put the answer immediately under the header (2–3 sentences)
• Support it with detail after
• Link sources for claims/statistics

Step 2: Build mentions like your visibility depends on it (because it does)

PR, partnerships, guesting, expert commentary, community participation.

Your goal: be talked about in places AI already trusts.

Step 3: Build topic clusters, not “blogs”

Pick your core themes and cover them deeply until it’s obvious you’re the authority.

Step 4: Get present where the internet has conversations

If your market lives on Reddit, forums, LinkedIn, G2/Clutch/Capterra — you can’t be invisible there and expect AI to magically discover you.

Step 5: Implement schema properly

At minimum:

• Organization schema
• Website schema
• Article schema
• FAQ schema (when appropriate)
• Author schema (or strong author pages)

Here’s a beginner-friendly guide on how to implement schema on your website, if you need it.

Key Takeaway

AI search rewards brands that act like leaders.

Leaders don’t hide behind fluff. Leaders answer clearly. Leaders show proof. Leaders are present in the community. Leaders are consistent.

And that’s why this is not “a new strategy” — it’s SEO done at a higher standard, with PR and clarity working together.

If you want to win in AI search, you don’t need to “hack” the AI.You just need to become the brand the AI can confidently recommend.

And if you want the PH-specific context for why this is happening (and where Filipino brands are getting outpaced), I laid it out in the Digital State of the Philippines report — it’s the big-picture view of how discovery, trust, and online behavior are shifting locally, which directly affects how AI engines “decide” what to surface.

The post AI Search Is Ignoring You: Here’s Why Your Competitors Get Picked appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

AI is changing search—and it’s changing it fast. People aren’t just “Googling” anymore. They’re asking AI tools to summarize, recommend, and decide. That means fewer clicks, fewer “ten blue links,” and a whole lot more filtered answers that feel final.

If you’re a brand, that’s a big deal. Because discovery is shifting. Product consideration is shifting. Even the path to your website is shifting. And if your SEO playbook is still built purely for classic search behavior, you’re going to feel it—slowly at first, then all at once.

So the real question now isn’t “Is AI SEO a cool new thing we should try?” It’s: is AI SEO worth it? Will AI SEO actually give us measurable ROI? Will it help us protect visibility, generate demand, and drive conversions in a search world that’s becoming more AI-driven by the month? Or is it going to be one of those shiny experiments that burns budget and leaves you with nothing but screenshots?

Let’s cut through the hype. In this article, we’ll lay out what AI SEO really is, where it wins, where it gets risky, and when it’s actually worth investing in—so you can make the decision with clarity, not FOMO.

AI SEO in the Context of Modern Search

AI SEO changes how optimization works. Traditional SEO focuses on ranking web pages for specific keywords in search engine results. AI SEO, on the other hand, aims to make your content understandable, credible, and useful enough to be referenced or cited in AI-generated answers. Instead of just competing for rankings in the search results, businesses are now competing for visibility inside AI summaries and conversations.

We’re already seeing this shift through platforms like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity, where users ask complex questions and receive instant, synthesized responses. As these AI-powered experiences become more common, SEO strategies must evolve to ensure that brands remain visible in both traditional and AI-driven search environments.

Why Businesses Invest in AI SEO

Some businesses are starting to see AI SEO as more than just a trend. It’s becoming a practical response to how users now search, discover, and interact with information online. With AI-powered tools influencing both search engines and user expectations, businesses are rethinking how they maintain visibility and stay competitive.

• Changing user behavior. More users are turning to AI-powered tools for quick, summarized answers instead of scrolling through traditional search results. This reduces reliance on classic click-through journeys and changes how traffic is distributed.
• A more competitive digital landscape. There are more and more businesses that have already started integrating AI into their SEO processes. So those businesses who are ignoring AI SEO now risk falling behind competitors who are using it to scale content, uncover insights, and optimize faster.
• Stronger data-driven capabilities. With the growth of different AI tools today, large datasets can now be processed easily, which improves keyword research, detects search patterns, predicts trends, and even personalizes content strategy. This allows businesses to make faster, more informed SEO decisions.

With artificial intelligence continuing to grow and reshape search, AI SEO is increasingly seen as a strategic investment. This approach does not just help businesses adapt to new search behaviors, but improve efficiency and performance as well.

Author’s Note: If you want a clearer, data-backed picture of why this shift to AI SEO is happening—how Filipinos are searching today, what’s changing in discovery, and what that means for businesses—download our whitepaper: The State of Digital in the Philippines. It’s a practical read you can share internally to align leadership, marketing, and sales on what to do next (and what not to ignore).

How AI SEO Helps You Stay Ahead

Staying visible online is no longer just about keeping up. It is now about staying ahead. And with AI reshaping how information is shown and consumed, businesses are starting to view AI SEO as an opportunity rather than a risk. It opens the door to new ways for maintaining relevance, adapting to market changes, and positioning a brand for long-term growth in a competitive digital landscape.

Enhanced Efficiency and Scalability

Traditional, time-consuming SEO tasks such as keyword research, content structuring, and on-page optimizations, can now be streamlined and automated with the help of different AI tools. This reduces the time spent on repetitive processes, allowing teams to focus more on strategy, analysis, and performance-driven improvements.

