How to set up Gen AI workflows while future-proofing for what comes next

Summary

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Voices of Search Podcast

Episode Summary: How to Set Up Gen AI Workflows While Future-Proofing for What Comes Next

Date: December 13, 2025
Host: Tyson Stockton
Guest: Eric Enge

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Overview

This episode dives into the practicalities and challenges of integrating generative AI (Gen AI) tools into SEO workflows. The discussion focuses on how to strike a balance between operational efficiency and future-proofing—emphasizing the critical role of a “human in the loop” in AI-driven content and code creation. Tyson and Eric explore actionable strategies, pitfalls, and mindset shifts for building robust, adaptable SEO programs from the ground up.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Starting an SEO Program with Gen AI (00:43 – 03:22)

• Approaching Gen AI Integration

  • Eric recommends leveraging tools like Claude or code-focused Gen AI but stresses that these are not flawless. Human review is always necessary to catch errors that AI might miss.
  • “You still need human in the loop because the code is often flawed and sometimes in ways that could be hard to find too. So just be aware of that.” (Eric Enge, 01:08)

• Areas Where Gen AI Can Aid

  • Content ideation & production, organization of site content, schema writing, and even technical tasks (like .htaccess code).
  • “There's so many different ways it can help… You just have to design your organization to have the right level of human in the loop.” (Eric Enge, 01:32)

• Finding the Human/AI Balance

  • The degree of human oversight should be tailored to your team's attitude toward AI—enthusiasts require more checks; skeptics, less.
  • Start with “a bit too much human in the loop” and optimize as comfort with AI grows.
  • “If you have the wild eyed visionary, then you probably need about 10 times more human in the loop than what they're thinking. And if you have the skeptic, you probably need half to a quarter of the humans that they they're thinking to find that average somehow.” (Eric Enge, 01:46)

• The Imperative to Start Now

  • Don’t wait for perfect clarity or boundaries—get in the game, iterate, and improve.
  • A 30% efficiency increase is a realistic and transformative short-term goal.
  • “Go for 30% increase in efficiency of your operations. You know how many people would have died for 30% five years ago? Oh my goodness, it's transformative.” (Eric Enge, 02:43)

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2. Future-Proofing with a Human Touch (03:22 – 05:05)

• Shifting Mindset During Traffic Declines

  • Many are focused on negative traffic trends, but efficiency gains are a major “win” enabled by AI—even if traffic isn’t up.
  • “There's other wins available that may not just be an absolute traffic… That efficiency gain and that potential for further output of activity from the team is such a key piece…” (Tyson Stockton, 03:31)

• Why "Human in the Loop" is Crucial

  • If anyone can prompt ChatGPT, what’s your value? Human curation and checks remain the differentiator.
  • “The industry is littered with stories of people who actually started doing all their publications straight out of Chat GPT and they're site bombed…they tried to make too much of it.” (Eric Enge, 04:37)

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3. Caution & Opportunity in AI Implementation (06:33 – 07:49)

• Temper Ambition with Realism

  • Don’t get swept up by hype—take incremental, “real” wins and keep your excitement/hormones in check.
  • “You gotta keep your hormones under control. Hormones is probably the wrong word but your excitement under control and take the win, the real win.” (Eric Enge, 06:33)

• Entrepreneurial Potential

  • A technically adept, focused team could make substantial gains leveraging Gen AI, especially in niche spaces. But Eric, though tempted, admits he has “enough going on.”
  • “There's probably a way to print money if you do that with the right small focused team… I've been dreaming about doing that for a while.” (Eric Enge, 06:46)

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4. Application Suitability: Fault Tolerance in AI (07:49 – 08:49)

• Where Automation Can Fly Solo
  • Some use-cases (like Meta’s AI-driven ad targeting) are “fault tolerant”—small errors aren’t disastrous—so they tolerate more automation with less human oversight.
  • Not so for core website content or coding, where errors have outsized consequences.
  • “If 10% of the ads are a really bad fit, it's not a crisis, the user just ignores the ad. So it's a fault tolerant application and those are situations where you can be less guided and get more scale. So that is not the content on your website…” (Eric Enge, 08:07)

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Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• “[When] building an SEO program from scratch…you gotta use things like Claude code… as a fundamental part of how you develop stuff. Remembering that you still need human in the loop…” (Eric Enge, 01:02)
• “If you have the wild eyed visionary, then you probably need about 10 times more human in the loop than what they're thinking.” (Eric Enge, 01:46)
• “Just take the win that's on the table and don't try to make too much of it and have some fun along the way.” (Eric Enge, 02:59)
• “If I can just tell ChatGPT to do everything for me, so can a competitor. So… what can you do to make sure there's real add, extra value?” (Eric Enge, 04:29)
• “The industry is littered with stories of people who actually started doing all their publications straight out of Chat GPT and their site bombed.” (Eric Enge, 04:37)
• “Keep in mind there are certain applications that are naturally fault tolerant... That is not the content on your website or the way your website is coded…” (Eric Enge, 07:49)

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Takeaways and Recommendations

• Start integrating AI tools, but never eliminate human oversight—especially in pivotal areas like content and code.
• Aim for tangible efficiency gains (e.g., 30%) as a clear, realistic goal.
• Continuously calibrate the human/AI collaboration as your team learns and as technology evolves.
• Identify aspects of your SEO workflow where automation presents little risk, to maximize gains safely.
• Stay grounded—balance excitement about AI’s potential with caution and a pragmatic approach to its limitations.

