Simple SEO & AI Visibility Guide for Freelancers

Earlier this year I visited BrightonSEO (thanks for the press ticket/invite Nikki from Press Loft ), a conference all about – you’ve guessed it – SEO. Before you switch off and think this isn’t for you – let me tell you it is. It REALLY is!!!

Why You Should Know About SEO and AI Visibility

I know most of us have very hands-on, creative jobs, but the more I hear about online magazine features needing to be “SEO’ed,” and the fact that many writers don’t even know where to start, it’s clear that SEO is becoming part of our world too.

It’s also about how you’re discovered. Have you ever Googled yourself? I mean, properly done a search—in an incognito window? Have you looked to see what shows up when someone searches your name? Because they do. You might think your dream client is only going to look at your social media accounts or your profile on InsideStylists.com, but they’re also going to Google you to find out what you’re all about—what you’ve done, where you’ve been featured, and how professional your online presence is.

What shows up on that first page of search results is driven by SEO—and that could be the difference between being booked or being overlooked. The more relevant and helpful content you have out there, the more trustworthy and credible you appear.

On top of that, more and more people are using tools like ChatGPT, Bing Chat, and voice assistants to search for services. If you want to show up in those AI-powered results (by the way – you do!), you and your content needs to be visible and optimised. SEO is what helps your socials, website, portfolio, or blog posts get seen—like having a 24/7 marketing manager working for you.

It builds credibility, positions you as a trusted expert, and gives you control over how your brand is seen. Yes, you might be a solo freelancer—but you’re also a brand.

And here’s the good news: You don’t need to be tech-savvy to start. There are simple tools and easy-to-follow strategies that make SEO totally accessible. The way people search is always evolving, and understanding the basics of SEO and AI visibility is one of the best ways to future-proof your freelance business in a digital-first world.

By the way- I know some of what I share here may be new to you, so I have created a ‘SEO and AI Glossary of terms’ at the end of this feature. If you’d like the PDF to download and keep for reference click here

Why Bing and ChatGPT Matter to You

I know that when I mention AI most of us will cringe and wilt a little inside. I’m not blind to it’s looming effects. What I am aware of is that when anyone does a search online now an Ai  Overview (the results that AI comes up with) will be at the very top of that search page. Some people are aware of this. Many are not. Many will click those links because they trust the AI results.

On the screen grab below, I did a search for Interior Stylist.

What is shown at the top is the AI overview with a description of what an interior stylist is.  On the right are the top result links found by AI. The first is a link from UAL (ironically, this is me being interviewed about interior styling for the teaching I do there. It’s from years ago!). The second link is the lovely Interior Stylist Lucy Gough and then third is InsideStylists.com (all my SEO is paying off!).

I should add that this list changes by the minute!

If you open up the AI description, you will see the paperclip signs which share the source of this information. Most are from Houzz, some Indeed the rest from reputable interior stylists.

Scroll down the original Google page results and under the AI results are the sponsored results and then the genuine features and blogs.

My question to you is – How far down do you scroll? Do you click on the AI or do you not trust it? Do you scroll past sponsored listings or do you check them out or do you scroll down to the first non-sponsored posts?

There’s no right or wrong method. But all will create results for the blogs, websites and people who are listed there. THAT is why we need to be aware of how we are showing up on website searches.

A word about BING

Bing is Microsoft’s search engine. You may remember hearing it mentioned in the past. It’s been forgotten about for a while. It’s similar to Google, but built by Microsoft and used as the default on Windows devices and the Edge browser. Less people use Bing compared to Google, but it’s still a major player, especially when it comes to AI Tools like ChatGPT and Bing Chat often rely on Bing’s search index to find and share content. This means if your website isn’t indexed on Bing, you might not show up in many AI-generated answers, even if you appear on Google. So, being visible on Bing is essential not just for traditional search, but also for boosting your presence in Ai tools and staying discoverable online.