So with AI SEO in place, businesses can now operate with greater speed and precision without overextending their resources, stretching their teams too thin. These efficiencies make it easier for businesses to scale their SEO efforts more effectively, respond to market demands faster, and maintain a consistent level of optimization as they continue to grow.

Better Targeting and Personalization

AI SEO also helps businesses to better understand what users are actually searching for by analyzing large volumes of data across queries, user behavior, and emerging patterns. Instead of relying solely on static keywords, AI can help identify search intent and surface new, emerging topics before they become highly competitive. This makes AI SEO investment more strategic, allowing businesses to create more relevant, personalized content that aligns with what users need at each stage of their journey.

With a more targeted and data-driven approach, businesses can reach the right audience at the right time, helping them stay a step ahead in an increasingly competitive search environment.

Potential for Expanded Visibility

Visibility in search today is no longer limited to traditional rankings. AI-powered platforms increasingly deliver summaries and direct answers, citing and pulling information from multiple trusted sources. 

So when businesses optimize website content to be clear, authoritative, and structured for AI understanding, they can increase their chances to appear more in these generative responses. This approach allows brands to reach audiences not just through search results rankings, but also through AI-driven answers, expanding their presence and helping them stay visible as search experiences continue to evolve.

Future-Proofing Your SEO Strategy

Since businesses have already established their SEO foundation, the next step is adapting to how AI is reshaping search discovery. Incorporating AI SEO in existing strategies can help businesses ensure their content remains discoverable across both traditional search results and emerging AI-powered platforms. This approach helps businesses stay relevant, competitive, and prepared for the next wave of search innovation. 

The Strategic Risks and Challenges of AI SEO

It is equally important to consider the strategic risks and challenges that AI SEO brings as it is to understand its benefits. While AI offers efficiency, insights, and scalability, relying too much on automated tools without careful oversight can lead to pitfalls. 

As we understand the challenges, businesses can make an informed and balanced AI SEO investment.

Quality vs. Quantity

One of the key challenges of AI SEO lies in balancing quality and quantity. While AI can streamline content creation and help produce large volumes of material quickly,  these do not automatically translate to effective results. Content still needs to meet user expectations and satisfy search engine standards, providing value, accuracy, and relevance. 

Focusing solely on quantity can dilute a brand’s authority and engagement, so businesses must ensure that AI-generated content is carefully reviewed, refined, and aligned with their overall SEO strategy.

Zero-Click Phenomenon

With AI-powered platforms already providing direct answers and summaries, users will be able to get the information they need without ever visiting a website. This may increase the brand visibility through the responses, but it does not always translate into website traffic, leads, or conversions. This is where the concept of “zero-click searches” becomes relevant.

In this context, businesses must optimize content not just for visibility, but also for engagement and actionable outcomes, to ensure that AI-driven exposure contributes meaningfully to overall marketing goals.

Dependence on Tools

While AI can speed up processes and show useful insights, relying on it too heavily can result in standard or templated content that lacks depth and originality. Without human judgment to guide direction, refine messaging, and ensure alignment with brand goals, AI-driven outputs may fall short of delivering real value. 

So to avoid this, businesses must treat AI as a support tool, and not a replacement for strategic thinking and editorial control.

Learning Curve & Cost

Adopting AI SEO also comes with a learning curve and added costs. The tools required for AI-driven optimization often involve subscription fees, training, and ongoing adjustments to workflows. Teams also need time to understand how to use these tools effectively and integrate them into existing SEO processes. 

Without proper planning, the financial and operational investment may outweigh the short-term benefits. This is why businesses should carefully assess their goals, resources, and readiness before committing to AI SEO solutions.

When is AI SEO Worth It?

While AI offers clear advantages, its value and effectiveness still depend on specific conditions, goals, and operational needs. Not every situation calls for AI-driven optimization, which is why evaluating the right timing and context is essential. 

When You Already Have a Solid SEO Foundation

AI SEO delivers the most value when it builds on an already established SEO foundation. Websites with strong technical SEO, clear site structure, and high-quality content are better positioned to benefit from AI-driven optimization. In these cases, AI can focus on scaling content efforts, refining keyword strategies, and improving overall performance rather than addressing basic issues. 

Without an SEO foundation in place, AI tools may only amplify existing problems, making it harder to achieve meaningful results.

When Your SEO Goals Require Scale

For websites managing large product catalogs, multiple service pages, or campaigns across different markets, AI can help streamline processes like keyword clustering, topic generation, and content outlining. This makes it easier to maintain consistency and coverage across a wide range of pages. 

AI helps reduce the time spent on research, drafting, and other optimizations, allowing businesses to scale their SEO efforts more efficiently, all while keeping up with growing demands.

When You Want to Future-Proof Your SEO Strategy

When the goal is to stay aligned with how search is evolving, AI SEO should be considered. Search engines continue to integrate AI-driven algorithms, generative results, and conversational interfaces, so traditional optimization alone may no longer be enough. 

Integrating AI into your SEO strategy helps businesses adapt to changes such as AI Overviews, answer engines, and more dynamic search experiences. So when you invest in AI tools and workflows early, teams are better prepared to respond to shifts in user behavior and search technology, making sure that their SEO strategy remains relevant and effective over time.

