I have this vivid memory of going to dinner with Andy Crestodina one night right before the holidays, probably ten years ago. As we did back then, we both pulled out our brainstorm notebooks and exchanged content ideas (I miss those days!).
He said something about semantic search, which was not yet on my radar, and I panicked inside. What did he know that I did not? Would he start beating me in the SEO game we liked to play? I do not like to lose! I had to figure out what it was all about.
I immediately went home, ordered Google Semantic Search: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques That Get Your Company More Traffic, and read it during my break.
It turns out I freaked out about nothing. Truly. But ten years ago, I didn’t know as much about how content and communications affect SEO as I do today. The gist was to keep producing content people want to consume, and you’ll be fine. Sure, the book has a lot of helpful technical information, but if that’s not your jam, I just gave you a perfect summary.
This is always my response when people start to stress about generative search and showing up in LLMs and how to maintain or grow their current search results.
Are you creating the best content on the internet for your topic?
If the answer is yes, don’t stress. If the answer is no, you have some work to do.
That’s a simplistic answer to how you need to prepare for this next era of search, so let’s discuss what that looks like and how to create a content knowledge graph that speaks to the fragmented search environment that will get even worse.
The Fragmented Search Environment
I have another friend—Alison Garwood-Jones—who makes my brain itch. A few days ago, she emailed me, saying, “You’ve been great at helping us all transition our content to E-E-A-T. How will that affect all the places people now go to get their information?”
I needed to mull that question over and scratch the itch, and so, an article idea was born.
But let’s back up for a second. A lot is happening on the search front, leading people to stress about how their content will be affected.
OpenAI has launched a beta version of SearchGPT, which experts say will give Google a run for its money. Google answers your searches with AI-produced snippets and inserts ads into AI. Bing has revamped its AI search results to include citations (as they should). And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the antitrust case that Google just lost—and another one they’re facing.
Search is becoming as fragmented as the media landscape, which presents both opportunities and challenges.
Today’s search ecosystem extends far beyond traditional search engines.
Of course, you still have Google, Bing, Yahoo, and others. I don’t know about you, but my Google searching has declined significantly. Unless I need to source something or provide proper attribution, I almost never use it anymore.
Then you have generative search and AI-powered assistants, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, CoPilot, and my favorite—Claude.
There is the aforementioned semantic search, which focuses on understanding the intent and context behind queries. Large language models—or LLMs—that change how information is processed and generated. Voice search is great in your home and while you’re mobile. I’ve also noticed kids use it far more than anything else. And don’t forget that most of us search social media for certain things, too. (I’ll never admit how much time I spent on TikTok after the presidential debate!)
You can see how it can be super challenging to create content that will be found in just one of these spots, let alone all of them. But there is a way, my friends. There is a way.
Before we get to the how, though, let’s discuss some things you need to change your thinking on so you can develop a content knowledge graph that will allow you to appear in all the spots.
Buh-Bye Keyword Prioritization
First, the metrics you’re accustomed to using will change drastically. This starts with keywords. This approach has long been the cornerstone of SEO and paid search strategies but is becoming obsolete.
AI-driven search systems render keyword targeting less effective. We’ve been trained to go to Google and input “peso model” into the search bar, and a bunch of articles about the framework pop up. But doing that in other places won’t necessarily work.
However, asking your AI to outline the PESO Model© for communicators will work. So you still need to use your keyword in your content, but it won’t be the most important thing. Building your content knowledge graph, or content hubs (which is one of the main drivers of success in the PESO Model program and what we teach in the certification course) will be, which we’ll talk about below.
Redefine the Website Experience
Next, you’ll need to redefine the website experience. As AI becomes more integrated into daily life, visitors will expect an AI-driven experience on your website that is on par with their favorite AI assistants.
This means developing intuitive, conversational interfaces that can instantly guide users to the information they need, going far beyond having a simple search bar.
To achieve this, focus on building a comprehensive, well-structured content knowledge graph, implementing AI-powered chatbots or virtual assistants, and creating more conversational, question-anticipating content.
I’ve already seen this in action on the Kajabi support site. When you click on their chatbot, you can ask it questions, just like a human, and it directs you to content on the website. Could you search the knowledge center to get what you need? For sure, but it’s lots, lots easier to ask the chatbot and have it provide direct links to answer your questions.
Visitors will start to expect this experience. They’ll want immediate, relevant answers while maintaining a balance with human touch points.
Build a Content Knowledge Graph
This shift requires rethinking content creation and organization, moving from static hierarchies to flexible, AI-readable structures that adapt to individual user needs and queries.
As you consider evolving your content from keyword optimization to a knowledge graph, you’ll want to start answering complex, multifaceted questions rather than targeting specific keywords. This requires a deep understanding of user intent, providing contextually relevant information, and creating a content knowledge graph, or content hubs.
First things first, and I’ve already alluded to this, but your content will move from content optimized by keyword to a more strategic content knowledge graph—or content hubs, as we call them.
