I’ve talked about AI a heck of a lot while writing for the NO-BS Marketplace blog. As much as I want to despise it for threatening to take away my job, there are good cases for its use as long as it’s used properly.
One example, which happens to be our topic for today, is the use of agentic AI for SEO. As MIT Sloan associate professor John Horton explains, it involves the creation of AI-powered “agents” that act and make decisions a human would. It’s a step up from the AI tools that we’re familiar with, as it acts with little to no human input. (1)
Some businesses will be quick to jump onto the agentic AI bandwagon, but others will be less enthusiastic. And it’s understandable, seeing that it’s relatively new and not yet fully proven. But if you’re a professional who sees the potential in agentic AI and wants the top brass to see it too, building a solid case is necessary.
So, instead of outlining the benefits of agentic AI for SEO, let’s do things differently. Picture yourself vouching for it in a meeting with the execs and arguing against typical reservations with the technology. How would you persuade them that agentic AI could help them grow?
AI Investment is Backfiring
While this point isn’t necessarily related to SEO, it has a lot to do with AI. You’ve probably read reports of how businesses that replaced humans with AI in certain critical jobs have been busy rehiring. Apparently, the technology fell short of the productivity it boasted.
But it’s not so much that AI investment has backfired as it’s misplaced. They thought the technology could replace human work, but as Gartner senior director for research Emily Potosky stated in a press release: (2)
“AI simply isn’t mature enough to fully replace the expertise, empathy, and judgment that human agents provide. Relying solely on AI right now is premature and could lead to unintended consequences.”
I explained before that AI, despite its advances, still lacks the ability to understand nuance. Leaving a task entirely to a machine yields results that customers will find unacceptable. It still requires some human input to deliver quality output.
The same goes for agentic AI, whether for SEO or any other application. It operates using a human-in-the-loop (HITL) model, which is exactly as it says: human supervision from start to finish. By keeping human oversight, you can avoid building your SEO strategy on false or inaccurate data. Not to mention it lessens the need to lay off key personnel.
If a business is serious about adopting AI, it should learn from this cautionary tale. Agentic AI for SEO, as it stands, is meant to augment, not replace.
Agentic SEO Is Complicated
AI is already a complex topic in itself, so it’s important to know how to keep things simple. If you lose your bosses in a sea of jargon, they’re less likely to be on board.
As mentioned earlier, agentic AI involves the use of AI-powered tools known as “agents.” Think of these as instruments in an automobile, such as the speedometer or fuel gauge. They provide accurate data (e.g., current speed, fuel state) for the driver to make crucial decisions (i.e., staying within the speed limit, stopping for gas).
With agentic AI for SEO, the possibilities are nearly endless. It’s the ideal solution for tasks that require a degree of accuracy humans will struggle to maintain. Below is one example by Agent Berlin, an SEO/AEO agent.
Source: Reddit
Based on Agent Berlin’s founder’s remarks on a thread in the Agentic SEO subreddit, the agent automates these processes. Finding pages that aren’t getting crawled on or eyeing content’s visibility on AI summaries manually is impractical and exhausting.
While it may seem no different from the SEO tools we use, agentic AI for SEO has a single advantage: memory. It can remember previous decisions made and base its suggestions on them. In some cases, it can even execute the user’s decisions automatically.
For all its capabilities, agentic AI can’t (or rather, shouldn’t) have the final say. A human must always be the one to do it based on all the information presented to them. And even when agentic AI has reached the point where it can be trusted to fully automate a task, keeping human oversight is still a good idea.
Agentic SEO Is Expensive
Since when has any new technology been cheap to integrate? That said, history has shown that as production processes improve, the cost of fielding new tech decreases. Agentic AI may be costly upfront for now, but businesses should also consider the long-term benefits.
But fine, let’s humor the execs for a bit. After all, it’s only reasonable for them to get their money’s worth in investing in something relatively new. In its comparison of agentic SEO tools, Stridec calculated the return on investment (ROI) for each based on current data.
Data source: Stridec
Prices are estimates for some tools. Actual price can vary.
*Calculated by Stridec based on an SEO specialist’s average hourly rate ($75/hour).
***Calculated in-house based on monthly pricing and ROI. Actual ROI rate can vary.
Numbers alone don’t tell the whole story. However, under the right conditions and with the right tool, agentic AI for SEO can contribute significantly to total revenue.
On that note, your choice of an agentic SEO tool also matters. The more expensive the tool, the more difficult it’ll be to convince the execs to invest in it. You have your work cut out for you, but here are a few helpful tips.
Don’t settle for automation alone; agentic SEO is more than that.
Don’t let a cheaper cost lull you into a false sense of confidence.
Determine in what step your SEO team spends its time the most.
Resist the urge to get a tool with features your team will rarely use.
Consider that agentic SEO can’t be rushed, even if it’s automated.
We’re Already Doing AI SEO
Agentic AI for SEO is not the same as AI SEO.
AI SEO (also called AEO, GEO, etc.) focuses on visibility in AI summaries, whereas agentic AI for SEO focuses on the processes that enable it. The former can be done with little to no AI assistance, but agentic AI helps produce more accurate results.
Agentic Search is the Future
Experts agree that agentic SEO is just the start of a sweeping transformation of SEO as a whole. Smarter workflows not only make for better deliverables but also open the door to new possibilities. And while your bosses may argue that the company isn’t ready to adopt agentic AI yet, these arguments can at least make it worth considering.
References:
1. “Agentic AI, explained,” Source: https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/agentic-ai-explained
2. “Gartner Predicts Half of Companies That Cut Customer Service Staff Due to AI Will Rehire by 2027,” Source: https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-02-03-gartner-predicts-half-of-companies-that-cut-customer-service-staff-due-to-ai-will-rehire-by-2027