What I learnt at BrightonSEO

To say my mind was blown away at this event is an understatement. I thought I knew a lot about SEO and a good deal about Ai  but after the first day and only a handful of live talks I was feeling totally overwhelmed. The event isn’t really aimed at people like me. It’s for SEO’s – the people who do SEO day in day out for big name brands and websites. It’s for mega techy geeks who understand all the jargon – not me, who sat in on every talk furiously writing notes and looking up all the abbreviations LLMS/EEAT/UX/GA (Find these in the glossary. You’re welcome)

By day two of the conference, I was in full swing and understood so much more of what they were getting at. The reason I’m putting this all into this mega blog post is for two reasons: 1. To help you too, and 2. Because I’ll forget it all if I don’t get it down.

Here are the key takeaways from the two-day conference, in layman’s terms.

What Kind of Content AI (and People) Like Best—Even If You’re Just on Social

You don’t need a blog or website to show up in AI tools or search. Social media posts, especially when helpful and well-structured, are 100% searchable

Here’s the kind of content that stands out:

• Lists and comparisons (e.g. ‘Top 3 apps I use as a stylist’/ ‘Top interior books that inspire my styling’ )
• Tips and tutorials (e.g. ‘How I prep for a shoot’)
• Opinion pieces or behind-the-scenes insights (e.g. ‘Why I always use natural light’)
• FAQs in captions (e.g. ‘Here’s how to book me’ or ‘What’s the difference between a stylist and an interior designer?’)
• Reels or videos showing your process, tools, or before/afters

The experts shared that we should try to think like our ideal client. What would they search on Instagram or TikTok? Create content that answers those questions – clearly. Your captions, hashtags and Alt Tags (titles you give your images) all create a link that’s searchable by Google, Bing and AI.

What’s an LLM? (And Why You Should Care)

LLM stands for Large Language Model. It’s what powers tools like ChatGPT. Practically every speaker at BrightonSEO said “LLM” and I hadn’t heard it before. LLMs read millions of web pages, including social media posts and public profiles, to answer questions and suggest people or services.

If your posts are helpful, well-labeled, and public, AI might recommend you. That’s why clear captions, consistent branding, and social proof (like testimonials or tagged features) matter.

Why Your Personal Brand is So Important

I’ve been researching about this a lot recently and it was mentioned is so many of the talks at the conference. You may think of yourself as a one (wo)man band who’s a freelancer but YOU ARE YOUR BRAND. It took me a really long time to learn this about myself and how to be the face of my brand, so I know how difficult this is. I totally get it – hence the research and podcast on the same topic. But in the meantime what I learnt …

• Remember that Google and AI reward people who are seen as real, trustworthy humans. The more you show up the more trustworthy you’ll look. You’re giving the search crawlers more ammunition to send people your way.
• Building your personal brand on social media helps boost trust online. This doesn’t mean you have to talk to camera – your voice, experience and enthusiasm for your field come across in your captions or voiceovers.
• AI often pulls from platforms including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn. Don’t write off your social media if you aren’t getting tons of likes and clicks. It’s doing so much more for you behind the scenes than you might have realised. Stick with it and keep feeding them your keywords. The little phrases you want to be known for or that clients will use when searching.

Where Internet Traffic Comes From (Jan 2025)

The Keynote speaker at the end of the conference was Lily Ray (@LilyRayNYC) who was fabulous. She completely held the audience by asking what stage we were at with SEO- new, establishing or experts who’ve been doing it for 15+ years. It made the talk relevant for everyone.

She shared how SEO has constantly changed since its inception and will continue to do so. We can never sit on our butts and stick to one strategy when to comes to getting people to view our stuff.

The real eye opener was when she shared a chart from Spark Toro (https://sparktoro.com/) of where the websites largest traffic came from in January 2025. Please excuse the grainy shot – It was a bun fight to get a seat within focusability for this talk.

As you can see, most people still come from Google, but Bing and YouTube matter too. Instagram and LinkedIn are waaaay down the list – not even one per cent of traffic shares.

I’m totally aware that this contradicts what I said about social media being important, but think of it like this. Are you writing blog posts, putting out YouTube videos or commenting a lot on Reddit? Probably not. So it’s still valid to have a presence on those platforms.

(NB. I’m gutted that I can’t read what the 10% category is in my photo. No Ai tool could clear that photo up enough to see who that is. Just saying!)

