🔥 The SEOs Diners Club - Issue #158 - Weekly SEO Tips & News

In the evolving content creation and SEO landscape, having the right tools can make all the difference. This week, we explore how OpenAI's Deep Research tool transforms content creation while examining shifts in search behaviour and emerging AI technologies.

OpenAI Deep Research: Your Secret Weapon for Quality Content

If you're looking to achieve the best results in content creation and SEO, you're in the right place. Let me walk you through this game-changing tool that's now more accessible than ever.

Deep Research is a powerful AI tool developed by OpenAI that can conduct comprehensive, multi-step research with remarkable depth. For SEO professionals, this tool is nothing short of revolutionary, offering significant advantages:

• Time Savings: Completes hours of research in minutes, allowing you to focus on strategy rather than data gathering

• Comprehensive Data Collection: Gathers the most current and relevant information from across the web, ensuring your content remains cutting-edge

• Data Analysis and Synthesis: Makes sense of and summarizes collected information, identifying patterns and insights that might be missed by human research

• Visual and Document Analysis: Can analyze PDFs, large texts, and visuals, extracting valuable information from diverse source types

Until recently, this tool was only available to Pro subscribers ($200/month). This week, OpenAI made it accessible to ChatGPT Plus users at just $20/month, democratizing access to this powerful research capability.

Step-by-Step Guide to Using Deep Research

1. Activate Deep Research: If you have a Plus subscription, enable the "Deep Research" option in the chat screen

2. Ask a Detailed Question: Clearly express the topic you want to research. For example: "Research the future of SEO, the most effective SEO strategies today, and ways to stay competitive."

3. Respond to Follow-up Questions: AI may ask questions like industry focus, source types, or specific areas of interest to better understand your needs. Example response: "Focus on the SEO and digital marketing sector. I want information that includes expert predictions and real-world examples."

4. Wait for Research Completion: This can take anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour depending on the complexity of your request

5. Review and Verify Results: Check the reliability of the information provided

6. Generate Content: Use the research to create meaningful content with commands like: "Using this research, create a 1500-2000 word blog post written in a conversational tone. Make it SEO-friendly by including research sources."

When creating your content:

• Specify output type and length: "Create a 1500-2000 word blog post"

• Set tone and style preferences: "Write in a conversational/informative/formal tone"

• Choose a unique angle to make your content stand out

• Include reliable sources (for Google's E-E-A-T principles)

• Clean up unnecessary AI-generated content for clarity and readability

• Add a meta description: "Create an SEO-friendly meta description for this blog post"

By following these steps, you can create high-quality, SEO-friendly content that stands out in the digital landscape and drives meaningful engagement with your audience.

SEO Strategies in the AI-Assisted Search Era: Do Old Tactics Still Work?

The one constant in the SEO world is change. Google's continuous algorithm updates and the rise of AI have forced SEO experts to stay vigilant. Tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini have fundamentally changed search results and how users access information. But do these changes invalidate classic SEO principles? The answer is no.

While search engine fundamentals may seem different, the cornerstones of successful SEO—content quality, site structure, and indexing strategies—remain crucial. Here's a comprehensive guide on optimizing SEO in the AI era:

Highlights:

• Despite the rise of AI-assisted searches, Google and Bing's indexing, crawling, and ranking systems still rely on traditional SEO principles

• Site structure, internal links, and fast loading times play a critical role in making AI-crawled content stand out

• Fresh, relevant, and semantically rich content is key to visibility in AI searches

• Since AI tools can't fully process JavaScript, creating HTML format and indexable content is essential

Why This Matters for SEO Professionals:

As Google and Bing expand their AI-assisted searches, SEO experts need to optimize strategies for both traditional SERPs and AI-based search responses. To be included in AI-generated answers, your content must be understandable, accurate, and reliable to AI models.

AI models typically use systems similar to search engines' indexing methods to crawl websites. However, some AI bots may not properly process certain content types (particularly dynamic JavaScript content). Therefore, you should provide HTML-based, clear, and accessible content to ensure your pages are properly crawled and indexed.

What You Can Do:

1. Create Content Suitable for AI-Based Searches

   • Your content should be semantically strong as AI works with natural language processing (NLP) techniques

   • Focus on topic-based content creation beyond keyword optimization

   • Create informative, in-depth content to make AI choose you as a source

2. Optimize Site Structure and Indexability

   • Create a proper sitemap (sitemap.xml) and add it to Google Search Console

   • Check your robots.txt file to allow AI bots to crawl your site

   • Strengthen internal links to increase page authority

3. Increase Page Speed and Strengthen Technical SEO

   • Clean unnecessary codes and optimize images to increase your website's speed

   • Present core information in HTML as AI models may not read some JavaScript content

   • Make page titles and descriptions clear for easy AI comprehension

4. Use Structured Data for AI-Assisted Searches

   • Use structured data markups like Schema.org to make your content more understandable

   • Provide clear and verifiable sources to facilitate AI information extraction

5. Publish Regular and Updated Content

   • AI-assisted searches prioritize current and relevant content

   • Create news, guides, and research-based content to increase authority

Is Google Losing Its Search Power?

