Acceptance of Circumstances, AEO, AI Search, Being Found On Bing, Being Found on Google, competitive advantage, keeping up with trends, nextdoor, online presence, organic SEO, Reddit, reputation management, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, social media, staying current

What Does Crowdsourcing Have To Do With Being Found Online and SEO? A Real Lot.

When someone “crowdsources,” their objective for doing so could be to obtain knowledge, services, or goods from a large group of people (often strangers). But, for the purposes of this blog post about being found online and SEO (search engine optimization), we’ll be focusing on the seeking out of opinions and experiences (knowledge) of others to reach a decision about something. The decision one may be trying to make might be similar to one of the following, or something all together different:

  • What type of sneakers should I buy if I plan to train for a marathon?
  • I’m thinking I’m going to buy this particular brand type of sneakers. Am I making a good/the right choice?
  • What local roofing company should I hire to replace my old roof?
  • What local estate planning lawyer should I engage to help me execute a comprehensive estate plan?
  • What stretches or exercises work best for improving a bad hip?
  • What’s a good recipe to make if you need to feed a large crowd?
  • What’s the best private elementary school near me?
  • I’m planning on holding an event at this particular venue. What are both the good and bad things I should know about it?
  • Where should I take my out-of-town guests to dinner in Boston’s North End?
  • Should I take this job offer or job interview with this particular employer?

We’ll also be focusing on knowledge crowdsourcing platforms vs. the knowledge crowdsourcing that one may conduct, or believe they are conducting (since information spit back by AI search tools is not always accurate), by simply posing a question like “who is the best family lawyer in Boston?” to an AI/answer engine like ChatGPT or Google AI Mode.

This is a rectangular image that runs vertically that has a gray background and reads in dark turquoise letters "Crowdsourcing = please, please, please share your knowledge, experience, and recommendations with me!" and includes our digital marketing agency's logo, plus the image of a young man wearing a plaid shirt and who has short dark hair and wide eyes and who is holding his hands together with a sad mouth as if he is pleading, plus the image says at the bottom, "is your organization capitalizing on this trend?"

Knowledge Crowdsourcing Platforms and SEO

As SEO experts, we keep hearing and reading over and over again that, when making a decision about which organizations’ online content to serve back in response to a searcher’s query, AI search engines/answer engines/chatbot engines are looking for signals that an organization is creditable and reputable, and where do they get those signals from, in addition to testimonials and other signs of credibility that are on the organizations’ own websites (think badges of associations your organization belongs to, certifications you’ve achieved, and backlinks from other organizations, including press/media/PR backlinks)? From platforms where people post recommendations in areas of the platform specifically designed for sharing recommendations and/or in the comments section in response to other users’ posts requesting recommendations from or posing questions to other users.

You can learn more about what’s been deemed “E-E-A-T” and how AI search engines look for signs of “Experience-Expertise-Authoritativeness-Trustworthiness in this “The Role Of E-E-A-T In AI Narratives: Building Brand Authority For Search Success” blog post from Search Engine Land.

Examples Of Crowdsourcing Platforms

  • Yelp – reviews of restaurant and other local business — such as contractors and personal services (think nail and hair salons)
  • Nextdoor – neighborhood social media platform
  • Reddit – discussion forum
  • Quora – discussion forum
  • Google My Business Profile Of Specific Organization (Google Reviews section)

Implications Of Crowdsourcing For Your Business/Organization

So, what are the implications of crowdsourcing for your business or organization?

  • Since some individuals seeking knowledge to support a decision they want and need to make go directly to a crowdsourcing platform to get information, you’ll want to have a positive presence on as many of the larger crowdsourcing platforms mentioned above as possible, and as appropriate for your particular industry. For example, Yelp might not make sense for your particular type of business.
  • If there are particular platforms that individuals use to recommend/rate businesses in your particular industry, you will want to ensure a favorable presence there, as well.
  • And, implementing what’s outlined in the two bullets above should provide plenty of positive trust and authority signals to search engines to encourage them to share your organization’s online content.

How To Show Up Favorably/Positively On Crowdsourcing Platforms

We mentioned above that your organization should show up favorably/positively on crowdsourcing platforms, but unfortunately what that looks like depends on the nature of the platform itself and the industry within your organization operates, and that’s why we encourage you to set up a complimentary discussion with us about how to use the current crowdsourcing trend to your specific organization’s advantage. But a common, over-arching way that all organizations can show up favorably/positively on crowdsourcing platforms is simply to encourage their customers to share positive information about them in online locations beyond the Google reviews section of their Google My Business Profile, i.e., on Yelp, Reddit, Quora, nextdoor and relevant industry crowdsourcing platforms. And, ultimately, all of this is about reputation management!