When You Need to Maximize Limited Resources

AI SEO can also be valuable for businesses working with small teams or limited budgets. Since repetitive tasks such as keyword research, meta tag generation, and content brief creation can be automated with different AI tools, it reduces the manual workload involved in day-to-day optimization. This allows lean marketing teams to accomplish more without increasing headcount, improving productivity across key SEO processes. 

For startups, SMEs, or organizations with limited resources, AI can serve as a practical way to maintain consistent SEO efforts while focusing time and energy on higher-impact strategies.

When AI Helps Increase Conversions or Leads

Adapting to AI SEO will not just help increase website traffic, but also conversions and leads. With modern AI tools, we can analyze user behavior, search intent, and performance data to identify which keywords, pages, and content elements are most likely to drive action. From there, they can recommend improvements that align content with high-intent, conversion-focused queries. 

So when AI contributes directly to measurable outcomes, such as more inquiries, sign-ups, or sales, the investment becomes far more worthwhile.

When You’re Competing in a Data-Driven Market

In industries where competitors already rely on automation, analytics, and rapid optimization, manual strategies can quickly fall behind. AI tools can process large volumes of data, detect patterns, and uncover opportunities much faster than traditional methods. They can also reveal competitor strategies, identify content gaps, and surface emerging keywords before they become saturated. 

Therefore, businesses that adopt AI early in these fast-moving environments are more likely to stay ahead and gain a meaningful competitive advantage.

Key Takeaway

AI can be a powerful tool in modern SEO, but it is not a magic solution that works on its own. Its value depends on how well it aligns with your strategy, goals, and the strength of your existing SEO foundation. When used with clear objectives and guided by human expertise, AI can accelerate growth, improve efficiency, and help businesses adapt to the search landscape that is always changing.

In the end, AI SEO is worth the investment when it supports a solid strategy, not when it tries to replace one.

The post Is AI SEO Worth the Investment? Breaking Down the Pros and Cons appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

Search is no longer just about matching keywords. Before, it was all about finding pages that contained the exact keywords you entered. But today, search engines focus on understanding the intent and context behind your query, and deliver answers that feel almost human. 

Thanks to generative AI in search, we can now receive direct, context-rich answers tailored to their intent, changing the way we discover, consume, and interact with information online. It has been transforming the search experience into something smarter, faster, and more intuitive than ever before.

Author’s Note: 

This article is the fourth installment in my ongoing AI + SEO (AEO) series. To get the full picture, I highly recommend checking out the first two parts before diving in:

• How AI Overviews Impact CTR and SEO – Discover how Google’s AI-powered overviews are changing click-through rates and reshaping search strategies.

• Mapping Content to User Goals: A Guide to Intent Orchestration – Learn how to structure content around user intent to maximize engagement and conversions.

• How Generative AI Is Changing Search Behavior – Understand how AI-driven search is reshaping the way people look for and interact with information.

By reading in order, you’ll not only understand what’s changing in search but also learn how to adapt your content strategies step by step.

What is Generative AI in Search?

Generative AI in search is a type of artificial intelligence designed to generate new content rather than simply analyzing or classifying existing data. And when applied to search engines, this means producing original, synthesized answers instead of just ranking and displaying a list of links. 

Unlike traditional search, generative AI in search uses advanced systems such as large language models (LLMs). These models are trained on massive datasets and use advanced algorithms to understand context, style, and structure. As a result, these can generate responses that sound natural, conversational, and human-like, instead of robotic or generic. 

The big difference is that instead of simply “retrieving” or pulling out an answer word-for-word from a database, AI can understand the intent of a question, adapt its tone, and deliver insights that feel more useful and intuitive to people.

Some of the most visible applications of generative AI in search:

• Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE): Generates an AI-powered “snapshot” at the top of the results page. This snapshot works by pulling together key information from different sources, then gives you a quick, context-rich answer, which makes you understand a topic faster without clicking through several sites from the search listings.

• ChatGPT Search (OpenAI): This combines real-time web search with the conversational abilities of GPT models. Instead of only relying on pre-trained knowledge, this can fetch up-to-date information from the internet, summarize it in a natural, conversational style, and even provide citations to sources.

• Perplexity AI: This generative AI tool takes a more focused and straightforward approach compared to others. Instead of long summaries or conversational deep dives, Perplexity delivers concise, straight-to-the-point answers.

• Gemini (previously known as Bard): Google’s generative AI chatbot and search assistant, which is designed to produce AI-driven responses that go beyond simple facts. It offers creative content, summaries, and context-aware answers.
• Microsoft’s Bing Copilot: This tool is Microsoft’s version of combining generative AI with traditional search. It is built into Bing search and the Edge browser, which allows users to ask complex, natural-language questions and get back conversational, AI-generated answers instead of just a list of links.

These platforms demonstrate how generative AI is moving beyond theory into everyday tools, redefining user expectations for speed, accuracy, and usability in search.

The Science Behind Generative Search

As we’ve noticed, traditional search engines often struggle with limited contextual understanding, making it difficult to grasp the true intent behind a query. This can result in even irrelevant or frustrating results for users.

