Can Chat GPT Do SEO for Your Website? What AI Can and Can’t Do (And Why Your Job Isn’t Going Anywhere)

You’ve probably seen tons of  panic-inducing articles claiming that AI is coming for your job.

AI Replaces Content Writers.

ChatGPT Can Do Your SEO Job.

Maybe you’re a solopreneur trying to rank your consulting site or a small business owner who’s been doing your own SEO for years.

You could also be currently hiring freelancers at $75/hour and wondering if ChatGPT could do it for $20/month.

The question keeping you up at night:

Can this AI actually handle SEO?

Will it make your site rank, or get you penalized?

Here’s what nobody’s explaining clearly: ChatGPT is amazing at certain SEO tasks but for others, it’s a ranking disaster waiting to unravel.

 Hang on tight and let me show you exactly which is which.

Can ChatGPT Do SEO Optimization?

Sort of. But that answer only makes sense when you understand that SEO isn’t one job, it’s dozens of different tasks.

Some of those tasks are mechanical. ChatGPT crushes those but the ones which require judgment, creativity, and deep market knowledge, ChatGPT can fail you miserably.

Where ChatGPT shines:

• You need meta descriptions for 100 service pages. Writing them manually would take you six hours. ChatGPT generates all 100 in under ten minutes, each one optimized for length and keyword placement.

• You’re stuck brainstorming content ideas for your blog. ChatGPT gives you 50 topic ideas in 30 seconds, organized by search intent and customer journey stage.

• You have 300 keywords that need organizing into content clusters. ChatGPT groups them semantically in minutes, something that would take you hours with spreadsheets.

Where ChatGPT fails:

Knowing what makes your business different.

ChatGPT knows what people search for. It doesn’t know why your customers choose you over competitors, what objections they have, or what language resonates with your specific audience.

Creating content that actually ranks in 2025. 

ChatGPT can write 2,000 words on any topic. But those words often sound identical to the 10,000 other AI-generated articles competing for the same keyword.

Knowing what’s working in your niche right now. 

ChatGPT can’t analyze your top-ranking competitors, see what content formats are getting engagement, and  tell you what the search landscape actually looks like today.

Can AI Do SEO for My Website?

Here’s what happens when businesses try to fully automate their SEO with AI:

They feed keywords into ChatGPT. Get 30 blog posts back and publish everything. And sit there waiting for the traffic.

It never comes. Sometimes their existing traffic drops.

Why?

Google’s 2023 and 2024 algorithm updates specifically target thin, templated, unhelpful content, regardless of whether a human or AI wrote it. But AI makes it easier to create that kind of content at scale.

Think about it: If 50,000 websites all ask ChatGPT to write an SEO guide about email marketing, they all get similar articles with the same structure, tips, and examples.

Google’s purpose is showing people the most helpful result. When 50,000 sites have nearly identical content, none are particularly helpful. Instead, Google demotes them all.

Where AI actually improves your SEO:

AI eliminates tedious tasks so you can focus on strategy and creativity.

• You’re writing an article about conversion rate optimization for SaaS companies. ChatGPT gives you a solid outline in 90 seconds. Then you fill it with your actual case studies, your unique framework, your specific insights about your industry.

• You need schema markup for your product pages. ChatGPT generates the JSON-LD code in seconds. You just verify it’s correct before implementing.

• You want to audit 1,000 pages for missing alt text. AI tools can scan everything overnight. You just need to write the actual alt text descriptions.

AI handles mechanical execution but you need to provide strategy, expertise, and originality.

What Is SEO for ChatGPT Called?

You might have heard the term Generative Engine Optimization or GEO.

This refers to optimizing your content to appear in AI-generated responses, not just traditional search results.

Here’s why GEO is important for Canadian businesses:

A growing number of people ask ChatGPT for recommendations instead of searching Google.

If someone asks for the best CRM for Canadian small businesses and your website isn’t structured in a way AI can easily cite, you’re invisible to that entire segment of potential customers.

GEO focuses on:

• Direct, concise answers (AI prioritizes clarity)

• Structured formatting (headings, lists, tables)

• Credibility signals (author credentials, statistics, citations)

But here’s the interesting part: Good GEO practices are basically good SEO practices. Therefore, you should write clearly, structure your content logically to build authority.