Google has been the digital world's essential tool for years. However, recent surveys show users are increasingly losing trust in the search giant.

New research by Vox Media and Two Cents Insights reveals that younger generations are turning to AI-based tools instead of search engines. What does this mean for the SEO world?

Key Survey Findings:

• 42% think Google Search isn't as useful as it used to be

• 55% trust their communities for information instead of Google

• 52% prefer AI chatbots and social media platforms over Google

• 66% struggle to find reliable sources due to declining information quality on Google

• Gen Z and Millennials especially are using AI tools and social media platforms instead of Google

Brand Awareness and Google Ads: Are You Wasting Your Money?

According to newly published research, 59% of Americans click on brands they recognize in Google search results. Users are even twice as likely to navigate to a familiar brand than to the top-ranked result.

Important Data:

• Organic vs. Ads: 49% of users trust organic results more. Only 5% find ads more reliable than organic results

• Generational Differences: For Gen Z and Millennials, highly-rated reviews are the most important factor; for Baby Boomers and Gen X, compelling headlines stand out

• Trust in Google: 52% of US users still see Google as the most reliable information source

The key question: If people already click on brands they know, how logical is it to reach those who don't know your brand through Google Ads? Or should you invest in branding instead?

This Week in the World of AI: Tools, Services, and Tips

AI is driving innovations in digital marketing. Let's look at the latest developments and applications accelerating marketing impact!

• OpenAI introduced an improved language model, GPT-4.5, on February 27, 2025. This new model has a broader knowledge base and better understanding of user intent compared to previous versions, offering more natural interactions for writing, programming, and practical problem-solving. It also reduces "hallucination" rates from 61.8% to 37.1%, providing more accurate answers. Currently available to Pro users and developers worldwide, it will soon be available to all Pro users.

• Deep Research feature is now available to ChatGPT Plus subscribers. Previously only available in the $200 Pro package, this feature is now accessible to users with a $20 ChatGPT Plus subscription.

• Shortly after making Deep Research available to Plus subscribers, OpenAI experienced a major outage. Due to overload, the system encountered serious CPU usage issues, and many users experienced problems accessing ChatGPT, API, and other services. OpenAI announced measures including strengthening load balancing systems, increasing scalability, and creating backup infrastructures for critical services. The company aims to build a more robust infrastructure by improving early warning systems to prevent such outages from recurring.

• Anthropic launched its new model Claude 3.7 Sonnet, set to revolutionize the field of artificial intelligence. This innovative model combines the ability to provide quick answers and think deeply about complex problems in a single system. Users can choose between standard or extended thinking mode, while the model stands out with a 62.3% success rate in coding tests. The system, which makes 45% fewer unnecessary rejections compared to competitors, offers API users flexibility between thinking time and cost. Anthropic also announced the "Claude Code" tool, which provides terminal-based code analysis and GitHub integration.

Join Us at the Content Marketing and SEO in the AI Era Event!

This event is an unmissable opportunity for content creators, digital marketers, SEO experts, and web administrators!

A major transformation is happening in the digital marketing and SEO world. How is artificial intelligence shaping content marketing and SEO strategies? How can brands increase their online visibility? I'll be with you at the "Content Marketing and SEO in the AI Era" event to be held at KWORKS — Koç University Incubation Center on Thursday, March 6, 2025, to find answers to these questions.

This event is part of the Content Marketing & SEO Talks series that we organize every two months with the contributions of İçerikmatik. We will come together with expert names in the field to discuss in detail how content strategies can be integrated with SEO, how artificial intelligence provides an advantage in reaching your target audience, and 2025 SEO trends.

👥 Speakers:

• Aykut Otu — Founder of İçerikmatik

• Mert Erkal — Founder of Stradiji & SEO Consultant

• Kübra Meriç — Inbound Marketing Agency SEO Consultant

• Murat Erdör — Me Consultancy

Sign up now to learn about current strategies, meet industry experts, and ask your questions directly!

I hope you've enjoyed this week's SEO’s Diners Club.

Until next week's new edition, filled with new information, tactics, and strategies...

Wishing you a great week, farewell!

Would You Like to Support My Newsletter?

I love sharing the latest developments and strategies in the SEO world with you. If you find my content useful, you can support me by buying me a coffee. ☕ Click on 'Buy Me a Coffee' to contribute to knowledge sharing. Let's achieve more together!

© 2022-2025 SEOs Diners Club by Mert Erkal