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ChatGPT vs Claude: To Switch or Not to Switch - digital surfer wave 195

AI Overviews Testing Links On Top; Navboost Explained; Perplexity Likes AI-Hallucinations; Instagram AI Avatars For All; Al Michaels In Full-AI Mode; and Much More!

Author

Yoyao
June 28, 2024 • Est. Learning Time: 16 minutes

ChatGPT vs Claude - To Switch or Not to Switch

Here’s what I did…

Claude 3.5 Sonnet is awesome and I’ve pretty much switched from ChatGPT to Claude when using the web chatbot daily. But when it comes to the API, it’s a different story.

With all the internal AI agents I’ve built that uses OpenAI’s API, they’re almost all using OpenAI GPT-4o. Why? Because it’s not such a simple switch.

Different LLM models will interpret prompts differently, so the results aren’t as good. I need to adjust the prompts to get the same/better quality output.

For one of my main content generator agents that I did switch to Claude’s API, I made the change because Claude 3.5 is 40% cheaper than OpenAI GPT-4o.

But I spent many hours of trial and error before getting to a prompt that produced similar quality. Were all those hours worth the time spent to save 40%? It depends on your volume.

If I’m spending $1,000 in GPT-4o API costs each month, moving to Claude would save me $400. That’s a good chunk of change. But if I only spend $10 in GPT-4o costs, Claude would only save me $4 each month.

If I extracted that out to 12 months, I’d either save $4,800 or $48. That’s a big difference. One hour of my time is worth much more than the $48 I would save in a year.

Because of my volume, it made sense for me to put time into that main content generator because there are so many moving parts to it that it saves a significant amount of money.

For all my other AI agents, I didn’t bother testing because the savings didn’t make sense. The quality is already good with GPT-4o and fine-tuned GPT-3.5 models.

Other than to fulfill my own curiosity with Claude 3.5 and to see if I could get the same quality out of it, it would’ve made no sense.

But I am on the fence about whether to cancel my ChatGPT Plus account because I have Claude Premium now. If I cancel ChatGPT, I’m pretty sure I’ll lose all the GPTs that I’ve made. That would really suck.

So for now, I’m still paying the $20 a month for ChatGPT Plus. I’ll see how much use I get out of the GPTs now because there are already a couple I’ve been able to replace just by using Claude’s Project feature that just came out.

Think about your uses and how you use the web chatbot and/or the API. See if it makes sense for you to switch.

SEO

In the latest episode of Search Off the Record, Lizzi, John, and Elizabeth Tucker from the Search Quality team discuss the importance of understanding search data from a data science perspective. Not sure if there’s much to learn here since it’s more about them talking about the challenges of measuring search quality, identifying searches that are not performing well, and providing topically relevant content.

Here’s the transcript if you prefer to read it.

My Take: The one thing you could take away if you’ve been hibernating is that E-E-A-T is not a ranking signal. But it lines up with a lot of signals. Tucker mentions PageRank lines up with the A for authoritativeness. So while E-E-A-T is not a signal by itself, it sure lines up with ranking signals.

Marie Haynes dives into the Navboost algorithm, a core ranking system that uses user click data to refine search results. By understanding how Navboost stores queries and user interactions, we can see the importance of creating web pages that users click on and find helpful. This knowledge not only sheds light on ranking signals but also emphasizes the significance of user engagement and satisfaction in SEO strategies.

She also has a video if you prefer that. It’s a good overview if you’re not quite sure what Navboost is.

SEO Ripples

  • The Google June 2024 spam update is over. It lasted seven days and targeted sites violating Google's search spam policies. Tracking tools showed varying levels of volatility, indicating the impact on different websites. Didn’t seem too volatile.

  • On LinkedIn, Google’s Gary Illyes highlighted the impact of soft 404 errors on SEO efforts, emphasizing the importance of proper error handling for improved site efficiency. These errors mislead web crawlers, wasting resources and affecting a site's visibility in search results. By serving the right HTTP status codes and proactively addressing soft errors, you can enhance your website's crawlability, indexing, and overall SEO performance.

