When I first started in SEO over a decade ago, our playbook was straightforward: keyword research, on-page optimization, link building, repeat. Fast forward to 2025, and the game has fundamentally changed. Search queries with conversational elements are on the rise, dramatically altering how we approach optimization. It’s remarkable to think about how voice search was once hailed as the “next big thing” in SEO circles, yet for years, it largely failed to deliver on its promise. We all remember those industry conferences around 2018-2020 where voice search dominated every agenda, only to produce underwhelming results and adoption rates. The technology simply wasn’t ready.
What LLMs accomplished was bridging that critical gap between mechanical keyword matching and true conversational understanding, transforming voice search from a gimmick into an indispensable tool. Suddenly, those same voice interfaces that struggled with basic queries could understand context, nuance, and conversational flow. The way people interact with search engines today resembles human conversation more than traditional search queries. Because many conversations stay within the LLM and never drive traffic to a website, Mike King, has been evangelizing a change in how SEO professionals should evolve our perception in the digital marketing space. He has coined the phrase “Influence Engineers” to describe the strategy of increasing brand visibility within conversational searches across generative engines.
This evolution isn’t just a technological shift, it represents a complete paradigm shift in how we connect with our audience. As these AI-powered conversational search capabilities continue to dominate the digital landscape, understanding the psychology behind these interactions isn’t just beneficial; it’s absolutely essential for digital marketing success. The majority of traffic generated from organic search would be categorized as performance marketing and the positioning of a brand within conversational search is a branding tactic to build awareness and influence future actions.
The Rise of Conversational Search and Its Impact on SEO
When Google first introduced BERT in 2019, I honestly underestimated its significance. That moment marked the beginning of search engines truly understanding language rather than just matching keywords. Fast forward to today, and the sophisticated LLMs powering search have completely transformed how we approach optimization.
Here’s what’s really changed: users no longer adapt their language to accommodate search engines, search engines now adapt to human language patterns. This shift has rendered many traditional SEO tactics obsolete almost overnight. Modern SEO isn’t about manipulating algorithms, it’s about understanding human conversation patterns and creating content that seamlessly integrates into those natural dialogues.
The rise of entity-based search has been another game-changer. Search engines no longer just match strings of text, they understand entities (people, places, things, concepts) and the relationships between them. This has massive implications for how we approach content creation and link building.
The most successful SEOs, the true Influence Engineers, have adapted by developing a much deeper understanding of natural language processing and user psychology. They recognize that success isn’t measured by keyword rankings alone but by how effectively content answers user questions and guides users toward desired actions.
This shift requires us to think less like traditional marketers and more like conversation designers. Every piece of content should anticipate user questions, provide valuable answers, and naturally guide users toward the next step in their journey. This is precisely what Mike King means when he talks about engineering influence rather than simply optimizing for search.
So what does this mean for your strategy? Stop thinking about keywords in isolation and start thinking about conversations. We’re no longer just SEO technicians, we’re architects of digital conversations designed to provide value and guide user behavior. And those who master this art will continue to thrive as search becomes increasingly conversational and sophisticated.
What Makes an “Influence Engineer” Different from Traditional SEOs
A New Mindset, Not Just New Tactics
The transition from traditional SEO to “Influence Engineering” represents more than just an evolution of tactics, it’s a fundamental shift in mindset and approach.
While traditional SEOs focus primarily on technical optimization and keywords, Influence Engineers operate at the intersection of psychology, user experience, and content strategy.
Understanding User Behavior and the Psychology Behind Search
What truly distinguishes an Influence Engineer is their holistic understanding of user intent and behavior. We’re no longer just trying to rank for specific keywords. Instead, we’re designing digital experiences that guide users through a journey, answering their questions at each stage and building trust along the way.
This shift requires a much deeper understanding of psychological principles. Traditional SEO was largely mechanical, optimize meta tags, build links, improve site speed. Influence Engineering requires understanding cognitive biases, decision-making patterns, and the subtle psychological triggers that influence user behavior.
Embracing E-E-A-T as a Core Philosophy
The growing importance of E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) illustrates this perfectly. Google’s quality raters now evaluate content not just on technical factors. They assess how well it demonstrates genuine expertise and builds trust with users. This evaluation goes far beyond traditional SEO metrics and delves into the realm of credibility and relationship building.
Influence Engineers understand that establishing E-E-A-T requires a sophisticated content strategy that showcases genuine subject matter expertise. This means moving beyond superficial keyword-focused content to creating truly valuable resources.
The Power of Narrative in Search
Storytelling has emerged as an essential skill in this new landscape.
Traditional SEOs might have viewed content primarily as a vehicle for keywords. Influence Engineers recognize that compelling narratives create emotional connections with users that drive engagement and conversion.