But generative AI in search changes the game by using large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Gemini, which are trained on datasets to interpret queries, understand context, and deliver responses that feel natural and human-like. So from keyword dependency in search algorithms, the generative experience relies on these advanced models to understand context and intent, providing more meaningful responses to user queries.

To better understand how this transformation works, it helps to break down the science behind it.

Retrieval vs. Synthesis

In generative AI in search, retrieval and synthesis work together to transform how information is delivered. 

Retrieval refers to the AI’s ability to find relevant information by pulling relevant documents, data, or sources from a huge knowledge base to look for facts and data points that might answer the query. Think of it as the AI’s research phase: gathering everything it might need. 

Traditional search engines actually rely on retrieval, presenting users with lists of links and documents that match keywords. 

Synthesis, on the other hand, is what sets generative AI apart. It involves blending the retrieved information into coherent, context-rich answers that directly respond to the user’s intent. So instead of just listing facts or copying text, it organizes the information, explains it in natural language, and provides context. This is what makes AI answers conversational, readable, and intuitive, rather than just a jumble of data.

In essence, generative search systems seamlessly merge retrieval and synthesis: they first gather the most relevant information, then process and combine it into meaningful insights. This not only improves accuracy and relevance but also elevates the user experience, offering answers that are concise, actionable, and tailored to the query.

Understanding Latent Intent

Generative AI doesn’t just look at the exact words in your search query. It tries to understand your latent intent, or the underlying meaning or goal behind your query that goes beyond the keywords that you typed. 

So when you enter a query, an LLM can analyze the wording and context to pick up subtle clues, and predict the underlying goal (or the latent intent). Then, it will generate responses that address the hidden intent rather than just the literal keywords.

For example, when a user searches for “best SEO tools 2025,” the literal meaning of the query is simply a list of SEO tools. However, the latent intent goes deeper: the user is likely looking for tools that are up-to-date, reliable, and easy to use, ideally with pros, cons, and recommendations. 

Essentially, generative search reads between the lines of user queries to give answers that are actually helpful, rather than just matching keywords. It delivers answers that are context-aware, actionable, and relevant to the users, which makes information easier to understand.

The Mechanics of Query Fan-Out

One key technique behind generative AI in search is query fan-out, which refers to the process that AI uses to break a single user query into multiple related sub-queries to explore different angles and sources of information—some directly derived, others inferred from user context and intent.

So instead of relying on a single, straightforward search, generative AI “fans out” the query into several angles, interpretations, or related questions. The AI gathers a richer set of data points, uncovering insights that may not be immediately obvious from the original query alone.

For example, if the query is “What are the best strategies for increasing website traffic?” generative AI can fan out the query into related sub-queries like:

• “SEO strategies for website traffic”
• “content marketing tips”
• “social media tactics to boost traffic”
• “email marketing strategies for engagement”

Each of these sub-queries collects focused information, and the AI arranges the results into a comprehensive, context-aware response that covers multiple aspects of the original question. These answers are also more contextually relevant than a simple keyword-based search, delivering a user experience that feels thorough, personalized, and intelligently curated.

Transforming Content Planning and Audit Workflows

The rise of generative AI in search also touches on the approach in transforming content planning and audit workflows by leveraging its ability to understand context, latent intent, and user needs.

In content planning, the combination of retrieval and synthesis enables more effective topic ideation, allowing teams to plan around questions and intent clusters rather than focusing solely on keywords. This approach identifies what audiences truly want, guiding the creation of content that is relevant, comprehensive, and strategically aligned with search behavior.

Then, during content audits, AI streamlines the evaluation process by identifying gaps, redundancies, and areas where existing content may not fully satisfy latent intent. With the application of query fan-out and synthesis, it can highlight missing subtopics or perspectives that would enhance coverage. 

Key Takeaway

Generative AI is more than just the next step in search. It’s redefining how we discover information in ways that feel natural, intelligent, and deeply personalized. For SEO marketers today, this is actually a toolkit for thriving in the AI-driven era. They can move beyond keyword stuffing and start crafting content that truly aligns with what users seek. 

Success in this new landscape means thinking like AI: anticipating intent, covering topics from multiple angles, and continuously refining strategies. Those who embrace these shifts won’t just keep up with change, rather they’ll set the pace for the future of search marketing.

Next in my AEO/GEO series: How to Structure Content for AI-Powered Search

The post How Generative AI in Search Works: Understanding the Fundamentals appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

Do you know how to pick the right SEO agency for you?

Here’s a quick scenario to help you pick the right SEO agency for your business:

When you pick an SEO agency for your business, think of shopping for a perfect pair of shoes. You wouldn’t grab the very first pair of shoes that you saw, would you?

Chances are, you’d browse through the shoe racks.  You’ll keep looking to find a pair your heart is set on. And once you find it, you’ll try it on, walk around the store and see how it fits on your feet.

The same goes when picking the right SEO firm. You don’t hop into any agency that shows up on the first page of your search results (although them being on the first page is a good sign!) You have to do your homework well.

Having the right systems in place will do you and your business good. When choosing an SEO agency, you must have the right process in place as well.

