Remember that classic meme from Schitt's Creek where Alexis walks in dramatically announcing "The internet says you're dead"? That's how many companies feel about SEO right now.
With AI search assistants like Claude, ChatGPT, and Google's SGE providing direct answers without sending users to websites, the traditional SEO playbook is getting flipped upside down faster than you can say "it depends" or "keyword density." According to Search Engine Land's sobering data that keeps me up at night:
- AI results in 6x more searches per day (sounds great!)
- ...but leads to a 60% decrease in average CTR to your website (oof!)
- ...which could cause a 30%+ reduction in organic traffic (double oof!)
That's the digital equivalent of throwing a party where six times more people show up, but most just peek through the window and leave.
The AI Impact: Real-World Folloze Data
Our Folloze website data tells a fascinating story. While our impressions for high-value ABM and personalization keywords have jumped by a remarkable 327% since last quarter (shoutout to our content team!), we're seeing the CTR landscape shifting under our feet.
Keywords related to "ABX" (Account-Based Experience) have seen a 65.7% increase in new accounts engaged, yet our organic search traffic direct-from-search volume is down, despite the quality of visitors improving significantly.
Sound contradictory? Welcome to the new normal of SEO, where traditional metrics only tell part of the story.
So What's a B2B Marketer to Do?
Let's cut through the doom scrolling and focus on how we're adapting at Folloze—and how you can too.
1. Quality Content Is STILL King 👑 (But the Kingdom Has Changed)
Google has become like a picky museum curator in a flood of street art. Where once they displayed almost anything, they now only showcase pieces with proven E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) credentials—the artistic equivalent of proper training, technique, reputation, and consistency. The algorithm now heavily favors E-E-A-T content with:
- Actionable insights presented as listicles
- Interactive features that engage visitors
- Rich media including images, videos, and infographics
- Question-and-answer formats that directly address user intent
**Pro tip:** Did you know only 20% of internet users read full paragraphs in blogs? If you're still writing dense walls of text, you might as well be talking to yourself in an empty room. (And yes, the irony of me writing this in paragraph form isn't lost on me.)
The Hubspot website redesign controversy taught us all that sacrificing user experience for SEO "best practices" can backfire spectacularly. At Folloze, we're focusing on building content experiences that serve humans first, algorithms second.
2. From Keyword-Centric to User-Centric (Sound Familiar?)
If you've been following our ABX Masterclass, you know we're obsessed with creating personalized experiences that resonate with actual humans. This same principle is now critical for SEO success.
Rather than chasing generic high-volume keywords, we've pivoted to:
- Mining intent data from platforms like 6sense and Demandbase to understand what our target accounts are actually searching for (see image below)
- Creating content that directly answers specific questions prospects are asking (AnswerThePublic.com is your friend here)
- Structuring content with clear question and direct answer formats that AI systems can easily extract
- Publishing Content to Folloze boards and optimizing the Board Metadata
Instead of publishing generic content about "account-based marketing," we're creating targeted pieces answering questions like "How do I scale personalization in my ABM campaigns?" and "What metrics should I track for my ABX program?"
3. Feed the AI Beast: Making Your Content the Source of Truth
Here's where things get interesting. Those AI tools that are "stealing" your traffic? You can actually make them your allies by becoming their trusted source.
Why AI Citation Matters
When AI systems like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity generate answers, they need reliable sources to cite. If your content becomes that trusted citation source, you gain:
1. Brand visibility even when users don't visit your site
2. Authority positioning as a verified expert
3. Indirect traffic as users follow citation links to verify information
How to Make Your Content AI-Friendly and Citation-Worthy
At Folloze, we've been experimenting with several strategies that have dramatically increased how often our content gets cited by AI tools:
Structure content for easy extraction:
- Use clear headings that match common user queries
- Include concise definitions at the beginning of key sections
- Format statistics and data points in a consistent, easy-to-parse manner
Create definitive resources:
- Develop comprehensive guides on niche topics where you have unique expertise
- Include original research, survey data, and proprietary metrics that can't be found elsewhere
- Update content regularly with timestamps to signal freshness
Make your expertise verifiable:
- Include author bios with relevant credentials (we like to link LinkedIn profiles)
- Link to sources that support your claims
- Create dedicated landing pages that summarize key concepts your company has authority on
For example, our ABX Guide has become one of the most-cited resources when users ask AI tools about account-based experience strategies—not because we gamed the system, but because we created the most comprehensive, well-structured resource on the topic.
