Neil Patel on redefining search, and why content is no longer king

"SEO is no longer search engine optimisation; it should be called search everywhere optimisation" declared Neil Patel, co-founder of NP Digital, at HubSpot’s Inbound 2024 event in Boston on September 18.

Renowned for his expertise in digital marketing, Patel has built an impressive career by transforming how businesses approach the above—from content marketing to online advertising, and more. Patel’s contributions to industry best practices are well-documented. Having founded successful companies like Crazy Egg and KISSmetrics, his insights have been highly sought after by global giants such as Amazon, NBC, and General Motors, cementing his status as one of the most influential figures in performance marketing. His agency, NP Digital, was created to help brands tackle the increasingly complex challenges of digital marketing—particularly in the areas of SEO and performance-driven strategies.

So, when Patel speaks, marketers listen.

At Inbound 2024, Patel’s keynote address revealed several new trends impacting the search market, one of which was his redefinition of SEO. Patel explained that the rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT and social media platforms such as TikTok have changed how users search for information. No longer confined to Google, they’re now seeking content across multiple platforms—hence, 'search everywhere optimisation.'

Patel also emphasised that despite this shift, Google still processes 8.5 billion searches per day, meaning that high-quality content remains vital. According to an analysis by NP Digital, websites that incorporate content marketing, such as blogs and podcasts, experience 75.29% more organic traffic, 48.43% more backlinks, and 8.16% higher conversion rates than those that do not.

However, as marketers increasingly using AI to churn out content, brands that once benefited from early adoption of content marketing strategies can no longer rely on the same methods. So how does Patel see Gen AI changing the marketing landscape?

The evolving search landscape

In a post-keynote discussion with Campaign, Patel noted that despite the rise of Gen AI, SEO is not dead, and brands can still benefit from optimising their content for traditional search engines like Google.

He highlighted the introduction of OpenAI’s SearchGPT, a platform that organises and summarises results, offering users concise answers rather than a list of links. Though still in beta, SearchGPT aims to provide digestible responses for everything from music festival descriptions to gardening advice. Platforms like Perplexity AI, which has seen a seven-fold increase in revenue and usage since early 2024, are similarly capitalising on this trend. In fact, Perplexity handled 250 million queries last month alone, nearly matching its 2023 total of 500 million.

Despite the rise of AI-powered tools, Patel’s experiments at NP Digital revealed that human-written content still performs better than AI-generated content. After five months, human-written articles drove 5.4 times more traffic than their AI counterparts. Additionally, user engagement significantly dropped when people suspected content was generated by AI, underscoring the importance of a human touch.

“In the long run, I don't see any significant changes in the search landscape. We have used various platforms, including Perplexity, SearchGPT, and Google. While SearchGPT is in its alpha or beta phase, we have tested it through another source, and it lacks many basic features expected from a search engine,” said Patel.

“I am not saying it is a bad product, but it doesn't have the functionalities we're accustomed to in traditional search. I believe Google will find it easier to integrate AI into its search capabilities because it already has the foundational elements covered, and that’s what it's currently doing.”

Patel also predicted that users would adopt ChatGPT for search but continue using platforms like Google, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. He noted that users would increasingly rely on multiple platforms rather than one, similar to how they use social networks today.

“Does that mean Facebook will die out with the rise of Instagram and TikTok? Not at all; Facebook remains larger than all other platforms. In my view, Google will remain the dominant player, while other platforms will remain significantly minor, but users will have more options,” Patel added.

Kieran Flanagan, senior vice president of marketing at HubSpot, agreed with Patel's assessment, observing that while AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT and Google’s Claude have high churn rates, they have not yet replaced Google. Flanagan noted that real disruption is happening within Google itself, with the company integrating AI overviews into its search functionality. This shift, he said, has had the most noticeable impact on informational searches that provide concise answers to specific queries.

