Do companies need to hire SEOs anymore? (Short answer: Yes they do)

Hello Riddlers!

This week's newsletter sponsor is myself 😄

Check out my Python for SEO course!

Are SEOs becoming obsolete? 🤔

Recently, I came across an SEO wondering if companies need to hire SEOs anymore. The concern was because "Tools like Chatgpt is becoming more and more advanced" and can "do a lot of the tasks" SEOs do.

After all, Sam Altman said "AI Will Handle “95%” of Marketing Work Done by Agencies and Creatives" [1]

I'll start this post with a Joke I saw on Reddit. Nothing is better than having a good laugh at the start of your day (and newsletter) 😄

TL;DR

• Yes companies still need to hire SEOs.
• No, AI will/cannot not replace you.
• LLMs learn to predict what humans would say, not what actually happens in the world.
• Yale researchers found that the job market has stayed mostly stable, suggesting that fears about AI replacing workers are still mostly speculative.
  

Real-life story

Almost a year ago I was interviewing for an enterprise level SEO role. I got the offer but I turned the role down because I didn't feel it's the right fit.

During the interview process, the hiring manager shared that they thought they don't need an SEO to manage their SEO work. They can rely on third party tools audits and recommendations.

Just doing those fixes would optimize the website, right? right?

Turns out, no that was not enough, and they ended up opening an SEO role and hiring.

Why it's not enough? because tools provide generic recommendations. Some of those may be high effort and bring no value whatsoever to your website. They're also not comprehensive.

The same applies to AI tools. I'm all in for automations, but I don't think complete workflows will replace SEOs. There's always minor details, nuances and new things that can only picked up by humans in my opinion.

Missing the forest for the trees

LLMs are mimickery tools... did we lose sight of that?

Turing Award winner Richard Sutton argues [2] that "models like ChatGPT have a fundamental flaw: they learn to predict what humans would say, not what actually happens in the world. It's the difference between reading every cookbook ever written versus actually learning to cook by burning a few soufflés"

So while they can technically generate keyword research with search volumes, we all know it's just trash (btw, as for the latest test, Chatgpt does not do this anymore)

But giving out some examples, and helping you brainstorm, can definitely be valuable. It's a tool to support you, not a replacement.

LLMs imitate and guess the most likely output... you bring in experience, and creativity. Both are needed to create custom solutions for your clients.

Because Yale said so 😄

If my personal account, and opinion, and the AI expert Richard Sutton opinion is not enough, and you'd like to see some data and numbers. Yale's got you!

A recent study by Yale [2] found that, while many people worry about AI taking jobs, the data so far doesn’t support major disruption. The researchers found that the job market has stayed mostly stable, suggesting that fears about AI replacing workers are still mostly speculative. They noted that generative AI could become a powerful, transformative technology — but it’s too early to tell how much it will actually impact employment.

I have a question❓

Can Chatgpt write my newsletter on my behalf every week?

The answer is a Solid no.

Even though I use it in some parts to rephrase a sentence for example.

But it cannot fully write content for me from scratch.

And That’s a Wrap (Almost 😄)

People people people....

Let's stop with the pessimism.

Upscale yourself,

Move with the times,

Learn to use the tools,

and focus on what you have control over, which is providing value!

That's that for today folks and see you next week!

Disclaimer: LLMs were used to assist in wording and phrasing this blog.

Like what you read and want to support me?

• Sign up for my newsletter if you're not already.
• Share the newsletter and invite your friends to signup. Help me reach 2k signups by end of 2025 please 🙂
• Provide feedback on how I can make this newsletter better!!!
• Buy me coffee.
• If you're an SEO tool or an SEO service provider, consider sponsoring my newsletter. I'm also open to other partnership ideas as well.

Sources

[1] Sam Altman Says AI Will Handle “95%” of Marketing Work Done by Agencies and Creatives

[2] The Great AI Debate: Are LLMs a Brilliant Leap or a Sophisticated Dead End?

[3] Evaluating the Impact of AI on the Labor Market: Current State of Affairs