There’s a difference between appearing on top of the AI search answer and actually having something worth saying when people get there.
Content built around algorithms tends to feel like questions nobody really asked, in a way no real person actually talks.
Somewhere along the way we lost sight of why we write in the first place.
We can learn a lot from Screenwriters
In screenwriting there’s a saying that goes: a character without a clear, compelling reason to act is a character no one cares about.
It doesn’t matter how technically perfect the script is. If the audience can’t feel what the character wants and why they want it so badly they’d risk everything to get it, the story falls flat.
The same is true for content.
You can have perfect SEO and AIO, but if the person reading it can’t feel that you understand their situation they’ll leave, and they won’t come back.
What motivation has to do with content
According to screenwriting theory, a character’s motivation must be uncompromising and easy to identify. The audience needs to understand not just what a character wants, but why at a human level. Is it survival? Recognition? Love? The fear of losing something precious?
Good content works the same way.
The reader arrives with a motivation (they’re not just browsing). Looking for an answer that makes sense of something they’ve been struggling with. They want to feel understood before they’re willing to trust you enough to keep reading.
The mistake most brands and agencies make is writing for the algorithm instead of for that person. They optimise for the search query without ever stopping to ask: who is actually typing this, and what do they actually need?
Characters reveal themselves through action — so does your content
One of the most useful insights from screenwriting is this that you don’t reveal character through what someone says. You reveal it through what they do, especially under pressure.
I believe the same logic applies to content.
Anyone can say they understand their audience. Anyone can write “we know your challenges” in a headline. But it’s in the writing that you reveal whether you actually do.
Generic content is the written equivalent of a flat character. It says the right things but it doesn’t make you feel anything.
That’s the gap AI-generated content cannot close, no matter how well it’s prompted. It cannot replace the lived experience.
The goal needs to be specific
A vague goal leads to vague storytelling. If a character simply “wants things to be better,” there’s no tension, direction, and no reason to stay invested. The goal has to be concrete and mean something.
The same applies to what you’re writing about and who you’re writing it for.
“We help businesses grow” is not a goal. It’s a placeholder. It tells the reader nothing about who you actually serve, what problem you actually solve, or why it actually matters.
The content that earns trust is the content that is specific enough to make the right person feel seen, and bold enough to not try to appeal to everyone at once.
Writing for people is not in conflict with being found
This is the part that gets misunderstood.
The argument here isn’t that SEO doesn’t matter, but there’s a sequence to it.
Search engines can bring someone to your page. They cannot make that person stay, trust you, or act. Only the content itself can do that, and content written primarily for an algorithm tends to do none of those things well.
Let SEO and AIO help people find you, but please give them a reason to stay once they do.
The writer’s room rule
Before you write anything, ask yourself the question every good screenwriter asks before they write a single scene: what does this person want, and why do they want it so badly?
What are they actually trying to solve? What have they already tried that didn’t work? What would make them feel like this piece of content was worth their time?
Write to answer that. Not to rank for a phrase.
The irony is that content written with that level of personal intention tends to perform better over time anyway, because it earns the thing that no algorithm can manufacture. Genuine trust.
Search engines find content, but only good content deserves to be found.