Why you should E-E-A-T

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust, and it is a framework used by Google to find and evaluate content online and choose what to share. The more EEAT there is, the more likely it is that it will be shared and pushed to the first page of Google.

EEAT is a huge topic and could be a separate blog post altogether, but in short, it takes your personal insights, experience and knowledge – especially important for niche industries like ours and looks at how you’re sharing it. This is one of the main reasons I recommend people have somewhere to share their work/thoughts/experiences be that website, newsletter sites like Substack or blogs.

Our specific knowledge – be that in interiors, interior styling, writing for magazines or shooting for brands or editorially is what makes us an authority on the subject.

Trust comes from Google looking at the reliability and honesty of the content you’re sharing, making sure it’s “accurate, transparent, and free from errors”  Together, these things help Google determine whether content provides value to users, contributing to better search rankings and improved credibility.

How to use and include E-E-A-T in your content.

• If you have a website- or profile page on InsideStylists.com make sure you have an ‘About Me’ page.
• Share client testimonials or quotes from happy clients.
• Write blogs showing what your expertise.

Speed and compatibility

• If you do have a website or blog make sure your site is fast and mobile friendly. Google likes websites that load quickly and look good on phones. You can test yours with Google’s PageSpeed Insights. (https://pagespeed.web.dev/) Check both desktop and mobile responses.

Backlinks (aka mentions on other websites )

• One of the easiest and most popular ways to gain trust with Google is to have other websites link back to yours. If you ever give an expert quote to an online magazine or newspaper ask for a link to your website/profile page.
• A simple way to do this is to write features for magazines and websites. You could even write a guest post, or be interviewed.

How to Track AI Traffic (Optional Techy Bit)

• If you want to see how your website is doing in terms of traffic, you’ll need to have a Google Analytics 4 (GA4) account (|https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/11583528?sjid=33205197212800752-EU). You can see where your visitors come from. Whether they are on desktop or mobile and it will help you see gaps in your content.
• You can set up and track if visitors came via AI tools.

A Tool to See How AI Sees You

There were many stands at the conference, and the Waikay stand explained exactly how their tool can look at all the content on your website and see how ‘findable’ you are on AI. You can see where you stand next to your competitors, see what content they have that you may be missing and so much more. Go check them out if you want to go deeper into this side of things. There’s an option to try for free, otherwise it’s $20 for 8 searches a month

A roundup of my SEO and Ai Takeaways from BrightonSEO

Whether you’re styling, assisting, photographing, or writing—you’re being Googled. Your dream client is searching, and SEO + AI visibility will help you to be the one they find. You don’t need a blog or fancy website to show up—you just need smart, clear, helpful content on the platforms you already use. Be easy to find, be useful and trustworthy and show up regularly on platforms your audience already uses.

I truly hope this feature helps and doesn’t hinder you. It has taken me years to get my head around SEO and now with AI involved too I completely understand how overwhelming it can be. Just take it one step at a time. Learn one element at a time and add another as you go. You’ll see the results. I promise.

Emma

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SEO & AI Visibility Glossary for Beginners

Download the PDF of this Glossary for future reference here 

Over the years, I’ve learned a ton about the world of SEO and online visibility. Grasping all the techy terms and abbreviations has taken a while, and I often wished that someone had put together a long, easy-to-read glossary to help me understand what the pros were talking about. So, I decided to create one! I hope you find this round-up as useful as I did. Emma x

A

• AI Visibility: How easily your content, name, or brand can be found and referenced by AI tools like ChatGPT, Bing Chat, or voice assistants.
• Ai Overview : The top of page search results from Ai on Google search results

B

• Backlinks: Links from other websites that point to yours. They act like online recommendations and improve your site’s trust and search visibility. Learn more about backlinks
• Bing: Microsoft’s search engine. Many AI tools—including ChatGPT—get their information from Bing, so being listed here is important. Bing Search Engine
• BR (Bounce Rate): The % of visitors who leave your site after viewing only one page (a high BR is something that will need fixing).