Keep in mind that the SEO agency will do a big chunk of work to make your business visible and searchable online.

But what is SEO, anyway?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) involves steps that increase your online visibility. That means improving exposure to your brand on search engines.

Nowadays, customers search for products via Google, Bing, or other search engines. What SEO can do is increase and improve your website’s visibility on the SERPs.

The processes in SEO include making changes to the design of your website or your content. These changes are essential to make your website attractive to people and search engines.

It seems easy, but it requires effort. You need a well-rounded team that’s well-versed in the latest updates and trends of search engines. These specialists have the skills and strategic knowledge to meet your business goals.

How to find an SEO agency that’s right for you

To pick the right SEO agency, you need to determine why you need it for your business first. Once you have defined what you want to achieve, your next step is to map out the outcome you desire.

Make sure your goals are already in place when you reach out to an SEO agency. This will help you avoid wasting the time, money, and hard work you put into the business.

Do your research about the SEO company

Don’t fall down into the rabbit hole thinking all SEO agencies know what they’re doing. Not all SEO agencies that show on the first page of search results are credible and experts in the field. Some SEO agencies are on the first page because of Google Ads. Some are on the first page because they practice unethical strategies.

Take time to dive deep and know each SEO agency you find. If a colleague or a business partner referred you to an SEO agency, prepare questions for them ahead of time.

Ask the agency if they can provide information about their past performances. Ask about their case studies, their recognition or awards, or any of their past campaigns.

Ask their past and current clients about their experiences

Their past and current clients can help you identify the agency’s professionalism.

Check out the agency’s website for clients’ testimonials or in-depth reviews.

You may also reach out to two or three of their current clients. Ask about their experiences with the SEO agency you’re eyeing.

Learn about the SEO agency’s work process

Any SEO agency that tells you there’s one fail-proof strategy to rank high on the web is a fraud.

Different businesses have different goals and needs at different times. A credible SEO agency wouldn’t give you ready-made strategies. Why? Because different businesses have unique needs.

Be wary that some SEO agencies use unethical work processes. A black hat SEO strategy is the unethical practice of increasing your website’s ranking in the shortest time. Keyword stuffing, hidden links, and paid links are examples of black hat strategies. When search engines find you’re ranking because of such practices, it’s going to cost you and your business a lot.

Here at SEO Hacker, we make use of purely white-hat strategies. None of our clients have ever gotten penalized by search engines for the work we’ve done for them.

Here are a few helpful tips for learning about an SEO agency’s process:

• The right SEO agency offers a  website audit to identify opportunities for your business

Website audits help you and the agency find opportunities for website improvement. This is where transparency comes in.

SEO Hacker offers website audits to evaluate your website’s SERP. We grade your website’s design, user experience, and content. We also identify issues that need improving and provide recommendations to increase your website’s ranking. 

We don’t charge for website audits and set up Google Analytics as some agencies do.

We also consistently track campaigns, promptly correct irregularities, and frequently provide updates. Our team have open communication that demonstrates sincerity in meeting your goals.

• Check out how the SEO agency tracks result for their clients.

Campaigns aren’t pre-arranged because businesses have different needs. But, there are crucial metrics in SEO that need a steady check from the agency. These are:

• Organic traffic
• Subscriber size and user retention
• Conversion rate
• Page Loading Speed
• Device Used
• Page Errors

The best SEO firms know which metrics to check out based on your business goals. SEO Agencies only gather data that are relevant to you.  They must know how to provide an update that’s easy to understand.

• They have a qualified team of specialists dedicated only to your business.

Most SEO agencies will have a dedicated team of specialists who will work on your campaign. Their only focus is on creating strategies, overseeing the process, and execution. This is to avoid confusion and who you’re going to reach out to for updates.

• The right SEO company ranks on its own supposed keywords

One of the most sure-fire credentials of a reputable SEO agency is when you find them on the first page of SERPs. If the agency you’re looking at can’t even rank for their own keywords, how can you be sure they can help you rank with yours?

They must be knowledgeable in using the right tools. But more importantly, they must have the skill to do manual keyword research as it involves intuition. You must have a genuine insight into what your customers usually search for.

Give the SEO company’s website a visit

Most SEO Agencies’ websites provide information about their work culture and their process.  Their website also shows their authoritativeness in the field with their content.

When you pay the agency’s website a visit, look for information of the following:

• All relevant information about the latest trends and updates on search engines’ algorithms

Their content must be relevant and updated with the latest trends on search engines. The only thing that’s constant with Google is their algorithm updates. In SEO Hacker, we update our blog every Tuesday with algorithm updates, important SEO news, and tips, tricks, and strategies that you can use to improve your website’s SEO.

• The company’s values and work culture

An SEO firm’s work values and culture reflect how they manage their clients. If they have an extensive list of clients who work with them, chances are they have a good history of work ethics.

In SEO Hacker, we’re transparent about our work culture and ethics. We want our clients and potential customers to know what kind of agency we are.

• Their contact information

Any SEO agency that’s transparent has contact information available online. This way, you can inquire or reach out to them  with ease.

