In just the last year, leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) for marketing has moved from being a trend to a necessity. Today, AI isn’t just helping marketers make sense of vast data streams—it’s transforming the way we approach search engine optimization (SEO), content creation, and conversion rate optimization (CRO). Eric Siu, CEO of Single Grain and host of the podcasts ‘Leveling Up’ and ‘Marketing School’, recently shared his insights into how AI is being used to achieve real business results, speaking at the Inbound marketing event. Siu’s methods and strategies have led to a significant increase in search traffic and business leads, and he offers a blueprint that other marketers can adopt.

“AI is going to handle a big chunk of creative work,” Siu noted, quoting Sam Altman. While he doesn’t entirely agree with Altman’s view that AI will handle 95% of marketing work, Siu believes that AI has an undeniable impact. “We are seeing the transformative effect right now,” he emphasized.

Listen to our conversation on how to combine AI with SEO to drive traffic and leads!

Programmatic SEO: Scaling Content with Intelligence

One of the core strategies that Eric Siu has been focused on is programmatic SEO. “The concept of programmatic SEO has been around for a while, but not everyone has found success with it,” Siu explained. He noted that many who implemented this strategy failed because they got caught up in publishing an enormous quantity of pages without considering the quality of the content. “A lot of people got torched,” he said, referring to how Google updates penalized sites that prioritized quantity over quality.

Siu highlighted the success of companies like TripAdvisor, which use programmatic SEO to generate millions of visits each month. “TripAdvisor ranks for keywords like ‘things to do in Seattle’ or ‘fun attractions in Kyoto.’ Their programmatic approach allows them to scale content to match user intent.” But Siu also cautioned: “Am I saying that ranking for 24 million keywords is possible for everyone? No. But even ranking for 1,000 or 100,000 keywords can put you in a good spot.”

Eric Siu offered practical advice for marketers aiming to leverage programmatic SEO: “If you’re an agency, think about the pages you could create—for example, ‘Boston Digital Marketing Agency’ or ‘Boston SEO Agency.’ The key is creating high-quality programmatic content that adds value and meets user needs.”

Lessons from Failure and Recovery

The path to SEO success is not always linear, as Siu candidly explained. “We got hit by a Google core update because we published too many low-quality pages,” he admitted. This led to a decrease in traffic, which served as a critical learning moment. “We deleted the low-quality pages and focused on improving the quality of the ones that remained. And then we saw recovery—we started shooting back up.” For Siu, the lesson was clear: “Instead of focusing on quantity, focus on quality. Even now, two years into the AI push, too many people are letting AI take the wheel and not putting in that extra bit of effort. But if you go the extra mile, you’ll outpace most of your competitors.”

This focus on quality over quantity was also a central theme in a small experiment Siu conducted with a client in the wine business. “We created just 200 new pages for them, focusing on high-intent keywords like ‘best wine type under price point.’ Before adding these pages, they were getting around 3,400 clicks per month. After the update, that number increased to 6,300. The click-through rate jumped from less than 1% to over 3%. These are the kinds of gains you can see when you take a focused, quality-driven approach.”

AI-Assisted Content Frameworks: The Human in the Loop

While AI has enabled rapid scaling, Siu emphasized the importance of having a human “in the loop” to ensure quality. “We’re not just letting AI do everything,” he said. Instead, his team uses tools like Riverside.fm to create transcripts from podcasts, which are then run through ChatGPT. “A human editor takes on the last 40% of the work to ensure that the content is engaging and accurate. It’s a combination of AI efficiency and human touch.”

The impact has been significant. “We started paying $100 per post when everything was human-written,” Siu shared. “With AI, we’re now paying about $25 per post, and we’re producing 25 posts per week instead of five.” The team also holds regular internal reviews to ensure that the quality of AI-assisted content meets an eight or nine out of ten standard. “If it doesn’t, we review why and make adjustments,” Siu explained, adding that this quality assurance process has been instrumental in maintaining high standards.

Programmatic CRO: Boosting Conversions with AI

Beyond SEO, Siu also delved into Programmatic CRO (conversion rate optimization), which leverages AI to enhance the likelihood that visitors will convert into leads or customers. “If you’re producing hundreds or thousands of pages, you need to think about optimizing them for conversions,” he said. Siu offered a practical example of how he uses AI to personalize call-to-action (CTA) prompts on web pages. “For a Google Ads-focused page, instead of just ‘Work with Us,’ the CTA says ‘Get More Help with Google Ads.’ This simple adjustment increased click-through rates by nearly 50%.”

Siu shared his philosophy that automation and AI should be employed to handle routine tasks, allowing human talent to focus on more complex, strategic activities. “My SEO team feels ten times faster with AI—maybe it’s an exaggeration, but that’s how they feel. For developers, workflows that used to take five hours now take two and a half.” Siu noted that AI agents, automated sequences that work in tandem, are becoming increasingly essential for maintaining efficiency. “You can daisy-chain these agents together, if this then that, to get more done at scale,” he said.

AI in Community and Brand Building

Siu also pointed out the value of building communities in the age of AI-driven content. “Sam Altman said that in-person communities will become way more valuable in the next 5 to 10 years, and I agree,” Siu stated. He believes that fostering community engagement—both online and offline—is essential for brands looking to differentiate themselves in a world awash with automated content. “Communities aren’t just a retention mechanism—they are a way to generate organic traffic, build brand loyalty, and sustain long-term growth,” he added.

“If you’re struggling with how to start a community, know that there are a lot of underpaid community managers out there who are great at what they do,” Siu said. “These people can help drive traffic, engagement, and conversions for your business in a way that purely automated solutions can’t.” He cited the recent growth of platforms like Reddit, which added 700 million visitors per month, as proof that user-generated content (UGC) is still king. “In a world of robotically generated content, people crave the real thing—a community.”

The Future of AI in SEO and Content Marketing

As AI continues to evolve, Siu stressed the importance of staying ahead of the curve. “You need to be out there experimenting. If you don’t start adopting these tools now, you could be far behind in just a year or two,” he warned. Siu’s message was clear: AI is a powerful ally, but it’s most effective when combined with a well-thought-out strategy and a human touch. “Get your peer groups together, talk about this stuff, and experiment. You don’t need to have millions of dollars or years of experience—just the willingness to adapt and a mindset of continuous learning.”

In an era where AI is reshaping the rules of digital marketing, Eric Siu’s insights provide a roadmap for harnessing this technology effectively—one that blends AI capabilities with human creativity and a strategic focus on quality. The result? Not just more traffic, but the right kind of traffic—and not just more leads, but loyal, long-term customers.