When 40% of internet users skip Google and head straight to ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude for answers, no SEO agency is lining up to say, “No thanks, we’re good.” Search behavior has shifted, and naturally, SEO has had to evolve with it.
Credit where it’s due: AI tools genuinely make life easier. They handle repetitive work, crunch complex data in seconds, and help you discover new ideas. That said, we don’t know enough about these tools and the LLMs in the background to fully entrust them with sensitive information.
Using AI without guardrails opens up new doors of attack for ill-intended actors and raises the odds of accidentally exposing confidential data. If you want to stay competitive and sleep at night, consider implementing the following security checks before fully embracing AI.
1. AI Tool Inventory
In an SEO agency, teams rely on a wide mix of specialized AI tools (think SurferSEO, Jasper, or custom API workflows) to get work out the door. Tools from trusted vendors are generally safe, but many agencies run into Shadow AI: employees quietly using whatever apps or extensions seem helpful, without flagging them to anyone.
Those “harmless” browser extensions or unauthorized AI plugins that summarize meetings or analyze spreadsheets often aren’t as harmless as they look. Security teams consistently flag unvetted tools as one of the fastest ways malware and data leaks slip into a company.
That’s why you need a clear inventory of approved AI tools that all employees can access. Just as importantly, make sure everyone understands the risks of using tools that fall outside that list.
2. Data Privacy
ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are great for content ideation, right? Plus, they’re so easy to use nowadays! However, entering a client’s unpublished product roadmap or a proprietary keyword strategy into a public LLM account is effectively a data breach.
Luckily, this issue has an easy solution: get an Enterprise account and make sure everyone uses it. Also, ensure your tools have Zero Data Retention or “Opt-out of training” toggled. If the tool uses your inputs to train its future models, you are leaking intellectual property.
But managing risks in generative AI is about more than changing a few settings. Clever, ill-intentioned actors have devised new attacks, like Indirect Prompt Injection or EchoLeak, that turn otherwise safe AI tools into data thieves.
The best protection method in this case is awareness and prevention. Talk to a cybersecurity specialist, update your security systems, and train your employees.
3. Output Integrity
LLMs still hallucinate. Not as much as they used to, but no one should take their initial output at face value. An AI hallucination in a technical SEO audit or a legal disclaimer is a data integrity failure. Also, relying on AI-generated code (like Schema markup or .htaccess redirects) without a sandbox can crash a client’s site.
This is why you can’t have an AI-driven future for SEO without human overseers. Make it a policy that every piece of content, analysis, or code generated with AI must undergo a human review before being shared with a client or posted on the internet.
4. Access Control
Report automation (which AI tools excel at) frees up a lot of time for more creative tasks. However, to get the data, these agents need access to sensitive areas, such as Search Console, Google Analytics, or CMSs.
The best approach here is to apply the principle of Least Privilege for every platform where AI tools have access. If an app only needs to read Search Console data to build a report, do not give it edit or owner permissions.
To increase security, use scoped API keys that expire or require MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) where possible.
Security First is the Best Policy
Smart tools and advanced technology are quite helpful, especially in a dynamic world like SEO. But we need to proceed with caution and always prioritize data privacy and security. Once you have well-established usage policies and a well-researched AI tool inventory, you can relax and enjoy the many benefits of embracing the new face of SEO.