• Their clients’ feedback or review

Clients’ feedback is legit social proof of an SEO agency’s work excellence. One cannot fake how their clients actually see the work they’ve done for them. Besides, what agency wouldn’t want to showcase their masterwork anyway?

Key takeaway

It’s important for any business to establish goals first before they find the right SEO agency. Do you want to increase your visibility to get more leads? Do you want to improve your search rankings to get more sales? Once you have the answer it’ll be easy for you to pinpoint which SEO agency in the Philippines can help in reaching your goal.

It’s also important to meet with the SEO agency first. A discovery call helps in determining whether the agency is able to help meet your goal. Prepare questions that will help you identify if you have the same work values. Once you’re settled to work with them, prepare all the information they will need to meet your goal.

The post How to Choose the Right SEO Agency for You appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

I can’t stress enough how important it is for you to choose the right SEO Company. This could be one of the most crucial business decisions that you can make and it can be a little intimidating or overwhelming. Fear not, however, as I’ll give you all the questions that you need to ask and why you should ask them.

Do note that asking all of these questions is important, however, it’s also good to go with a company that you enjoy working with. So use these questions and trust your guts, you’re sure to find the right fit for your company sooner or later.

Three Different SEO Specialists:

There are mainly three different types of SEO specialists and most of the questions here are for the first and second types only. So please keep that in mind. Without further ado, here are the different types of SEO specialists

• SEO Consultant – These are mostly freelance SEO specialists who offer their specialty of their own accord. They are usually unaffiliated with companies because they work individually and sometimes, on a per case basis.
• SEO Agencies – These are the SEO specialists that you see online, offering you their services. More often than not, these agencies work for a company that works alongside yours albeit remotely. A good example of an SEO Agency is SEO Hacker. These agencies usually cost more because they dedicate entire teams to your business and interests.
• In-House SEO Specialists – Usually, a bigger organization will want their own in-house SEO team. What you can do here is that you can either hire people by yourself or hire an SEO consultant who can do the heavy lifting for you. All in all, this is essentially a combination of the first and second option and is a good choice if you have a larger than average organization – or if you’re growing your business really well.

Of course, hiring a competent SEO Specialist (or Agency) will cost you some money – but that money is worth every penny provided that you’re talking to a competent agency. I took the liberty of collating standard SEO industry pricing for specific service packages and directly compare them with SEO Hacker’s pricing of similar packages. Do note that these aren’t exact numbers as the pricing for every service will most definitely differ depending on the scope, duration and other agreement that you may have with your SEO Specialist.

Here’s a simple graph comparing the prices:

Does this mean that more expensive packages are better than more affordable packages? The answer is no. SEO Specialists, especially the good ones, will never charge low prices for their services. Looking for an overly inexpensive SEO Specialist will more often than not cost you more in the long run. The reason for this is because these “low cost SEO specialists” will rely on Black Hat SEO techniques; at the very least, they could simply be not as good as industry known agencies such as SEO Hacker.

On the other hand, it isn’t necessarily good to trust an agency simply because they’re charging for their services at a premium. The thing about SEO is that it takes a specialist to know how to apply it to a business. Chances are, the average consumer will know only the basics with regards to SEO and many agencies take advantage of this fact. They then increase their prices significantly to take advantage of businessmen who are looking to hook their company up with SEO so they could take advantage of people who can’t accurately evaluate SEO work.

The average website owner will fall for their tricks but you’re not the average Joe. You’re someone who’s taking the initiative to learn all about SEO and how it can affect your business. The only skill that you need to know on looking for the perfect SEO Agency for your business is knowing how to ask the right question – and I’ll be guiding you every step of the way.

Let’s get started then!