The ability to craft coherent, engaging stories that naturally incorporate relevant keywords and entities separates true Influence Engineers from traditional optimizers.
Measuring What Matters
Another crucial difference lies in how we measure success. Traditional SEOs typically focused on rankings, traffic, and sometimes conversion rates.
Influence Engineers take a more nuanced approach, analyzing engagement metrics, user journey paths, and meaningful influence indicators like brand mentions, return visits, and cross-channel impact.
Data analysis for Influence Engineers goes beyond surface-level metrics to understand user behavior patterns and content performance across the entire customer journey.
User Experience as a Ranking Factor
User experience factors have become central to search success in ways that traditional SEO never fully embraced. While technical SEOs have always cared about site speed and mobile-friendliness.
Influence Engineers understand that every aspect of the user experience, from content layout to navigation paths to emotional response, impacts search performance in the conversational era.
Content That Anticipates User Needs
Content development for an Influence Engineer is an exercise in anticipating and addressing user needs throughout their journey. This requires creating content ecosystems that answer initial questions, address follow-up concerns, overcome objections, and guide users toward desired actions.
All while maintaining a conversational, helpful tone that builds trust and credibility.
Essential Skills for the Modern Influence Engineer
Beyond Traditional SEO: The New Digital Influence Toolbox
The toolbox required for success as an Influence Engineer extends far beyond the skills that defined traditional SEO specialists. As conversational search reshapes user interactions with search engines, professionals must develop diverse capabilities to remain effective.
This evolution demands a strategic blend of technical expertise, psychological insight, and creative problem-solving.
Master of Language: NLP Understanding
Natural language processing (NLP) understanding has become foundational for today’s digital influence professionals. While traditional SEOs focused primarily on keywords, Influence Engineers must grasp how modern search algorithms interpret language patterns.
This means understanding semantic relationships between terms and recognizing how entities connect within content. The nuances of conversational intent now drive search visibility more than exact-match keywords. Vector embedding models are currently the leading technology used by LLMs in measuring semantic relationships and SEOs are utilizing methods to measure the distance between vectors and their relevance to each other (Cosine Similarity) to enhance content relevancy.
Developing this skill requires staying current with NLP technology advancements while cultivating intuition for how different phrasings impact results. The ability to model conversational patterns has become invaluable in predicting user queries.
The Psychology Behind the Search
User psychology knowledge now ranks among the most critical skills for effective optimization. True Influence Engineers recognize that success isn’t just about satisfying algorithms, it’s about understanding what motivates users, builds trust, and triggers conversion.
This psychological insight allows for content that resonates on a deeper level with target audiences. The ability to deploy persuasion principles ethically separates true Influence Engineers from the crowd.
Understanding concepts like social proof, authority, scarcity, and reciprocity, and incorporating them naturally into content, creates powerful paths of influence that guide user behavior toward desired outcomes.
Data Detective: Advanced Analytics
Data analysis capabilities have evolved significantly beyond basic SEO metrics. Today’s Influence Engineers analyze engagement patterns, user journeys, and cross-channel impact with sophisticated tools and methodologies.
The most successful practitioners develop custom dashboards tracking influence metrics, not just traditional SEO KPIs. This shift in focus provides deeper understanding of how content impacts behavior throughout the customer journey.
Proficiency with analytics platforms enables connecting disparate data points to extract meaningful insights about complex user behavior patterns.
Conversational Content Creator
Content development skills centered around answering specific questions have become essential in the age of conversational search. Creating content that directly addresses user queries in a helpful manner requires a different approach than traditional keyword-focused writing.
Influence Engineers must master the art of content structuring, using headings, lists, tables, and other elements to present information effectively. This optimization works for both users and algorithms in conversational search environments.
The goal is satisfaction of user intent while optimizing for AI overviews and enhanced SERP features that dominate modern search results.
Business Strategist, Not Just Technical Specialist
Strategic thinking that aligns SEO with broader business objectives distinguishes true Influence Engineers. Rather than viewing SEO as an isolated channel, they understand how search visibility fits into the complete customer journey.
This holistic perspective allows for strategies that leverage search to drive meaningful business outcomes beyond traffic metrics. Successful Influence Engineers connect their work directly to revenue and business growth.
Effective communication skills translate complex concepts into language that stakeholders understand and act upon. The ability to advocate for initiatives by connecting them to business impact secures resources and drives organizational adoption.
Technical Foundation for Creative Success
Technical proficiency remains essential, though its role has evolved. Understanding schema markup, JavaScript rendering, API integration, and other technical elements provides the foundation for sophisticated influence strategies.