If you’re already doing SEO well, you’re probably doing GEO without trying.

Does Google Punish AI Content for SEO?

This is the anxiety keeping business owners awake.

The real answer is here: Google doesn’t punish AI content, instead, it punishes unhelpful content.

If you use ChatGPT to write an article, publish it unedited with no unique insights or expertise, Google will likely ignore it. This is not because it’s AI-generated. But because it’s generic and unhelpful.

If you use ChatGPT to create an outline and first draft, then revise it with your expertise, real examples, and unique perspective, Google treats it like any other quality content.

Most people using AI for SEO are creating dozens of similar articles quickly. These articles share common problems:

• No unique perspective
• No real-world expertise
• No personality
• No reason to choose them over competitors

Google’s algorithm spots these patterns not through AI detection tools, but through user behavior signals.

When visitors land on your article and immediately bounce back to Google, that signals your content didn’t help. If that happens consistently, your entire site’s rankings drop.

How to use AI without the risk:

Use AI for the first draft, edit heavily, add your expertise, and then make it sound like your brand.

The rule of thumb to use here is: If someone can’t tell whether a human or AI wrote it, you’re probably safe. If it reads like a Wikipedia entry or corporate boilerplate, you’re in trouble.

Can ChatGPT Replace SEO?

The simple answer is: No. But it changes what SEO work looks like.

Before ChatGPT, SEO meant spending hours on:

• Generating keyword variations
• Writing meta tags for every page
• Creating content briefs and outlines
• Drafting initial content

ChatGPT now handles those tasks in minutes instead of hours.

But ChatGPT still can’t:

• know your customers well enough to create content that converts
• Build genuine relationships for link building
• Conduct technical audits and fix site issues
• Analyze what’s working and pivot strategy
• Provide the expertise and voice that differentiates your brand

SEO strategists who master AI will be 10x more efficient than those who don’t. But AI without human expertise creates content that dilutes your position in the Google rankings.

If you’re handling your own SEO, AI makes it possible to compete with larger companies. You can produce more content, handle more technical tasks, and save significant time.

But you still need to:

• Know what your audience actually wants
• Know fundamental SEO principles
• Contribute unique insights and expertise
• Extensively edit anything AI produces

What You Should Actually Do With AI and SEO

Now you know why Chat GPT has not been working for you. If you want to change that and win or retain a position at the search engine algorithms, start with this workflow.

 It protects your rankings while maximizing efficiency. You will not have to spend 6 hours on one blogpost!

For Content:

• Use ChatGPT to brainstorm and mindmap topic ideas and create outlines
• Write the content yourself without heavily relying on AI to write and edit for you
• Add case studies, examples, and data from your experience
• Infuse your brand voice
• Ensure nothing sounds robotic or generic

For Technical SEO:

• Generate schema markup with AI
• Create meta descriptions with AI (then review every one)
• Use AI to identify technical issues
• Manually implement all fixes after verification

For Keyword Research:

• Brainstorm different topics with AI
• Get actual search volumes using proper SEO tools like Semrush or Ahrefs
• Use AI to cluster keywords logically
• Make all strategic decisions yourself

What you should never do:

• Publish AI content without thoroughly editing
• Let AI write about topics requiring expertise you don’t have
• Trust AI-generated statistics without verification
• Allow AI to make strategic decisions

The bottom line: AI is a productivity too, not a substitute for doing your market research

Your competitors are likely using AI. If you’re not, you’re wasting time doing a one-hour task in 5 hours.

But if you’re just publishing whatever AI gives you as content, you’re creating content that won’t rank, won’t convert, and sending  your potential clients right to the competitor.

Most businesses succeeding in 2025 know that AI is a wonderful tool to eliminate busywork, then add human expertise to create genuinely helpful content.

It is time to make your work easier.

SEO is complex enough without adding anxiety about AI tools and algorithm penalties.

If you’re looking for hosting that simplifies the technical side while you focus on content, Truehost Canada helps Canadian businesses get online without drowning in technical details.