No, AI Won’t Replace SEO Experts.

SEO 2024 Winners and Losers; Humans vs AI SEO; Inbound Marketing; AIO Impact; Grok 3 Beta Released; Video Ads; Spy on Google Ads Competitors; and Much More!

Author

Yoyao
February 22, 2025 • Est. Learning Time: 14 minutes

Floyi vs. Expert Topical Map Service

I’ve gotten this question a few times: Does Floyi replace our expert Topical Map service? 

And after seeing a few posts this week debating AI vs. human expertise in SEO (one of them below), I figured it was time to set the record straight.

The short answer? No, Floyi does not replace our done-for-you service at TopicalMap.com.

That’s like saying:

  • “I have Ahrefs and Semrush. We don’t need an SEO expert.”

  • “We have ChatGPT, so we don’t need a software developer.”

  • “We have a social media scheduler, so we don’t need a marketing team.”

A tool in the wrong hands is just a hunk of metal. In the right hands, it’s power. AI can speed you up and give you data, but without strategy and experience, it’s just noise.

  • An SEO expert uses Ahrefs—but skill creates a winning strategy.

  • A developer uses ChatGPT—but experience writes scalable, secure code.

  • A marketing team uses a scheduler—but strategy makes the campaigns work.

  • A carpenter has power tools—but skill builds the house that lasts generations.

Floyi is the power tool in your SEO arsenal—faster, smarter, and built for efficiency. It gives you a running start, but speed alone won’t win the race. Strategy, experience, and human judgment turn data into rankings.

Most AI tools dump out a pile of keywords and leave you to figure it out. Floyi is different. It builds your topical strategy with your brand, your audience, and your unique positioning in mind.

Other so-called "topical map services" just run prompts through chatbots or dump thousands of keywords into a clustering tool.

They don’t consider why your audience cares or how your brand should communicate with them.

Floyi already outperforms those low-end services. But if you’re new to SEO, AI alone may not get you all the way there. That’s where expertise comes in.

Want to see for yourself? Floyi gives you 500 free credits to try it out. Or reply to this email, and we’ll talk about what’s the best fit for you.

At the end of the day, the best SEO strategies combine AI’s efficiency with human expertise. Ignore that, and you’re leaving rankings—and revenue—on the table.

SEO

Lily Ray breaks down 2024’s biggest SEO shifts, from Google’s AI-powered search evolution to its aggressive spam crackdowns. Reddit, Wikipedia, and Spotify soared in visibility, while major content publishers, travel blogs, and affiliate-heavy sites saw steep declines. Google’s prioritization of user-generated content (UGC), AI Overviews, and programmatic SEO reshaped search rankings. Some of the takeaways:

  • Programmatic SEO surged—sites leveraging AI-driven content generation saw major visibility gains.

  • E-commerce winners: eBay, LEGO, and Carter’s thrived with well-optimized category and product pages.

  • Travel industry shifts: Marriott and Virgin Atlantic grew through site migrations and content enhancements.

  • Government sites thrived, with cancer.gov leading in medical search visibility.

  • Social media platforms gained traffic, with Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube securing stronger rankings.

AI can crank out content and analyze keywords, but it can’t think like a strategist—and that’s exactly why SEO still needs human expertise. In this article, Adam Tanguay breaks down the biggest misconceptions about AI in SEO and why blindly relying on automation will lead to failure. While AI is a powerful assistant, real SEO success comes from human strategy, unique insights, and deep industry expertise—not a flood of generic, AI-generated content.

  • SEO isn’t linear—publishing more AI content doesn’t mean more traffic.

  • AI-generated content alone won’t build authority or audience trust.

  • Google penalizes low-value, mass-produced AI content.

  • AI can’t identify gaps in original thought—it only remixes existing knowledge.

  • The best use of AI? Synthesizing research and supporting human creativity.

  • Internal linking done by AI alone often leads to irrelevant or bad connections.

  • Keyword selection needs human judgment—AI can surface junk data.

  • AI should be a tool, not a replacement for expert strategy.

Disallow, Canonicalize, Noindex, or Remove? Glenn Gabe unpacks the right way to handle content that runs afoul of Google’s site reputation abuse policy. Only two of the four methods actually work (No Index and 404/410). Using the wrong approach means Google can still index and rank your content, leading to manual actions or ongoing penalties. This breakdown covers real-world examples of what works, what doesn’t, and how to keep your site in Google’s good graces.

Giulia Panozzo lays out a three-tier framework for diagnosing search performance using behavioral data. SEO isn’t just about ranking—it’s about understanding user behavior at every step. Start with basic data from Google Search Console to identify weak intent matches. Move to heatmaps and analytics to uncover hidden engagement issues. For deeper insights, explore predictive neuromarketing techniques like eye tracking and EEG scans. Treat SEO like a doctor diagnosing a patient—analyze symptoms, pinpoint root causes, and implement targeted fixes for long-term growth.