  • Danny Sullivan, Google's Search Liaison, recently addressed some SEO advice suggesting that you shouldn't mention the brand name of products in reviews. He disagreed, stating that it's important to include brand names in your review content. In fact, Google rewards content that is helpful to readers. So, don't be afraid to mention the brand name when writing reviews, as omitting it could potentially hurt your rankings. But there are also questions as to why a brand+review article doesn’t show up that Danny doesn’t answer.

  • Google has been showing more AI Overviews in search results for health-related queries again. While some serious health topics may not display these overviews, the update seems to be improving the quality and accuracy of information provided. Google is dropping continuous scroll on desktop and planning to do the same on mobile in the near future. Barry Schwartz shares that Google is reverting back to the legacy pagination bar to make search faster and “only load the results the search asked for.” Wouldn’t that be nice - get what you asked for? 😂 

  • Reddit is changing its robots.txt file to safeguard the platform against AI crawlers. This update aims to restrict unauthorized bots and crawlers from accessing Reddit's content, particularly to prevent AI companies from using the platform's data without permission. Of course, crawlers could just ignore the robots file.

  • Google is testing a new feature that could benefit publishers and content creators by making link cards more visible in AI Overviews. Barry Schwartz discusses how moving these link cards to the top of the overview could lead to increased visibility and clicks. While Google has confirmed this is just a test for now, if implemented, it could provide valuable opportunities for those looking to amplify their online presence.

AI

Edward Tian at GPTZero dives into Perplexity AI and how they’re using AI-hallucinated sources in search results. He demonstrates through examples that Perplexity's outputs are only as good as the sources it references, with numerous instances of AI-generated content.

My Take: I’ve said before that it’s going to come to a point where ‘search engines’ are going to source crap AI-generated articles, but I’m surprised it’s come out this early. Perplexity has said they have AI-detectors, but apparently they’re not good enough.

AI Ripples

  • The music industry is making moves against AI companies Suno and Udio for alleged copyright infringement, with major labels like UMG, Sony, and Warner Records suing the companies. The RIAA seeks damages for unlicensed copying of sound recordings. Suno's CEO defends the company's transformative technology, emphasizing its focus on generating new outputs.

  • OpenAI is delaying the launch of advanced Voice Mode for ChatGPT. The company cites the need for more time to refine the model's content detection capabilities and user experience. This delay means that the feature might not be available to all ChatGPT Plus users until the fall.

  • Meta is mislabeling photos as 'Made with AI,' even though they were not created using AI tools. Ivan Mehta sheds light on this issue and provides examples of wrongly tagged images, including one from former White House photographer Pete Souza. Meta is reevaluating its approach following the backlash, but for now, users may find it challenging to discern the extent of AI involvement in a photo.

  • Want your own Instagram AI avatar? Ivan Mehta dives into Meta AI studio allowing for user-created AI chatbots on Instagram. Mark Zuckerberg announced that AI characters made by creators will soon be surfacing on the platform in the U.S. This opens up new possibilities for engagement and interaction, especially for creators who want to connect with their fans. Zuckerberg mentioned that these chatbots will be clearly marked as AI, enabling experimentation and evolution over time.

  • Hear an AI-generated Al Michaels voice recaps of the 2024 Summer Olympics. NBC announced that an AI-generated voice clone of the legendary sports commentator Al Michaels will be narrating daily video recaps of the 2024 Summer Olympics on Peacock. The system, trained on Michaels' past appearances, will produce nearly 7 million personalized recaps during the games.

  • Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman hinted at the future of GPT-5 and even GPT-6, suggesting that GPT-6-scale models may be around two years away. This could indicate that GPT-5 might be coming later this year, with GPT-6 following next year. However, the exact release dates for GPT-5 and GPT-6 remain unclear, as the timeline for these next-generation models continues to evolve.

MARKETING

Rachel Baker explores content pillars for social media and how they can support your online presence. Content pillars are fundamental themes that guide your social media content strategy, ensuring consistency and authority in your niche. Here are some key takeaways:

  • Define 3-5 content pillars that resonate with your target audience.