“However, the disruption has not been as significant as expected. People are still figuring out how to balance using AI assistants versus search engines. Interestingly, recent global figures show that the number of Google searches is still increasing, so we haven’t seen a drop in search volume despite the rise of AI,” Flanagan told Campaign.

Tapping Gen AI to enhance marketing

With 4.6 billion pieces of content published each day, standing out is crucial for brands. Patel argued that the difference between viral content and content that fades into obscurity lies in its originality. Many brands struggle to attract traffic because they rely on regurgitated information. To succeed, they must create unique content that hasn't been widely discussed.

Patel believes Gen AI can play a key role in the creative process. While AI isn’t perfect, he explained that campaigns that once took weeks or months to develop can now be created in a fraction of that time. AI can assist with imaginative processes, encouraging creativity and speeding up the production of campaigns. He also says one of the most effective uses of AI for creatives is adapting existing successful campaigns for multiple regions and languages. 

One of the most effective uses of AI, Patel noted, is adapting successful campaigns for different regions and languages. “Major brands like Chanel typically create specific content for one region and then hire others to adapt it for different markets. With AI, brands can quickly modify their creatives for various languages and regions while making necessary cultural adjustments,” he explained.

For great example of this in practice: Martech platform Tracksuit, who do not use AI to handle tasks requiring deep thinking or strategising directly, but to free up time for those activities.

“AI serves as a tool to handle much of the heavy lifting within the marketing team. Tools like ChatGPT and Claude help automate idea generation and execution, allowing us to focus more on strategic planning and higher-level thinking,” Sam Sherson, head of digital, Tracksuit, told Campaign.

That said, the use of Gen AI in marketing has also raised concerns, one of them being around copyright issues. A World Federation of Advertisers survey found that 80% of multinational brands worry about how their creative and media agencies use Gen AI on their behalf. Legal risks (66%), ethical concerns (51%) and potential damage to reputation (49%) were also identified as significant obstacles to broader adoption. In addition to copyright issues, there's also the onus of considering the inaccuracies often found in AI-generated content. If these are published, they can damage a company's reputation. 

To avoid getting caught in this trap, Patel advises brands to focus on using AI for the less 'glamorous tasks', such as data analytics, rather than the more appealing aspects, like creative production. 

“The real value lies in addressing the challenges posed by data analytics, which many organisations struggle with. AI can handle these tasks efficiently and accurately, yet brands tend to prioritise what is flashy over what is essential,” explained Patel.

Brands should also train AI as if they are onboarding a new team member, adds Kipp Bodnar, the chief marketing officer of HubSpot. They need to provide clear guidance—what's expected, how to execute tasks, and what ‘good’ looks like.

For example, comprehensive brand documentation is needed to train tools like Midjourney, Runway, and others. This approach allows one designer or video editor to handle much more work while maintaining consistency. 

“Consistency typically falters not with the creative itself but when tasks are handed off to someone newer or based in another location, who may not fully understand the brand. Proper brand guidelines and AI model training are key to addressing this issue,” Bodnar explains to Campaign.

The future of AI for marketeers

The rise of Gen AI is undeniably reshaping the marketing landscape, but Patel made it clear in his keynote that 'content is no longer king.' His data showed that 94% of top-ranking web pages receive zero traffic, and 60% of social media posts generate no engagement. This underscores a growing problem: Too much content and not enough relevance.

Patel's key takeaway is clear: Marketers cannot rely on Gen AI alone. While the technology can streamline and support content creation, it must be used strategically. Success in today’s marketing landscape depends not on the volume of content but on its relevance, quality, and ability to engage. The shift towards data-driven, Gen AI-powered marketing requires a recalibration, focusing on personalisation, innovation, and user-centric strategies rather than pure output.

In the end, content still plays a crucial role, but it must be part of a broader, more thoughtful strategy that understands the limitations of automation and prioritises meaningful engagement over mass production.

As Patel aptly puts it in his closing statement on stage: "Leverage AI for ideation, but ensure human input remains at the core to maintain authenticity and engagement."