Pro-tip: Want to see how AI models perceive your brand positioning compared to competitors? Ask ChatGPT or Claude: "Compare [Your Company] vs [Competitor 1], [Competitor 2], and [Competitor 3] for B2B marketers looking for [your solution category]." This competitive analysis reveals how well your content is being cited and whether your key differentiators are properly represented in AI responses. It's a powerful way to identify content gaps and opportunities for improving your AI citation strategy.
Real Results from Our AI Citation Strategy
After implementing these strategies, we've seen:
- 44% increase in surging accounts engaging with our ABX content
- Multiple citations in AI responses for our key topics
- A new traffic pattern we call "verification visits"—users coming to validate information they received from AI
4. Optimizing the Folloze Ecosystem: Websites, Boards, and the Connective Tissue
One of our secret weapons at Folloze is our ability to create a seamless ecosystem between our website, Folloze boards, and engagement tools. This integrated approach creates multiple entry points for both search engines and AI systems.
Making Your Folloze Boards SEO Powerhouses
Folloze boards aren't just great for engagement—they can be SEO goldmines when optimized properly. Here's how we're doing it:
Technical optimization for boards:
- Custom URLs with keyword-rich slugs for each board
- Proper meta titles and descriptions that include target keywords
- Schema markup to help search engines understand board content
- Image ALT text optimization for visual content
Content tagging strategy:
- Implement consistent content taxonomy across website and boards
- Use the same keyword clusters to tag related content
- Create topic hubs that link related boards together
Our data shows that properly optimized Folloze boards can rank independently in search results, creating additional entry points to your content ecosystem.
Ask your Folloze CSM about Website Engager.
- Transform static websites into personalized experiences – Embed Folloze Boards directly into your website to create dynamic, personalized content journeys without involving developers, capturing valuable first-party data even as third-party cookies phase out
- Connect the entire buyer journey across touchpoints – Website Engager serves as the connective tissue between your website and ABX campaigns, providing full-spectrum behavioral insights that track engagement beyond website visits
- Scale personalization with 6sense or Demandbase integration – Easily leverage your account data from these platforms to dynamically render content, messaging, and CTAs based on industry, buying stage, and other firmographic data
Creating the Connective Tissue
The magic happens when you create strong connections between your website and Folloze boards:
Cross-promotion strategy:
- Embed board previews on relevant website pages
- Include clear CTAs from blog posts to related Folloze boards
- Use consistent URL parameters for tracking and analytics
Content synchronization:
- Repurpose high-performing website content for board experiences
- Use engagement data from boards to inform website content strategy
- Create "content journeys" that guide users from website to boards and back
Unified analytics:
- Track user journeys across website and boards
- Analyze engagement patterns to optimize the entire ecosystem
- Use heat mapping to understand how users navigate between platforms
By implementing this ecosystem approach, we've seen:
- 3.32x increase in average account engagement
- 580 new visitors per month discovering our Folloze boards through organic search
- 78% higher engagement rates for accounts that interact with both website and board content
Implementation tip: Use UTM parameters consistently when linking between your website and Folloze boards to track the complete user journey across platforms.
5. Technical SEO Still Matters—Perhaps More Than Ever
While content is crucial, don't neglect these technical SEO elements that help AI systems understand and feature your content:
- Mobile optimization (non-negotiable at this point).
- Structured data markup everywhere (helps generate those juicy rich snippets)
- Strategic internal linking (helps both users and crawlers navigate your content)
At Folloze, our focus on technical optimization has helped us maintain visibility even as search behaviors change. Our ABX Guide landing page ranks on page one for over 10 key terms because we've optimized it technically while ensuring the content delivers exceptional value.
6. Keyword Clusters > Individual Keywords
Rather than targeting singular keywords, we've adopted a topic cluster approach that builds authority around core topics important to our audience.