C

• CPC (Cost Per Click): Often seen in paid ads, but good to know—it’s how much advertisers pay for each click. CPC Explained
• CMS (Content Management System): The platform you use to create and manage your site (like WordPress, Squarespace, Wix). Content Management System Info
• Content Types: The different formats you can create online—like blog posts, lists, how-to guides, product pages, and videos. Some types are easier for AI and search engines to understand. Content Types Guide
• CTR (Click-Through Rate): The % of people who saw your content in search results and actually clicked on it. CTR Explanation
• CTA (Call to Action): A prompt that encourages users to take a next step—like “Read More,” “Download Now,” or “Work With Me.” CTA Best Practices

D

• DA / DR (Domain Authority / Domain Rating): A score (from 1–100) that predicts how well a site will rank in search engines. Higher = stronger. Domain Authority explained
• Domain Authority: A metric that predicts a website’s ability to rank in search results based on backlinks and other factors. Domain Authority Overview

E

• E-E-A-T: Stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness—qualities Google looks for when ranking content. Google’s E-E-A-T
• Edge Browser: Microsoft Edge is a web browser developed by Microsoft, designed to replace Internet Explorer. It’s known for faster browsing, smoother performance, and improved security features compared to its predecessor. Microsoft Edge Info

G

• GA4 (Google Analytics 4): The latest version of Google Analytics, used to track website traffic and behavior. GA4 Overview
• GSC (Google Search Console): A free tool that shows how your site performs in Google search—great for SEO insights. Google Search Console Guide

H

• HCU (Helpful Content Update): Google’s big update in 2024, which knocked a lot of website traffic down drastically. Some lost up to 70-80% of their traffic and therefore income. Helpful Content Update Info

I

• Incognito Window: The ability to search on Google with no prior saves or cookies taken into account. It’s as if a complete stranger was using the window. Great for searches without bias. Incognito Mode Explained
• Indexing: When search engines (like Google or Bing) add your website to their database. If your site isn’t indexed, it won’t show up in search or AI results. How website Indexing works

K

• KW (Keyword): A word or phrase people search for that you want your blog to rank for. Keyword Research Guide
• KPI (Key Performance Indicator): Metrics you track to measure success (e.g. traffic, bounce rate, conversion rate). KPI Explanation

L

• LLM (Large Language Model): The type of AI that powers tools like ChatGPT. It reads millions of online pages to learn how to answer questions and write human-like text. Large Language Model Overview

M

• Mobile-Friendly: A website that looks good and works well on phones and tablets. Google gives preference to mobile-friendly sites. Mobile-Friendly Guide

P

• Page Speed / Core Web Vitals: How fast your site loads and how smoothly it runs. Google checks this when deciding how high to rank your content. Page Speed Optimisation
• Personal Brand: How you show up online—your style, voice, values, and expertise. A strong personal brand builds trust and helps people remember you. Personal Branding Tips coming soon to InsideStylists.com
• PPC (Pay-Per-Click): A paid advertising model where you pay only when someone clicks on your ad. PPC Guide
• ROI (Return on Investment): How much return (money, traffic, leads) you get from your SEO or content marketing efforts. ROI in SEO

S

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization): The process of making your website or content easier for search engines like Google and Bing to find, understand, and recommend.
• SEO – Search Engine Optimization: Improving your content to rank higher on search engines like Google.
• SERP (Search Engine Results Page): The page you see after typing a query into Google. Ranking on the first SERP is the goal! Understanding SERPs
• Short-form Content: Quick, snappy videos or posts (like TikToks, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts) that are easy to consume and often favored by social platforms and AI tools.
• Spark Toro: A  tool designed to help marketers and businesses understand their target audiences more effectively. sparktoro.com

T

• Traffic: The number of people who visit your website. SEO and visibility efforts aim to increase this.
• Visibility: How often and how easily you or your content appear in search results, social media, or AI-generated answers.
• Voice Search: When people speak instead of type into search tools (like “Hey Siri, find me an interior stylist”). Optimising for natural, spoken questions helps you appear in those results. Voice Search Optimization

W

• WAIKAY: A tool that shows how AI understands your brand. It benchmarks you against competitors and highlights where you can stand out. WAIKAY Overview

U

• UX (User Experience): How easy and enjoyable your site is to use (affects SEO rankings).
• UI (User Interface): The visual layout and design elements that affect how users interact with your content.