Potential SEO Clients May Want To Discuss AI Search And Chatbots

There was a post on social media about so-called hustle bros, and one on Reddit about an SEO who lost a prospective client to a digital marketer whose pitch included a song and dance about AI search visibility. Both discussions highlight a trend in which potential customers want to be assured of positive outcomes and may want to discuss AI search positioning.

Hustle Bro Culture?

Two unrelated posts touched on SEOs who are hustling for clients and getting them. The first post was about SEO “hustle bros” who post search console screenshots to show the success of their work.

I know of a guy who used to post a lot in a Facebook SEO group until the moderators discovered that his Search Console screenshots were downloaded from Google Images. SEO hustle bros who post fake screenshots are an actual thing, and sometimes they get caught.

So, a person posted a rant on Bluesky about people who do that.

Here’s what he posted:

“How much of SEO is “chasing after wind”. There’s so many hustle bros, programmatic promoters and people posting graphs with numbers erased off to show their “success”.”

Has Something Changed?

Google’s John Mueller responded:

“I wonder if it has changed over the years, or if it’s just my (perhaps your) perception that has changed.

Or maybe all the different kinds of SEOs are just in the same few places, rather than their independent forums, making them more visible?”

Mueller might be on to something because social media and YouTube have made it easier for legit SEOs and “hustle bros” to find a larger audience. But I think the important point to consider is that those people are connecting to potential clients in a way that maybe legit SEOs might not be connecting.

And that leads into the next social media discussion, which is about SEOs who are talking about what clients want to hear: AI Fluff.

SEOs Selling AI “Fluff”

There is a post on Reddit where an SEO shares how they spent months communicating with a potential client, going out of their way to help a small business as a favor to a friend. After all the discussions the SEO gets to the part where they expect the small business to commit to an agreement and they walk away, saying they’re going with another SEO who sold them with something to do with AI.

They explained:

“SEOs Selling AI Fluff

After answering a bunch of questions via email over 3 months (unusually needy client) but essentially presales, it all sounds good to go and we hop on a kickoff call. Recap scope and reshare key contacts, and tee up a chat with the we design agency. So far so good.

Then dropped.

Clients reason? The other SEO who they’ve been chatting with is way more clued up with the AI technicals

I’d love to know what crystal ball AI mysticism they were sold on. Maybe a “cosine similarity audit”, maybe we’ll include “schema embeddings analysis” within our migration project plan to make sure AI bots can read your site. Lol cool whatever bro.”

John Mueller responded to that person’s post but then retracted it.

Nevertheless, a lively discussion ensued with three main points:

Is AI SEO this year’s EEAT?
Some potential clients want to discuss AI SEO
SEOs may need to address AEO/AIO/GEO

1. Is AI For SEO This Year’s EEAT?

Many Redditors in that discussion scoffed at the idea of SEO for AI. This isn’t a case of luddites refusing to change with the times. SEO tactics for AI Search are still evolving.

Reddit moderator WebLinkr received eight upvotes for their comment:

“Yup – SEOs been like that for years – EEAT, “SEO Audits” – basically people buy on what “makes sense” or “sounds sensible” even though they’ve already proven they have no idea what SEO is.”

Unlike EEAT, AI Search is most definitely disrupting visibility. It’s a real thing. And I do know of at least one SEO with a computer science degree who has it figured out.

But I think it’s not too off the mark to say that many digital marketers are still figuring things out. The amount of scoffing in that discussion seems to support the idea that AI Search is not something all SEOs are fully confident about.

2. Some Clients Are Asking For AI SEO

Perhaps the most important insight is that potential clients want to know what an SEO can do for AI optimization. If clients are asking about AI SEO, does that mean it’s no longer hype? Or is this a repeat of what happened with EEAT where it was a lot of wheels spinning for nothing?

Redditor mkhaytman shared:

“Like it or not, clients are asking questions about AIs impact and how they can leverage the new tools people are using for search and just telling them that “Nobody knows!” isn’t a satisfactory answer. You need to be able to tell them something – even if its just “good seo practices are the same things that will improve your AI citations”.”

3. AI Search Is Real: SEOs Need To Talk About It With Clients

A third point of view emerged: this is something real that all SEOs need to be having a conversation about. It’s not something that can be ignored and only discussed if a client or prospect asks about it.

SVLibertine shared:

“Battling AIO, GEO, and AEO may seem like snake oil to some, but…it’s where we’re headed. Right now.

To stay relevant in our field you need to be able to eloquently and convincingly speak to this brave new world we’ve found ourselves in. Either to potential clients, or to our boss’s bosses.

I spend almost as much time after work staying on top of developments as I do during the day working. …That being said… SEO fundamentals absolutely still apply, and content is still king.”

Uncertainty About Answer Engine SEO

There are many ways to consider SEO for AI. For example, there’s a certain amount of consensus that AI gets web search data from traditional search engines, where traditional SEO applies. That’s what the comment about content being king seems to be about.

But then we have folks who are using share buttons to raise visibility by getting people to ask ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity about their web pages. That’s kind of edgy, but it’s a natural part of how SEO reacts to new things: by experimenting and seeing how the algorithmic black box responds.

This is a period similar to what I experienced at the dawn of SEO, when search marketers were playing around with different approaches and finding what works until it doesn’t.

But here’s something to be aware of: there are times when a client will demand certain things, and it’s tempting to give clients what they’re asking for. But if you have reservations, it may be helpful to share your doubts.