ChatGPT’s impact on roofing SEO remains in its preliminary stages as search engines, marketing agencies, and roofing companies process the pros and cons of this emerging technology. While it will take time to clearly define ChatGPT’s role in search engine optimization, gaining awareness about what this tool can do for roofers is crucial.
At Roofing Webmasters, we’ve been considered the top-rated SEO agency for roofers for more than a decade. As a result, roofing companies turn to us to make sense of the latest advancements in the digital marketing industry.
Below we outline our forecast of how ChatGPT will impact SEO for roofers.
Notes about ChatGPT for SEO:
It is a powerful AI tool for roofers
It should not write your roofing content
It is still in its early stages and will evolve
It can be used to expedite SEO processes
ChatGPT for SEO Content Creation
Google’s Helpful Content Update seemed to anticipate the emergence of ChatGPT as a content creation tool. While Google does not explicitly ban the use of AI-generated content on websites, they do, however, clearly recommend content created by humans for humans.
Bankrate’s website utilizes AI-generated content for articles currently ranking on Google. The search engine has affirmed that AI content is not necessarily violating its guidelines when used to help human visitors. However, such mixed messaging needs to be more straightforward for industry members.
While it seems possible to rank your roofing website with AI content, as long as it endures a stringent editing process, it’s too early for any SEO agency to confidently recommend or utilize AI content for content generation. Until more data is gathered and Google clarifies its guidelines, the risk of suppressing a roofer’s rankings is too great.
Roofing Webmasters consistently runs SEO research tests that do not impact our clients but provide insights we can incorporate into future campaigns. As of today, human-generated content for roofing companies outperforms AI content generation on search rankings.
ChatGPT as a Search Engine
Some in the industry have coined ChatGPT as the Google killer or at least its replacement. Of course, many of these headlines are created to generate responses rather than outline genuine predictions. Few industry experts view ChatGPT as a Google replacement, though it may impact search engines in general.
For example, Bing plans to incorporate ChatGPT into its search engine, which could increase its market share after years of Google domination. Still, Google likely remains the prohibitive search engine king for decades.
While Google is unlikely in danger of losing its status, we can’t discount the potential changes ChatGPT will make to search behavior. The fundamental issue with ChatGPT as a search engine is its current interface. For roofing companies especially, consumers want to quickly sort through company websites, reviews, and Google Business Profiles.
ChatGPT currently cannot provide that level of Local SEO experience.
Google’s ability to contextualize local roofing companies by presenting verified reviews and business information separates it from other search engines and artificial intelligence.
ChatGPT as a Programmer
The most appealing part of ChatGPT is its ability to write code. While an experienced programmer must still examine the code before publication, ChatGPT can significantly expedite the code creation process while closing the gap between programmers and non-programmers.
For example, roofing company websites may want to include an HTML roofing cost calculator. However, they usually hire a programmer to complete the task, which would take time and money. With ChatGPT, a roofer could conceivably produce the code within minutes for free.
Aside from HTML, CSS, and Javascript code, ChatGPT can perform other programming tasks like creating schema markup for a roofing business or adding schema FAQ to a roofing company service page. These are all tasks that previously required time, money, and expertise.
ChatGPT as an Assistant
Although it’s too early to determine ChatGPT’s impact on raw content creation, we can safely assume that ChatGPT will help power and enhance existing processes common among top SEO agencies. For example, the tool can quickly generate ideas for roofing article topics.
In addition, ChatGPT can perform tasks usually reserved for expensive software suites like SEMRush and Ahrefs, such as keyword research, competitor analysis, and latent semantic indexing. There’s little doubt that the tool will add plenty of innovative strategies to SEO efforts.
Aside from tasks that directly influence SEO website rankings, ChatGPT can also assist with social media, Google Business Profile, email marketing, podcast transcription, and reputation management. As other software developers tap into ChatGPT’s API, we can expect more compelling use cases to emerge.
Avoiding ChatGPT Misinformation for Roofing Companies
It’s well-documented that ChatGPT may produce incorrect responses to user queries which can go unnoticed at first glance. But aside from the tool’s limitations regarding accuracy, roofing companies should be aware of individuals and companies leveraging ChatGPT to create false narratives.
For example, YouTube has already seen a massive spike in ChatGPT-related videos making outlandish claims. Of course, as with any subject, some videos are accurate, and some are not. Roofers must resist the urge to buy into all the emerging narratives surrounding the tool and its impact on digital marketing.
ChatGPT vs. Other AI Tools
AI is here to stay and will only improve and benefit roofing companies. However, like ChatGPT, other content creation tools like Jasper.AI are unsuitable for high-ranking SEO content. Mechanisms like Jasper produce content that Google can detect.
If you believe your existing SEO agency is using AI tools to produce your roofing content, you can test the content yourself using free tools like Open AI Detector. Don’t be afraid to ask your agency about its process and how it may suppress your roofing keyword rankings in 2023.
Summary of ChatGPT’s Impact on Roofing SEO
ChatGPT is still in its infancy stages, and its impact on roofing SEO will evolve. Using ChatGPT to produce your roofing website content is dangerous and not recommended by a credible SEO agency. Still, the tool is helpful for other processes related to SEO.
While we cannot endorse ever use of ChatGPT as of 2023, we can acknowledge the tool’s great power and potential and continue to find ways to incorporate it into a healthy SEO presence for roofing companies. As the industry leader in SEO for roofers, we are always looking to give our client’s an advantage on Google search results.