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For more from Eric Enge, check his LinkedIn or visit pilotholding.com.

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Transcript

[Tyson Stockton]

The Voices of Search Podcast is a proud member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. Looking to launch or scale your podcast, I Hear Everything delivers podcast production, growth and monetization solutions that transform your words into profit. Ready to give your brand a voice? Then visit iheareverything.com welcome to the Voices of Search Podcast. A member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network, ready to expedite your company's organic growth efforts. Sit back, relax, and get ready for your daily dose of search engine optimization wisdom. Here's today's host of the Voices of Search Podcast, Tyson Stockton.

[Host]

Final question is game plan. So the scenario is you're building an SEO program from scratch. How do you set up gen AI workflows while future proofing what comes next?

[Eric Enge]

Okay, this was the lightning round, right?

[Host]

I mean, yeah, lightning round.

[Eric Enge]

Okay. So the first thing I would look at, which might not be directly SEO, but it influences it, is you gotta use things like Claude code or things like that as a fundamental part of how you develop stuff. Remembering that you still need human in the loop because the code is often flawed and sometimes in ways that could be hard to find too. So just be aware of that. But it should be able to give you a lot of efficiencies on that side of things. Second, think about the role that you can have in deciding what content to put on your site, the organization of it, how you go about creating content, and there's so many different ways it can help. You can also write schema for you htaccess code. You know, there's so many different parts to it. You just have to design your organization to have the right level of human in the loop. And if you have the wild eyed visionary, then you probably need about 10 times more human in the loop than what they're thinking. And if you have the skeptic, you probably need half to a quarter of the humans that they they're thinking to find that average somehow. But look, it should be pretty easy to do to set up the process so that you definitely have a bit too much human in the loop to start until you find out what feels comfortable and you've got the right balance and then tune it. The most important thing is get in the game if you're not right and if you've had trouble finding those boundaries, then you got to find the right help to help you figure out what those boundaries are and get going. Because if you think about the objectives, right, and you knew this was going to be a longer answer, I warned you. Go for 30% increase in efficiency of your operations. You know how many people would have died for 30% five years ago? Oh my goodness, it's transformative. So just take the win that's on the table and don't try to make too much of it and have some fun along the way.

[Host]

That's perfect advice too. And I think a lot of people are having conversations of hey, I'm having negative impacts to traffic to the site. And I think that last piece of your answer of like hey, there's other wins available that may not just be an absolute traffic. I mean obviously we have to look at what's that traffic converting and all those other layers to it. But I think that efficiency gain and that potential of further output of activity from the team is such a key piece and to the future proofing aspects of that question. I think you hit head on with the human in the loop piece, which goes back to our first question of if we don't think that there is going to be a world at least within the current technology where it can operate without that, then that has to be then in the planning and it has to be kind of that security safety net to ensure that future impact potential.

[Eric Enge]

Well, and that ends up ultimately being your value add because if I can just tell ChatGPT to do everything for me, so can a competitor. And so you know, what can you do to make sure that there's, there's real add, extra level of value add and you know, the error prone aspects are still very much there. And the industry is littered with stories of people who actually started doing all their publications straight out of Chat GPT and they're site bombed and I feel bad for them that that happened, but they tried to make too much of it.

[Sponsor Voice]

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[Eric Enge]

And and you know, got to keep your hormones under control. Hormones is probably the wrong word but your excitement under control and take the win, the real win. Yeah, if I had more energy for it, something I would do is I would go, you know, find a really good developer and publish a, a lead gen site in some market and set something up to, to leverage all this kind of stuff. And there's probably a way to print money if you do that with the right small focused team doing, you know, the right sorts of things. But so I was dreaming about doing that for a while but then it's like, yeah, yeah, you know, I have enough going on.

[Host]

Yeah, you're still in the game and I'm glad that the excitement in the industry is keeping you in. And I think again coming back around to that last point, I think the capabilities of the technology to keep us grounded in the extent of using it and if you try to stretch that beyond where we're at today, of course there are risks to it, but at the same time there's so much opportunity that's on the table for people to just pick up.

[Eric Enge]

So one last comment I want to make on that is keep in mind there are certain applications that are naturally fault tolerant. So an example of that which, you know, those of you who follow the trade press are probably quite aware of is, you know, Meta has been able to do a great job of improving the yield of their advertising through the use of AI. So the reason why that's a great application and can run without substantial human oversight is because if 10% of the ads are a really bad fit, it's not a crisis, the user just ignores the ad. So it's a fault tolerant application and those are situations where you can be less guided and get more scale. So that is not the content on your website or the way your website is coded or you know, any of those things.

[Host]

That's a, that's a perfect call out. And I think too it's like continuously looking for those opportunities. But then again, just being grounded in the Are we being realistic with, like, the actual implications at hand here? Well, with that, that's going to wrap up this episode of the Voice of Search podcast. Thanks again, Eric, for joining us. It's always a pleasure, appreciative of the time that you spend with us on here. And if you'd like to contact Eric, you can find a link to his LinkedIn profile in the show notes, or you can be sure to check out his company's [e-mail] if you haven't subscribed yet and you want a daily stream of SEO content marketing knowledge in your podcast feedback, hit the subscribe button in your podcast app or on YouTube and we'll be back in your feed soon. So with that, that's all for today. Thanks for stopping by, and we'll see.

[Eric Enge]

You in the next episode.