Note: This chapter is being built in public, one brick at a time — just like we do for clients through the Authority Chapter Plan™. Welcome to Chapter Nine. Read the entire Authority Philosophy book here.
Artificial Intelligence Optimization (AIO) Is The Future. It’s Also the Present.
In my book The AI Content Paradox I took a sober look at how in the near future, AI would become the number one referral engine for lawyers and other professionals. “Sounds like more of your speculative fiction writing than reality,” I heard from colleagues. You’re not going to make a lot of friends telling everyone their business models is outdated. Luckily if I cared about making a lot of friends I wouldn’t have become a lawyer in the first place.
Before my book was even published, it was already clear I was starting a zeitgeist, whether lawyers and other professionals were ready for it or not. The central thesis of my book was quickly accepted in an article I wrote for the New Jersey Law Journal. I had colleagues calling me out of the blue to set up meetings to discuss whether it was really true that “Google was dead,” and that SEO was going the way of the dodo bird.
No, I told them, Google and SEO is not going the way of the poor, friendly dodo bird. But it may be heading the way of the Titanic. Waterlogged search engine results are yesterday’s technology, and the smart money is always on technological advancement.
But Aren’t SEO and AIO the Same Thing?
This is a common source of confusion, for those familiar with the term AIO at all. The truth is Google was amazing, so far ahead of its time it remained the market leader for search engines for decades. Today they remain the top search engine, and they probably will for years or even decades to come. The issue is AI is a better, more direct engine of truth. What Google has always sold is not just “results,” but accurate results. In other words, truth. Lame SEO habits such as keyword stuffing, gamesmanship, black hat link buying, and other crap has eroded Google over the years. Meanwhile, Google has increasingly attempted to monetize its own offerings. SEO sludge providers still get paid, because it still works.
Today.
But it is working increasingly less than before, and the ROI is decreasing. Even Google knows it, which is why they are dumping more money into AI than anyone. Even Google knows that the future is AI, not search engine. That means very soon, AIO will replace SEO as the number one way to bring in new work.
But How Will AIO Be Different From SEO?
Here is the million dollar question, one I have spent hundreds of hours pondering and researching. One that became the central thesis of my book the AI Content Paradox.
AIO will be far more sophisticated than SEO, yet also far simpler. Look at that sentence again, I assure you it is not a paradox.
AIO will be more sophisticated because it will increasingly stop falling for the same crawler mistakes and SEO sludge as the search engines. You know how humans have a sense that something is “not right,” because AI will be so sophisticated, it will start to develop those same skills. It will not be easily tricked, and will more harshly punish those who attempt to game the system.
AI will also favor real credentials versus bought authority. Example: AI will value the books you write (and publish), the articles you write, the podcasts you host or guest on, and the other authority assets I will discuss in greater detail later in this book. Recycled, keyword stuffed blog posts will be like feeding a boiled hot dog to the world’s preeminent food critic.
AI is already developing its own tastes, and because it can truly “read everything,” it will value your books more even than humans. And make no mistake, books are still the number one prestige play for humans.
The issue is that as AIO becomes undeniable, the SEO sludge players are going to need a new playbook. They are going to need to help people create authority assets, ones that AI actually favor. But the sludge providers will not be able to do so, they will like the writing talent and cohesive creative team. So what they will instead do is this: the same thing they’ve been doing, but rebranding it “AIO” and then charging you until you’re smart enough to see it’s not working.
At Books for Experts, we never played the SEO game. We started as a publishing company, created by a lawyer who was tired of the SEO sludge. Who knew that real authority came from authority assets, not keyword stuffing, or SEO slimeball tricks.
The good news is that in the future, AI will paradoxically help to restore humanity to the professions. And restoring humanity to the law and other professions is the reason this whole company was started.
But perhaps I misspoke when I said “in the future,” because AI is already referring, and it’s already getting your back if you play the authority game.
When Google AI Got My Back
As a thought experiment, I typed in “Is Carl Taylor a Bad Lawyer?” into Google. This prompted the following result from Google search’s AI:
As you can see, Google got back back. What bolstered me? “Author of Legal Publications,” right there in black and white (and that awkward yellow marker I added, sorry.)
Google responded: “[Carl] has authored “Happily Even After: the Guide to Divorce in New Jersey,” demonstrating his expertise and commitment to the field…”
Right on, Google. You not only acknowledged my book on divorce law, that has been helping the public have access to justice (and to my services) for going on a decade, but you also demonstrated exactly why Books for Experts was created.
