Why Writing Content For Bots Will Cost You

About This Episode

Writing content for bots is a bet on the next core update landing in your favor. Two SEOs who never took that bet explain what they built instead.

In this episode of SEO On-Air, host Koa Kauwe sits down with Lea Scudamore (Aimclear) and Scott Rehnberg (Improve & Grow) to argue out whether AI search has quietly pushed the industry back into writing for machines.

The panel explores Lea’s position, which is that she has never written for robots and is not starting now. She describes it as balancing on a tightrope waiting for the next core update, and notes her clients have not felt the recent shifts because they were never playing that game. Scott tries to split the difference and largely concedes, pointing out that restructuring lost content into FAQ format works because users want faster answers, not because a bot prefers it.

They also discuss why organic sessions have been a vanity metric for years, how AI helps you scale a bad strategy faster, why not every page should be a converting page, why technical SEO is the tiebreaker when two brands look identical, where authority genuinely comes from now, and the client insight that turned into a 12.8 million dollar project.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

– Why writing for bots means betting on the next core update

– The difference between writing to be cited and writing to solve a problem

– Why organic sessions stopped being a meaningful metric

– How AI helps you scale a bad strategy faster

– Why not every page on your site should convert

– Why keyword volume data does not reflect how people search

– Why technical SEO is the tiebreaker between two similar brands

– Where authority actually comes from in AI search

– Why browsing sessions tell you more than a rankings report

– The client insight that turned into a 12.8 million dollar project

Whether you’re an agency owner, SEO professional, content writer, or marketer reporting on performance, this episode provides actionable insights into building content that survives updates, choosing metrics that hold up, and finding the business insight your client cannot see themselves.

Because the content that survives the next update won’t be the content written to get cited.

It will be the content that solved somebody’s problem.

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 Introduction to SEO On-Air & Meet the Guests

04:46 Vanity Metrics vs Meaningful Performance

05:39 Why Organic Sessions Stopped Meaning Anything

06:30 Why Search Volume Data Is Not the Truth

08:27 How AI Helps You Scale a Bad Strategy

10:07 Why Not Every Page Should Be a Converting Page

19:05 Why Writing for Robots Is Betting on the Next Update

22:14 Restructuring Lost Content Into FAQs

23:07 What Browsing Sessions Reveal About Your Visitors

31:24 Why Technical SEO Is the Tiebreaker for AI

38:45 The Client Insight Behind a 12.8 Million Dollar Project