  • Use content pillars to establish brand identity and foster a loyal following.

  • Diversify your content offerings to engage different segments of your audience.

  • Ensure consistency in your content to build trust with your followers.

  • Create different types of content buckets, such as educational, inspirational, entertainment, and promotional, to cover all your content pillars effectively.

My Take: Much of what’s mentioned here is what I’m also covering in 2.0 of the TMU course, so this is a good preview 😁 

Annabelle Nyst dives into the latest Pinterest statistics and facts for 2024. With many creators moving to Pinterest for traffic, it’s good to know many of these stats as you strategize. Here's a snapshot:

  • 62.5% of US visitors are desktop users.

  • US users spend an average of 11 minutes and 25 seconds on Pinterest per visit.

  • Approximately 27.3% of Pinterest Android users open the app every day.

  • Retail brands experience 2x ROAS with Pinterest ads compared to ads on other social media platforms.

  • Compared to other traditional social media platforms, Gen Z rates Pinterest more highly for promoting and preserving well-being metrics such as "self-worth, belonging, and purpose."

  • 25-34 year old female users make up the biggest cohort of Pinterest’s advertising audience, at 20.3%. Close behind are female users aged 18-24 years old, at 19.8%.

CONTENT

Si Quan Ong discusses the power of repurposing your existing content to get more mileage out of it. Turn videos into blog posts, blog posts into videos, videos into a course, and blog posts into a book. Here are some of the key takeaways:

  • Embrace the 'zero-click' mindset: Content repurposing is about sharing valuable insights, not just driving clicks.

  • Find your best-performing content: Focus on repurposing content that's already performing well to maximize impact.

  • Start with channels that are similar: Repurpose content into formats that are most similar to your primary content type.

  • Adapt your content for each channel: Tailor your content for each platform to maximize engagement and reach.

LINK BUILDING

Ankit Vora highlights HARO alternatives for building backlinks. there are other options available to marketers and businesses. Some of the less known options he mentions:

  • Help a B2B Writer

  • Qwoted

  • Featured

  • X/Twitter by searching for relevant hashtags.

  • Forbes Councils

  • PressPlugs

TOOLS AND RESOURCES

Amazon Affiliates Allow Links in Emails - I didn’t even notice this until Jon Dykstra’s email this week when he mentioned it. I went to dig into the Associates Program Policies and it seems it’s been there since March 1, 2024!

Now you can share affiliate links to your favorite ergonomic mouse - eg., the Logitech MX Vertical 🤩 

“You may include Special Links in emails, SMS and direct messaging from your social media Sites…”

- Amazon Program Policies

CASE STUDY

Mateusz Makosiewicz analyzes the SEO strategy of HubSpot and uncovers some surprising takeaways. HubSpot runs the biggest corporate blog, generating over 8.2M organic visits per month

  • Most of HubSpot's traffic comes from topics like "shrug emoji" and "famous quotes"

  • They rank for "product marketing" twice on the first page with blog posts. Super rare to rank twice on page one with blog posts.

  • Search intent matters even for a website with a high domain ranking of DR 93.

  • They have several content hubs with only 140 visits.

My Take: Lots of interesting insights here to show that even a DR 93 site with one of the largest blogs on the web still puts A LOT of work into it. And not everything they do is successful.

BUSINESS IDEAS

Looking to scale your digital marketing agency but feeling stretched thin? In his post, Nick Eubanks suggests white label SEO could be the solution. He discusses partnering with third-party providers to expand your service offerings and improve profitability without the need for heavy investments.

REFER AND GET REWARDS

Get free stuff for referring friends and family to digital surfer!

  • Refer 3: Get a Twitter Shout-out

  • Refer 5: Get featured in an issue

  • Refer 10: Get One Ask Me Anything Question

  • Refer 50: Get 50% Off the Topical Maps Unlocked Course

  • Refer 100: Get a Free copy of Topical Maps Unlocked

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