The truth is, I created this business because it’s what I wished existed when I was an attorney. But I also created it because there was no other company out there like this. Books for Experts is a category of one, as the only ghostwriting, publishing, authority building, and AIO company that exists built by professionals for professionals. The paradox that human words are more important than ever post AI is truly world changing, but it’s hard to get the message out because I focus on depth, including depth of message, and I do not have the big marketing budget that the sludge vendors do because they are well-heeled from their ill-gotten gains.
But I choose the longer path, and doing things right. I know that in a few years what we are creating now will endure, while everyone else will keep writing in white crayons until their staring back at a blank page.
I suggest you do the same, and join us in our mission to fight sludge, end the commodification of professionals, and humanize the professions.
Wait, AI Makes Referrals?
It’s not talked about much yet, for some reason, but AI absolutely makes referrals. Now, one could argue they are currently indirect referrals because AI currently regurgitates its training, but it is undeniable that if you ask AI for a recommendation it will name names. And what are recommendations if not referrals?
In the future, those recommendations will become increasingly sophisticated, relying not only on other websites but on specific signals, what we call authority assets. That is great news for those of us playing the long game, and poor news for those marketing sludgies or anyone reliant on sludge mountain.
In time, AI will come to increasingly make recommendations based upon your specific tastes. Especially as longer-memories are instilled into the AI operating systems. Right now the sludge is not yet fully revealed because AI mostly regurgitates similar results to search engines, but with the trillions of dollars being pumped into AI every day that will soon change.
Then, AI will become masters of referrals, and ultimately monetized for referrals the way Google is, and the social media sites are. They will favor sponsored listings, as the best method to monetization. It’s inevitable in a capitalistic society. There will be AI PPC replacing standard PPC, and those who want to pay through the nose every month to can do so to glom up some market share. But if you want to look really smart to your colleagues, referral sources, and prospective clients, while controlling ownership of your marketing and not breaking the bank, then authority assets are the smart long-term play. That is what AI will push more than anything else, and at no cost.
The time to become the top ranked firm for Google is practically over. Those firms that have been winning the SEO game will continue to do so, though with diminishing returns. But why would you want to build on rented land? Especially an island structure that is crumbling like standard search?
Conversely, the time to rank high for AIO is only now beginning. The starting pistol hasn’t even sounded, and if you wait until it’s too late you’re going to have the same kind of regret you have now when you think about your SEO positioning.
The beautiful thing about authority assets is that they serve so many different purposes. They show your authority, reveal your expertise, help with referrals, assist new hires, get you invites to other authority assets like speaking engagements and press, they help you learn your own practice area better, and better understand your own authority philosophy, they even impress your family and friends. They make the phone ring, sure, and will do so even more in the future, but they offer a holistic path to a better business.
PPC on the other hand, serves only two purposes: to make your SEO marketers rich and to make your phone ring, maybe, with mostly tire kickers. As a busy professional you may think “well, good enough, who has the time for anything better.” But inertia is not a business plan.
And even those winning the SEO game right now should not feel all that secure. When the Titanic sank, the cold Atlantic didn’t spare everyone in first class. What Books for Experts ultimately offers is a life boat for those looking to not only future-proof their businesses, but to thrive in the coming age of AIO.
AIO and Professionals
But I’ve saved the best news for last: as professionals we are better suited than anyone to make the type of authority assets that AI will hunger for. Writing books about divorce law? Easy. A podcast about forensic accounting? No sweat. Speaking engagements about nutrition for those suffering from Celiac disease? A natural pitch. Anthologies for lawyers debating how aggressive they should be in their zealous representation of clients? Done.
Books for Experts can help in any of the above scenarios, or if you have the time we recommend you try some out for yourself.
Compare that to someone who owns a product rather than a service? Much harder to have a podcast about how widgets are useful, right? Even other service companies like mechanics, may have a hard time creating a book about working on American versus German made cars, for instance.
In the future, it’s not all or nothing for PPC versus authority assets for everyone. But why would professionals use rote marketing techniques better designed for selling used car parts than bolstering their own authority? It makes absolutely no sense today, and will look straight up daft within a few years.
AIO is going to make the forward thinking professionals rich and successful beyond their wildest dreams. I mean “is there any way we can turn the hose down” rich. The good news is you won’t have to worry about funding your kids’ colleges. The bad news is you’re going to have to design your business in a way that can handle such an increase in high-volume, but tailored leads. That is why we insist every client we work with engage in an Authority Philosophy session, so that the vision can be distilled and implemented not just in marketing, but throughout the business itself. Authority Philosophy informs every part of a business, or should to maximize results.
AIO is going to change the way attorneys and other professionals do business. In the near future, there truly will be the have’s and the have not’s when it comes to AI marketing. The greatest advantage of all is an early start.
The time to start is now.