Influence Engineers recognize that technical excellence enables creative strategies rather than defining them. This balanced approach combines technical rigor with innovative thinking.
The technical aspects serve as building blocks for more complex influence architectures that leverage multiple channels and touchpoints.
The Perpetual Student
Continuous learning has emerged as perhaps the most critical skill of all. The rapid pace of change in search technology demands ongoing education and experimentation.
The most successful Influence Engineers cultivate a mindset of curiosity and adaptation. They constantly test new approaches and refine their understanding of how search algorithms interpret information.
This learning mindset isn’t optional, it’s the defining characteristic that separates growing influence professionals from those being left behind.
The Complete Influence Engineer
This combination of technical knowledge, psychological insight, analytical capability, and strategic thinking defines the modern Influence Engineer. By developing these essential skills, SEO professionals transform themselves from technical specialists into architects of digital influence.
The evolution from traditional SEO to Influence Engineering represents not just a change in tactics, but a fundamental shift in how we approach digital visibility and user engagement in the era of conversational search.
I’d be happy to reorganize this content to make it more engaging with catchy headings and scannable text. Here’s my rewrite:
Implementing Conversational SEO Strategies That Drive Results
The Evolution of Search: From Keywords to Conversations
Search has fundamentally changed. Today’s users interact with search engines through natural dialogue, not just keywords.
This shift requires a new approach to SEO, one built around conversations, entities, and user journeys rather than keyword density and backlinks.
Understanding how people naturally express their needs when using voice assistants and conversational interfaces gives brands a powerful advantage.
Mastering Conversational Query Research
Finding the Questions That Matter
Unlike traditional keyword research, conversational SEO begins with identifying the questions and dialogue patterns unique to your audience.
Look for longer, more nuanced queries that reflect natural speech patterns in your search data. These conversational queries often reveal specific decision points where users seek guidance.
The most valuable opportunities lie where users are looking for information that will influence their next action.
Beyond Volume: Understanding Intent
Traditional metrics like search volume tell only part of the story. In conversational SEO, understanding the intent behind queries drives success.
Analyze how questions change throughout the customer journey. Early questions might seek general information, while later ones focus on comparison or validation.
This intent mapping creates the foundation for content that meets users exactly where they are.
Building Content for Conversation
The Power of Question-Answer Formats
FAQ-style content has proven exceptionally effective in conversational search environments. These formats naturally align with how people ask questions.
When properly implemented, question-answer content captures featured snippets and directly addresses user intent at each stage.
Advanced implementations create entire content ecosystems that anticipate and answer follow-up questions before users even ask them.
Creating Conversational Pathways
Rather than isolated pages targeting keywords, successful conversational SEO requires mapping connected content journeys.
Think of your content as facilitating a dialogue. Each piece should naturally lead to related information that answers the next logical question.
This approach mirrors real conversations, where one answer often prompts deeper exploration.
Entity Optimization: The New SEO Foundation
Moving Beyond Keywords
Entity optimization has largely replaced keywords as the primary focus for content development. This shift requires clearly establishing relationships between relevant concepts.
By explicitly connecting people, places, ideas, and objects in ways search engines understand, your content becomes more visible in modern search environments.
These entity relationships create a semantic network that algorithms use to determine relevance.
Leveraging Schema Markup
Structured data implementation has become essential for communicating entity relationships to search engines.
Properly implemented schema markup helps algorithms understand the context and meaning behind your content, improving visibility in conversational results.
This technical foundation provides a significant competitive advantage that many brands still overlook.
Measurement and Refinement
New Metrics for Conversational Success
Traditional SEO metrics don’t fully capture conversational success. While rankings matter, engagement indicators tell a deeper story.
Metrics like dwell time, pages per session, and return visitor rates reveal how effectively your content answers questions and guides user journeys.
The most sophisticated teams develop custom metrics specifically tracking influence on user behavior.
Testing for Conversation
A/B testing different content structures, question formats, and entity frameworks enables continuous optimization.
Voice search deserves specific attention, requiring content that considers natural speech patterns and concise answer formats.
The most successful implementations balance optimization for both traditional and conversational search, recognizing that user behavior varies by context and device.
The transformation from SEO specialist to Influence Engineer represents both a challenge and an opportunity for digital marketing professionals. Those who embrace this evolution, who develop the broader skill set needed to understand and influence user behavior across conversational search environments, will find themselves increasingly valuable in a marketplace that rewards genuine expertise and user-focused strategies.
I’m an SEO and performance marketing leader who loves breaking down complex strategies into clear, actionable insights. I have driven growth for reputable brands such as SAP, Four Seasons, BioMarin Pharmaceutical, and Rosewood Hotels in SEO and Performance Marketing strategy.