Artificial Intelligence and SEO
Technology is changing (and improving maybe?) the way business is done in the inspection industry. If you have been watching the news, or have been reading our blogs and watching our YouTube videos, then you have probably have heard that AI (artificial intelligence) is kind of taking over the internet. ChatGPT and Google Bard are the two big AI services on the scene right now.
Some home inspectors might worry that these services will enable people to get all their answers from AI and eliminate the need to visit their websites.
Will these two AI services affect home inspectors and SEO? Is there any reason to be worried? Let’s discuss why you can rest assured that they will not be taking over your business any time soon.
What ChatGPT and Google Bard Do
ChatGPT was launched about four months ago. It can do many things, from writing your narratives to collecting data to writing code. Google Bard was launched more recently and provides a similar service.
As we discussed in a previous blog about ChatGPT, home inspectors can use AI for their benefit. It can help with writing content for blogs, websites, and descriptions for reports. AI can save a lot of time in some areas.
Educational and Transactional Searches
There are many different types of keyword searches, but let’s consider two. These are educational and transactional searches. An educational search is asking a query (a question) such as, “What is dirt made of?” ChatGPT and Google Bard can easily answer that without giving you a search result. It might say that dirt’s made from a combination of minerals and decomposing plants and whatever else dirt is made out of. Or perhaps we ask, “How big is the earth’s circumference?” The answer is very easy to generate. Websites like Wikipedia and others might be affected by this, as people will not need to visit their websites to find the answer anymore.
BUT – home inspection websites do not derive business through educational searches. It’s true that perhaps you get some traffic to your website because of a blog you did on a certain topic, but what really brings in business are transactional searches. An example of this would be if someone is looking for the best home inspector in Albany, NY. That’s very subjective. If you ask ChatGPT that right now or if you’re a developer working on Google Bard, you’re not going to be able to answer that because it’s subjective. The reply would be “I don’t know,” or “I can’t answer that.” So what they’re going to need to do is still spit out results, because home inspectors are a transactional query (not looking for the answer to a question, but one of many options for a service). So if someone searches for home inspectors in their area, ChatGPT or Google Bard will need to provide Google links to Google business pages or links to the websites, in order to be able to provide an answer to the question.
The Effect on Home Inspectors
What does this mean overall for us as home inspectors? Search volume may go down, but not in a bad way. It just might get rid of people searching for things that don’t have to do with our “transaction”, so to speak. For example, someone searching for how old a ten-year-old cat is in human years – we don’t really want to rank in those kinds of searches.
On the other hand, our conversions will go up. If someone searches for a home inspector near Seattle, Washington, the AI search will give a list of names, websites, and things like that. Because we’re a transactional search, we’re not going to be “safe” from this change in the market, but we will benefit because the leads we will get will be better and higher value.
So, as a home inspector, do not worry about the future of ChatGPT and Google Bard. It’s going to be okay! Our industry is very much not tied to what they’re going to take over. Don’t worry, change with the times, and our team will be here to help you.