Two AI Workflows to Help Automate Your SEO
Scale SEO with intelligent automation
AI tools are getting more powerful than ever and can help to massively improve your SEO. But, some guardrails are necessary - you can’t just tell AI to instantly generate 100 articles or use an AI bot to find spammy backlinks; a thoughtful and intelligent strategy is required.
In today’s article, I share two recent AI workflows I developed using N8N to help automate SEO. Anyone not interested in reading the full article can find a summary here. You can also see a video I made of the final workflows below:
Crafting a winning content strategy
Good SEO content helps you to rank for more relevant keywords. If the content is sufficiently high quality, it can also be a reliable source for backlinks (e.g. people sharing or linking back to your articles). With AI, content creation has become easier than ever. Still, you can’t just let AI run amok - not only will it produce bland, generic content, but it will not be optimized for SEO. It also won’t rank well for either Google or AI chatbots.
Traditionally, all it took to create high-ranking SEO content was to do keyword stuffing. You would identify the keywords you wanted to rank for, insert them indiscriminately in your content, and watch your SEO take off. But, in the age of AI, you need to follow Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) best practices if you want to win.
This means your content structure must align with the types of queries people are actually searching for. How do you know what queries people are actually searching for? Today’s article will address this.
Crafting a winning backlink strategy
While good content helps you rank for more keywords, backlinks help you rank higher on Google for those keywords. The problem is that most companies obsess over backlink quantity and pay some shady click farm in India to “get them 20 backlinks per month,” which are almost always junk and could even damage your SEO results.
Quality and quantity of backlinks matter; the best backlinks come from credible, niche-relevant sites and high-traffic sites. One of the best ways to find these sites is to Google all the terms you want to rank for and to make a note of the sites in the top 20 results, specifically, signaling out directories and lists such as “best _____,” “top 10 _____”, etc. This process can be pretty time-consuming, especially if you’re doing this for many queries, so in today’s article, I will cover how to automate this at scale.
Workflow #1: Using N8N to automate backlink ideas
As I discussed in my last article, N8N is my latest obsession, and I have been in awe of its capabilities. The workflow I created to automate backlink ideas has a few steps:
#1 - User submits form with their target keywords
#2 - Call the SERP API with the target keywords
The Google Search API (also known as the “SERP API”) is a powerful API that enables you to scrape data from search results. The best part? You can scrape up to 100 searches per month free of charge.
Pinging the Search API with the target keywords from step one returns a treasure trove of useful information.
#3 - Use the OpenAI API to identify good backlink ideas
Next, I created a node that feeds the results from the SERP API to the OpenAI API to analyze the results and pick out good backlink opportunities. The example I used for this project is an online private high school, so my prompt was as follows:
#4 - Store the backlink ideas in a Google Sheet
The OpenAI API did a fantastic job of picking out relevant backlinks, so the final remaining step is to add those backlinks to a spreadsheet. The end output should look something like this.
In total, my automation found 31 good backlink options based on the small set of keywords I inputted. With a larger list of keywords, I could easily uncover 100+ high-quality backlink ideas, then use Clay to find the points of contact and to reach out to them.
Workflow #2: Using N8N to automate content outlines
The workflow I created to automate content strategy has the following steps:
#1 - User submits form with their target keywords
The same as the previous workflow.
#2 - Call the SERP API with the target keywords
The same as the previous workflow.
#3 - Extract “Related Questions” and “Related Searches”
When you do a search on Google, you will see two blocks, “Related Questions” and “Related Searches”. These sections are data from Google, telling you what questions and searches people in your target audience care about.
Thankfully, these sections provide a ton of insight that can be used to structure your SEO content for maximum impact.
The SERP API call we did in Step two automatically returns the Related Questions and Related Searches for each keyword you give it, and with a bit of code that ChatGPT generated for me, I was able to extract these values for each API call.
#4 - Store the “Related Questions” and “Related Searches” in a Google Sheet
The Related Questions and Related Searches are useful bits of information, so I used the Google Sheets node to store them as follows.
#5 - Use the OpenAI API to organize the data into content outlines
I created the following prompt for the OpenAI API to organize my data into relevant content outlines:
#6 - Store the content outlines in a Google Sheet
Finally, I stored the content outlines in a Google Sheet. The end output looks as follows:
Conclusion
If you’re serious about SEO, it’s no longer enough to write decent content, and I hope it ranks. AI and automation let you move faster, scale smarter, and focus your time where it actually matters. But the leverage only kicks in when paired with clear thinking and smart execution.
The workflows shared here highlight what modern SEO looks like when the right tools are combined with a focused strategy. Automate the grunt work, systematize your process, and stay disciplined about quality.
If you liked this content, please click the <3 button on Substack so I know which content to double down on.
TLDR Summary
This article explores two AI-powered workflows using N8N to automate key aspects of SEO: backlink strategy and content creation. By leveraging tools like the SERP API, OpenAI, and Google Sheets, these workflows help identify quality backlinks and create detailed content outlines. The article demonstrates how automation can streamline SEO tasks, making it easier to scale your efforts and improve your results.
Key Steps and Insights
Crafting a Winning Content Strategy
AI tools make content creation easier, but it’s essential to follow Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) practices.
SEO content must align with user queries, not just include keywords.
Crafting a Winning Backlink Strategy
Backlinks are crucial for ranking higher, but quality matters more than quantity.
Focus on backlinks from credible, niche-relevant, and high-traffic sites.
Workflow #1: Automating Backlink Ideas with N8N
Step 1: User submits target keywords.
Step 2: SERP API is called to scrape search results.
Step 3: Use OpenAI API to identify good backlink opportunities.
Step 4: Store the backlink ideas in a Google Sheet.
Result: Identified 31 high-quality backlink ideas from a small set of keywords.
Workflow #2: Automating Content Outlines with N8N
Step 1: User submits target keywords.
Step 2: SERP API is called to scrape search results.
Step 3: Extract related questions and searches from the SERP API.
Step 4: Store the extracted data in a Google Sheet.
Step 5: Use OpenAI API to create content outlines from the data.
Step 6: Store the content outlines in a Google Sheet.
Result: Organized content outlines based on user search behavior.
Conclusion
In modern SEO, success requires more than just quality content—it demands smart strategies and automation. By combining AI tools and a focused SEO approach, you can streamline workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and optimize your efforts to scale smarter. The workflows shared in this article are practical examples of how automation, when paired with clear thinking and smart execution, can enhance SEO performance.
If everyone starts adopting this strategy, who will end up ranking higher? What would be the key differentiators to beat competition?
love it