Using content pillar tools like thruuu.com or enterprise platforms like Conductor or DemandJump, we identify related keyword groups and create comprehensive content hubs that address topics from multiple angles.
For example, our content around "B2B personalization" includes related clusters on:
- Personalization technology
- Scaling personalization efforts
- Personalization metrics
- Channel-specific or Buyer Journey personalization
This approach has helped us rank for 68% more long-tail keywords year-over-year, even as competition for primary terms has intensified.
Here’s a draft of what Claude.ai helped me created for our content pillar structure after creating a Folloze SEO project with all my keyword research and supporting docs from our team.
Keyword Strategy Tips:
- Focus on lower difficulty keywords for quicker wins
- Create comprehensive content that addresses multiple related keywords
- Structure content with clear H2/H3 headings for each keyword topic
- Include FAQs that directly answer search queries
7. Communities Are the New Backlinks
Traditional backlinks still matter, but our data shows three relationship-based strategies now deliver higher-quality traffic:
Tech Partnerships:
Our integrations with 6sense, Demandbase, and Outreach generate both referral traffic and authoritative backlinks. Our 6sense partnership alone drove 33% more targeted account traffic—far more valuable than generic directory links.
Community Engagement:
Active participation in specialized communities (ForgeX, Reddit's r/B2BMarketing, industry Slack channels) builds credibility and drives traffic. Unlike traditional link building, authentic community contributions create natural sharing without direct requests.
Employee Advocacy:
Our team members are our most powerful distribution channel. By equipping them with shareable content, we've seen:
- 3.8x expanded reach compared to brand channels
- 2.3x higher click-through rates
- 43% more engagement on thought leadership
The Future of B2B SEO: Integrated, Personalized, and Multi-Channel
The most important shift in our approach to SEO has been integration with our broader marketing strategy. Rather than treating SEO as a standalone tactic, we've woven it into every aspect of our content and engagement strategy.
This integrated approach has delivered impressive results:
- 3.32x average increase in account engagement
- Retargeting audiences showing remarkably high engagement rates
- Our ABX Guide now seeing 327% more impressions month-over-month
Your Turn: Three Steps to Future-Proof Your SEO Strategy
1. Audit your current content for E-E-A-T factors and user experience. Is it genuinely helpful? Does it provide clear answers to specific questions?
2. Map your content to the buyer journey , creating topic clusters that address different stages rather than chasing individual keywords.
3. Look beyond Google by identifying where your prospects are actually having conversations and becoming part of those communities.
4. Make your content AI-friendly by structuring it for easy citation and becoming the verified source in your domain.
5. Create an integrated content ecosystem between your website and engagement platforms like Folloze boards.
B2B SEO Resources I Can’t Live Without:
- I recently saw a post from Josh Elkin, Founder and CEO of linkflow.ai and love his content and guide to AI Search.
- Anything from conductor.com, thruuu.com and it’s founder Samuel Schmitt, or DemandJump and their CSO, Ryan Brock (who also wrote Pillar-Based Marketing)
- Weekly SEO newsletters from seopowerplays.com, SearchPilot
- Your typical but reliable SEMrush, Moz, AHREFs, SERankings, and those guys.
- Search Engine Land
Next-Level SEO: The Folloze Advantage
Of course, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't mention how Folloze can help you elevate your content strategy in this new landscape.
Our platform enables you to create personalized content experiences that engage prospects across multiple channels—helping you build meaningful connections that don't depend solely on search traffic.
With Folloze's content personalization capabilities, you can:
- Create targeted microsites for specific audience segments
- Deliver personalized content based on industry, role, or intent signals
- Track engagement across the entire buyer journey
- Scale your ABX efforts without sacrificing quality
- Build an integrated ecosystem between your website and Folloze boards
Ready to future-proof your B2B marketing strategy? Download our complete guide to ABX strategy or book a meeting to see how Folloze can help you thrive in the age of AI search.
And if you're ready to level up your skills, check out our ABX Masterclass—it might just be the secret weapon you need in this brave new world of AI-powered search.
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