This means you will organize your content and brand information in a structured and interconnected way. I will use the PESO Model as my example to teach you how to do this.
Start by writing down the main components of your topic. For the PESO Model, these would be paid, earned, shared, and owned media. I’d also include where each overlaps, the outcomes for each, and how to measure results.
Create Topic Clusters
Then, I would create topic clusters. For earned media, I’d include traditional media relations, influencer relations, news releases, comments, awards, and reviews. For measurement, I’d list all of the different types of metrics, including direct and organic website traffic, social media referral traffic, marketing qualified leads, sales qualified leads, and marketing influenced revenue.
Then, I’d look for ways these topics connect. For instance, a blog post (owned media) will be distributed on LinkedIn (shared media) and boosted there, too (paid media), which will eventually lead to being a source in an interview (earned media).
The world is your oyster. As you do this work, have fun drawing little arrows from topic to topic.
Categorize Existing Content
Once you’re satisfied with your topic clusters, it’s time to categorize your existing content under your main components. Remember, mine are the components of the PESO Model—paid, earned, shared, owned media, and so on. There is an incredibly easy way to do this.
First, select a content export plugin—I like WP All Export. Once installed on your website, you can drag and drop which content you want to export. For this project, I’d just go ahead and do all of our blog content for the past four years since a good portion of it is PESO Model-related. Once you get the .csv file of your content, upload it to ChatGPT (or your generative AI tool of choice). Prompt it to categorize your content under your main components.
That prompt might read something like this, “I am working on a content knowledge graph for the PESO Model. Please use this .csv file to categorize our existing content under paid, earned, shared, and owned media. Please highlight where there are concentrations of content and where there are gaps.”
Copy that into a document and fix any mistakes or inaccuracies. Make sure things are categorized the way you want them.
Visualize Your Content
Then, take your final piece, upload it back into that AI thread, and prompt it to create a visualization for you. You can use a mind-mapping tool if you prefer. You can also create a spreadsheet or use a board in your project management software, but using AI will make things faster and far more efficient.
Regardless of how you do it, seeing it visually will help you plan how to fill the gaps.
Now that you have a visualization of your content knowledge graph, you can identify areas where you need more content or integration.
In my case, I would look for PESO Model components with little coverage or connections between components that haven’t been explored. For instance, we might not have enough information on how earned media has evolved or how communicators should ensure they have a budget to pay for some editorial content.
Develop Content Briefs
Now that you know where the gaps are, it’s time to develop content briefs. The brief should include the main component the content falls under, related content it should integrate with, key messages or objectives, and how it fits into the larger picture of your communications strategy.
As you create content or run campaigns, integrate across all of your main components. For example, for my PESO Model content knowledge graph, I’d want to be sure that I show the correlation between using social media (shared) to amplify a news release (earned) and drive traffic to the coverage (paid). I might even create content around that release, which would fall under owned.
Keep a Master Content Knowledge Graph
Keep a master document that outlines your strategy, listing all components, subtopics, and content pieces or campaigns. We have a content map template that people who go through the certification receive, but I’ll happily make it available. You can find it here.
Update it regularly as you execute new initiatives and review it regularly. As your strategy evolves and you create more content or run new campaigns, you’ll discover new opportunities for integration.
Your Final Content Knowlege Graph
Remember, the goal is to create a clear, organized view of your brand’s communication strategy and content across all your main components. This structure will help you create more integrated, comprehensive campaigns and make your information more accessible to AI systems and search engines.
By following these steps, you’re essentially creating a simplified version of a knowledge graph centered around what is important to communicate about your brand.
As your comfort level grows and your needs evolve, you can explore more advanced tools and techniques. The key is thinking about your content and communication efforts as an interconnected web of information rather than isolated pieces.
If you continue to create the very best content for your topic that incorporates the experience and expertise of your subject matter experts and colleagues, things can change, but you will still be found in every search.
Content Knowledge Graph Resources
If you want to learn more and go down the rabbit hole, here is a list of additional resources.
Free and Paid Tools
- Google Search Console and Google Analytics: essential for understanding your performance in traditional search and website traffic.
- SEMrRush, Moz, or Ahrefs: comprehensive SEO tools that offer keyword research, competitor analysis, and content gap identification
- Answer the Public: a useful tool for understanding the questions people are asking about your topics, great for voice search optimization.
- BuzzSumo: helps you analyze which content performs best for any topic or competitor.
Reading
- SEO In the Age of AI
- Voice Search for Local Businesses: Optimizing for the Future
- How AI Is Changing the Way People Shop Online
- It’s the End of Google Search as We Know It
Industry Reports and White Papers
Online Courses and Certifications
- Digital Garage from Google
- HubSpot Academy
- PESO Model Certification© teaches you how to use content hubs as the foundation of your communications program and requires you to build your content knowledge graph strategically.