This will be a living page of SEO automation statistics, but only ones we can trace back to a named, original source. Right now, we haven't verified enough figures to publish, so the list is empty on purpose.
Statistics about AI and SEO get copied from blog to blog until nobody remembers where they came from. Sometimes the original was a small vendor survey. Sometimes there's no original at all.
Status
Planned. No data has been collected or published for this study yet. Anything you see quoted elsewhere as coming from this study isn't ours.
The question
Which numbers about SEO automation and AI in SEO hold up when you trace them back to where they started?
Why it matters
A made-up or misread statistic can steer a budget or a strategy. It's worth knowing which numbers are solid, which are estimates, and which are just repeated.
How we plan to run it
- Collect statistics that circulate widely in SEO and marketing content.
- Trace each one to its original source.
- Record who produced it, when, how many people or sites it covered, and who paid for it.
- List only the figures that hold up, with clear notes on their limits.
What the finished study will include
- The full methodology, including its limits.
- The sample size, and who or what was included.
- Findings, including the unexciting ones.
- Charts.
- Downloadable data, where we can share it.
- Citations for anything we build on.
- Publication and update dates.
Until then
Until the list is live, here's how to check any statistic you come across:
- Find the original source, not the blog post quoting it.
- Check the date. Anything about AI ages quickly.
- Look at the sample: how many, and who? A survey of a tool's own customers isn't the whole industry.
- Ask who paid for it and whether they sell something related.
- If you can't find the source, don't repeat the number.
Where to go next
- AI content and Google
- SEO automation ROI: measuring your own results instead
- All research