1. What will you do to improve our Search Engine Rankings?
   You won’t get anywhere by throwing out keywords and building links – these might help you out in the short run but you won’t get anything consistent out of that. Trust me. Like any decent self-respecting business, a good SEO agency will have a detailed process or an SOP, if you will.Obviously, they won’t tell you the nitty gritty detail on how their process works but they will tell you the gist of what they’re going to do from the start to the end of the SEO process. They might say something like:“Yeah, we’re going to check out your website and we’re going to evaluate your website – just so we can find anything we can fix. We’ll then move on to analysing your keywords and then we can start finding the best keywords we can target.”Of course, results won’t come instantly but you’re already off to a great start.Another thing worth considering is inquiring about links: One of the most important aspects of SEO are backlinks. They were important before and they will continue to serve an important purpose for the foreseeable future. Competent SEOs will definitely try to create links to your website and this is done to try and improve your rankings.You might think that creating numerous links is a good idea – but let me stop you there. Focusing on quantity instead of quality will most definitely be a futile effort. One good link is worth a couple thousand low-quality backlinks – and this isn’t an exaggeration.Some agencies create a gimmick out of selling hundreds of good links for a low cost. These links are the automated spammy links that you may see all over the internet and these will amount to around $10.00 or so. A single quality backlink would net you around $25.00 but that’s a quality investment in itself.Pro tip: If someone is offering you an absurd amount of links for a very low cost, the best response is to politely say no and move on.
2. How will you keep me updated on changes and updates to our website?This is a good question because typically, you’re going to have to contact your SEO agency a couple of times a month. Standard agencies will send you a monthly report and that’s that. When you do find an SEO agency that fits your needs, the first thing that you’re going to need to do is give them access to your website. This includes admin access and the like – and this is precisely the reason why you have to find an agency that you can trust.Many SEO Specialists will agree with me when I say that giving your agency admin access is the best and most efficient way to go about things. This gives them the window to make changes with regards to optimization or problem solving instantly. You can try to control these risks by having your in-house developers maintain your website but that will defeat the purpose of hiring an SEO agency to help boost your site. Like I said earlier, there needs to be a certain amount of trust between you and the agency that you will hire.If the agency that you’re hiring is saying that all changes to your website will be done internally then that’s a red flag. These agencies need to be wholly transparent with you through each and every change that they will make to your website.One of the most important things that you should keep in mind is that each and every change made has to be tracked and reported to you. That’s not only your right as the consumer, that’s the SEO Agency’s obligation as the service provider. The reason for this is that if something goes wrong, both you and the agency should be able to pinpoint exactly what happened so you could fix it as soon as possible.  The gist is that if anything goes wrong or if any changes were made, the SEO agency must be ready to send you a report. Every. Single. Time.
3. Can you tell me about your past clients? How did you do with them?Going back to transparency, one of the most important things you should ask about are your SEO agency’s past clients. Testimonials and the like make a good measuring stick with regards to their working relationship with the SEO agency. If a client is willing to stake their name by writing a testimonial or a review of the agency’s services, then they must be doing something right.Of course, to protect their clients’ privacy, they won’t necessarily hand over data and the like. They will, however, be happy to show you a couple of testimonials, either written or in video form from their most loyal of clients.If the agency that you’re considering refuses to share some examples of their clients with you, then that’s definitely a red flag.The next big thing to ask is who their longest client is at the moment. If you’re working with a supposedly established SEO agency whose biggest client has only been with them for less than a year then that’s a big red flag. SEO is one of the best ways of growing a business and as sure as the rising and the setting of the sun, a smart company will only stay with an SEO agency for a prolonged period of they’re really good. What this means is that if an SEO company doesn’t have a list of loyal clients who’ve been with them for years, then that means their other clients have been leaving them which could indicate bad things.
4. Do you adhere to Google’s standards for best practice?Google, as well as the other search engine giants have standards to which SEO specialists adhere to. If they don’t then they will be penalized or they won’t even rank at all. Google constantly updates its algorithm in order for them to provide the best user experience that they can provide – and SEO specialists do their best to abide by these best practices.If you don’t play by the rules then Google will most definitely be upset with you and when that happens, your website will not grow its SEO and by extension, their rankings as well as their potential to convert potential customers is culled.When Google is upset with you, your website is penalized and this could happen for a number of reasons. When you are penalized, the traffic that is driven to your website will be directed to better websites that adhere to Google’s standards; This means that you will potentially be helping your competitors – and that’s never good for your business.It takes a lot of work to constantly optimize a website to abide by Google’s ever-changing set of rules; however, simply abiding by these rules will help you grow your website. It takes a severely long period of time and effort to help your website recover from a penalty – and that time could be used for something more productive such as converting potential customers or driving more traffic into your website.
5. What kind of SEO can you do for my website?This is one of the most important questions that you can ask because this will determine what type of service you can get from your SEO agency. One of the things you should look out for is when they mention technical SEO. One of the most basic things that an SEO specialist should do for you is for them to do a basic technical SEO audit done for your website – and this should happen as soon as you hire them for their services.Technical SEO is everything that works behind the scenes of your website. From performance to everything that Google and the other search engines care about. The crux of the matter is that technical SEO is all about fixing or optimizing 404 pages, problems with redirects and these are only the most basic aspects of technical SEO.
6. Will we really rank 1 for our keywords?A confident SEO specialist will smile and say “definitely”, a competent SEO specialist, however, will honestly tell you that they can’t guarantee anything precisely because no one outside of Google know how the algorithm works. Google’s search algorithm is one of their most guarded secrets. It can be argued that their search engine algorithm is large source of their revenue so it is only natural that they’d keep it a secret.Another point worth remembering is that Google will erratically update their algorithm. It doesn’t matter when and it doesn’t matter how, but Google will definitely make some changes. This is another good reason why decent SEO Agencies will NEVER guarantee you a number one ranking.Finally, penalties are a natural occurrence in SEO. It can be because of a deliberate change from Google’s side or it could be an element in your website that is making Google upset but the fact of the matter is that your website can be penalized at any given time. The best way or preventing this from happening is by hiring the right SEO agency.Again, an SEO agency that really knows their stuff will NEVER guarantee you a rank 1 for your keyword because there are many elements that are working against them at any given time. Anyway, while they can’t guarantee you a rank 1 keyword, SEO agencies will at least help you rank your keywords up. It will take dedication and hard work to get your targeted keyword to that number one spot but it’s not impossible. This is the reason why most decent SEO agencies include “Keyword Research’ in their service packages – it’s done just so they know the scope of their work, the difficulty and of course, the feasibility.