Google Lens is stepping up its game with new iOS capabilities and AI-powered Overviews that make visual search more intuitive than ever. Now, iPhone users can search any screen in Chrome or the Google app with a simple tap—no screenshots needed. But the real power move? AI Overviews are expanding across Lens searches, automatically explaining objects, textures, and details without requiring extra queries. Whether you're shopping, researching, or just curious, Lens now connects you to richer, AI-curated insights in seconds.

Andy Crestodina shows how his agency pulls in 60,000 monthly visitors using a pure inbound strategy. He shares eight tactics to drive traffic and leads, including optimizing for search intent, structuring your site for SEO success, and using ultra-low volume keywords that competitors overlook. Create content that attracts links and authority—original research and strong opinions work best.

Tom Demers explains how to structure hub-and-spoke content for maximum search visibility. If you're running a local business, your SEO strategy should be built around topic clusters—not just keywords. Service + location pages, cost calculators, and comparison pages can attract high-intent customers while boosting authority in local SERPs. He also emphasizes internal linking—ensuring service pages, blogs, and FAQ sections all reinforce each other. Smart content architecture isn't just for national brands—local businesses can dominate search results too.

SEO Ripples

  • John Mueller says: “There's no magic trick to fast crawling - Google's systems (and all search engines, really) learn through consistent high quality, uniqueness, strong value-add across the whole site, and then a technical foundation that doesn't hinder faster crawling can help. There is no persistent short-cut.”

AI

Kevin Indig has analyzed 19 studies to break down how AI Overviews (AIOs) are shaking up SEO and their impact. From changes in search visibility to plummeting click-through rates, AIOs are redefining how users interact with search results. Some of the key insights:

  • AIOs appear in 4.5%–47% of searches, depending on the industry.

  • Informational queries trigger AIOs most often, while transactional searches remain ad-heavy.

  • SEO CTRs drop by 8.9% on average when AIOs are present.

  • Organic results are pushed down by 200+ pixels, making visibility harder.

  • Long-tail queries (5+ words) are more likely to show AIOs.

  • Citations in AIOs can boost clicks, but Google cites only 5–8 sources per result.

  • Featured Snippets and AIOs co-occur 60% of the time.

  • Paid search CTRs also decline when AIOs appear.

  • YMYL topics (health, finance) dominate AIO-triggered queries.

Elon Musk’s xAI just launched Grok 3 Beta, a new AI model with advanced reasoning capabilities. Grok 3 can think through problems in real time, correcting mistakes, exploring alternatives, and delivering precise answers. Early benchmarks show state-of-the-art performance in math, coding, and world knowledge (below image). xAI is also rolling out DeepSearch, an AI agent designed to synthesize complex information, cross-check facts, and deliver insights.

My Take: I’ve only done a few test chats, but I’m impressed by their DeepSearch and thinking processes so far. I haven’t tried it for coding yet, but the research and chat side is good.

AI Ripples

  • OpenAI is expanding Operator to ChatGPT Pro subscribers in Australia, Canada, the UK, and most places where ChatGPT is available. can now use Operator to automate everyday workflows. Operator runs autonomously in a browser window, letting users take control at any time. While competitors like Google and Anthropic are still refining their AI agents, OpenAI is already putting automation in users' hands.

MARKETING

Alex Lindley breaks down why video advertising is one of the most powerful marketing tools, with 85% of marketers reporting increased sales from video content. He covers the best types of video ads (in-stream, social, native, and OTT) and where to run them, from YouTube to TikTok. Some of the tips he covers: hook viewers in three seconds, design for mobile, add subtitles, and use AI for rapid production.

Nick Eubanks shares how to reverse-engineer your competitors’ ad strategies. Learn how to uncover high-performing keywords, analyze ad copy, track bidding strategies, and optimize your Quality Score for better rankings at lower costs. Plus, see how to find hidden gaps in your competitors’ targeting so you can capture traffic they’re missing. This isn’t about copying—it’s about outsmarting the competition with data-driven moves.

Influencer marketing isn’t just for B2C brands—B2B companies can win big too. Scott Morris shares how Sprout Social turned scattered influencer activations into a revenue-driving machine. They integrated influencer marketing across PR, content, social, and demand gen teams. They streamlined sourcing with AI-driven tools, built cross-functional collaboration, and tracked business-critical KPIs like leads and ROI. That led to 4M+ impressions, 100K+ engagements, and high-quality leads.

Marketing Ripples

  • Barry Schwartz reports starting March 19, 2025, Google Ads will automatically opt out all accounts from showing ads on parked domains. Previously, only new accounts were opted out, but now this change will apply universally. If you still want your ads to appear on parked domains, you'll need to opt back in manually via the Content Suitability settings.

WAYS WE CAN WORK TOGETHER

Floyi - The only AI-powered tool that builds 4-level topical maps, so your content strategy isn’t just planned—it’s unstoppable.

Topical Maps Unlocked 2.0 - The blueprint for ranking dominance. Learn how to structure content the way search engines (and audiences) crave.

Topical Map Service - We handle the research, structure, and strategy—delivering a custom topical map that builds authority, so your content dominates its niche

Content Strategy and SEO Consulting – No guesswork, no gimmicks—just you and me, refining your strategy into a clear, proven roadmap for traffic, authority, and conversions.

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