7. How do you handle payments?SEO companies will most likely have different approaches with regards to payments – that’s only natural. The reason you’re asking this question is because it’s only natural that you know what you’re getting into, how much you need to pay and how you should allocate your budget. SEO is not an exact science so people do it in many different ways. Some people want to be paid by the hour and some other people prefer to be paid on a project-based pricing.When you’ve settled how you’re going to make payments, determine when you’re going to have make them. It’s important that you know every when so often that you have to pay especially after an invoice. Also, ask if there are penalties or interest fees for late payments. It doesn’t hurt to cover all of your bases especially when it comes to your finances.
8. How and when should we contact you?The thing about SEO is that it’s a kind of job where you don’t need to be in contact with your SEO specialists at all times. The problem, though, is that you need to be able to contact your SEO team the moment something goes wrong or if you have something important that you need to discuss. Typically speaking, SEO agencies will normally contact you and give you an update once a month. It can be done per week or every two weeks; it depends on your arrangement with your SEO agency.The important thing to remember is that you need to ascertain the modes of communication that your SEO agency prefers and that they should know yours. Another important question to ask is how you can contact your SEO team in case of an emergency. These are the important communication issues that you need to solve before settling with the right SEO agency for your business.
9. How will your SEO work with our marketing efforts?SEO and marketing are no longer two separate things – in fact, SEO and marketing should be one fluid system that coexists with one another. That’s not necessarily the reality of things at the moment but that’s what your SEO should become eventually.it is precisely because of this goal that many SEO agencies have taken to calling themselves something like a “digital marketing company” or something similar so don’t be surprised if you try to look up an SEO company and find many “digital marketing company” entries on the SERP.Does this mean that there are no longer any “pure” SEO specialists out there? On the contrary, no. What this means is that the SEO specialists of before have grown and have acquired new skillsets which could prove to be beneficial to your business in the long run.
10. What should we expect to happen if we terminate the contract?Decent SEO companies will offer you a minimum lock-in period of a couple of months upon your initial contract signing. The reason for this is that SEO is a long-term business and any changes made by your SEO agency of choice will not happen overnight. It’s a long process that takes months and months of work.However, if something happens to your company and you find yourself unable to pay for your SEO agency’s services then you need to know how to move forward. You need to understand what your options are. There could also be other reasons for your intent to cancel the contract prematurely such as dissatisfaction with their services or what have you. The important thing to know is if there are clauses or fees in the contract that you need to know about. Make some changes if necessary but the important thing that you know your options.
11. Do you keep yourself updated with Google’s algorithm changes?Now this is an important question that you need to ask because this question will determine whether an SEO agency is good or not. The thing about Google is that they update their algorithm at least 500 times a year. There are many minor changes and there also a number of significant changes that SEO specialists should definitely know about. It’s okay for them to not know about the dozens of minor changes but the major algorithm updates such as Hummingbird or Penguin are a definite must-know for every SEO specialist.Keep a list of Google’s most recent major update and ask your SEO agency questions about the updates. Verify their familiarity with the updates and if they can pass your test, then it means they really know their stuff.it is important for an SEO specialist to keep himself in the know with regards to Google’s algorithm changes because this is the bread and butter of SEO. These changes are what determines what is good and what is bad for SEO. By extension, these changes will determine the state of your website. If your website is good and conforming to Google’s requirements then your SEO is good. If your website is being penalized, then that’s something you should have your SEO agency look into.
12. Can you adapt your agency to my industry?The thing about SEO is that everyone needs it. From fashion designers to computer parts stores, many different businesses from all walks of life will eventually approach an SEO agency for their services. So the crux of the matter is will your SEO agency be able to adapt to your industry? Any decent SEO agency will have an SEO strategy that they use. Most decent SEO agencies will have the know-how to make their strategy work for any business in any industry.This is also another reason why you should ask them about their current clients. If you see that their current clients are happy and that they are actually in different industries, then clearly, that’s a good sign of adaptability.
13. The crème de la crème: Why should we hire you as our SEO Agency?Typically speaking, most SEO agencies will respond with something like they’re cheaper, they can create more backlinks or they can outright lie by telling you that they can get you instant results. If the SEO agency you’re interviewing tells you these things, then the best course of action for you is to politely smile and move on to your next candidate.Good SEO will not come cheap but it doesn’t come without its benefits. Good SEO is an investment that will cost you a considerable sum, however the returns that you will gain will far outweigh your expenses – that is if you choose a competent SEO agency.The ideal answer to this question is proof of their past successes, their track record with their clients and their reputation in the market. Basically speaking, it’s their results that they should be talking about, not what they can do with your website – and that’s something that not many SEO specialists can care to admit.

Key Takeaway:

SEO is an investment that will only bloom in the long-term. It’s not something that should be rushed. The questions that I wrote here are questions that you should ask in order to ascertain whether or not that SEO agency that you’re talking to is a good one or a bad egg. That other questions were structured so that you’d be able to find out if their way of doing business is compatible with the way you handle your business.

I recommend using all of these questions when you talk to an SEO agency that you like. Also, if I may be so forward, why not give SEO Hacker a shot? I’ll answer all of your questions and then some. Send me an email and let’s set a date.

Do you have questions? Comments? Stories that you want to share? Let’s talk in the comments section below!

The post What do I need to know before hiring an SEO company in the Philippines? appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.