In the world of startups, freelancers, and evolving online businesses, the rise of AI-driven agents is a current that’s hard to ignore. These agents are NOT here just to help CEOs automate tasks, they are here to reshape the roles entrepreneurs play in their own companies. This isn’t about replacing human creativity or judgment; it’s about adapting to work alongside intelligent systems, scaling productive capacity, and opening doors to opportunities that, frankly, didn’t exist five years ago.
Marie Haynes, a longtime force in the SEO world, recently shared her expertise in what she calls the “agentic SEO revolution.” This emerging skillset demands that professionals restructure their understanding of optimization entirely. Why? Because AI agents are poised to stop “searching” passively and to act on behalf of users instead, booking trips, securing services, handling transactions, and making decisions without further input. Simply put, your job is no longer just ranking high; it’s ensuring these agents trust you enough to act on your content. Intrigued? Let’s walk through exactly what this means and what you, as a savvy businessperson, can do about it.
Why AI Agents Are Disrupting Traditional SEO
AI agents are becoming the gatekeepers of content. Tools like Google Gemini, ChatGPT, and workflow-specific agent frameworks are all part of the move toward not just “finding” answers but completing end-to-end actions for users. Think of a personal shopping assistant that compares options across databases and makes purchases directly, all within seconds.
Statistically speaking, Accenture’s 2023 research indicates that up to 60% of global web searches in 2027 will be driven by AI handling decision flows, not by users directly inputting queries. This isn’t business as usual anymore; failing to adapt to these agents could mean becoming invisible in the next wave of consumer interaction.
These “decision-making assistants” demand something new: precise datasets, well-defined capabilities that machines can read directly, and workflows that highlight value instantaneously. Traditional SEO practices like keyword stuffing or bloated metadata won’t meet these needs any longer.
What You Should Do Now To Stay Relevant
Marie Haynes, in her interview with Shelley Walsh at Search Engine Journal, shared tactics explicitly aimed at entrepreneurs needing to prepare for this shift. Here are the actionable steps you can take right now to avoid being left behind.
1. Focus on Agent-Readable Data
Rich snippets, clean structured data, and systematic entity markup provide agents with useful context. Leveraging schema markup for products, services, or blogs ensures that AI reads your content correctly. Start implementing techniques that align your web structure with openly accepted standards like Schema.org’s entity vocabulary.
2. Master Prompt Creation
AI systems read instructions, or ‘prompts,’ just like commands. If you offer services or sell products, start understanding how AI tools like Gemini or ChatGPT build agent queries. By mastering this essential skill, you can streamline prompts into workflows that use your knowledge and data sources.
Platforms like Search Engine Journal offer great insights into creating and refining such instructions.
3. Experiment With Agent Chaining Tools
Agent chaining refers to connecting multiple AI-driven systems into multi-step workflows. If you can find tools matching your niche, such as Zapier’s automated workflow builders, start there. Or consider testing Google’s Gemini environments, which are designed for chaining agents collaboratively.
Marie Haynes noted in her example: “Imagine taking a traditional SEO audit and automating every single line of it, where agents manage the research, collect metrics, and only tap you for analysis. This is where the real value of scaling shows up.”
4. Explore Closed and Semi-Closed Systems
Certain ecosystems, especially within commerce and lifestyle industries, operate as AI-first closed loops. A holiday booking agent may bypass shallow listings altogether to find structured itinerary options an agent can independently verify. Position your brand within those early ecosystems, providing tailored data offerings that agents select with ease.
If this sounds overwhelming, start small with chatbot-ready workflows on platforms like Shopify, Amazon’s ecosystem, or Quickbooks integrations.
Mistakes To Avoid
The trajectory into AI-driven roles and workflows isn’t without pitfalls. Here are common mistakes to dodge:
- Underestimating Simplicity: Content that’s overly complex or unclear makes it harder for machines to interpret, even high-quality AI. Keep your structure lean.
- Ignoring Experimentation: Waiting for clear tutorials or toolkits leaves you far behind early adopters learning on the go.
- Stagnation in Manual Workflows: If your agency or startup’s processes still run manually, AI is passing you by faster than you realize. Identify repeatable tasks and automate wherever possible.
Marie’s advice? “This isn’t just about climbing SERPs. It’s about human-AI collaboration that learns like you do, works off shared intelligence, and scales organically.”
How to Build Agentic Workflows , Even If You’re Not a Developer
Here’s my favourite no-fuss method for integrating agentic workflows into an entrepreneurial business:
Step 1: Identify a Clear Bottleneck
Whether scheduling or intake forms frustrate your process daily, pick one core bottleneck task. Understand its structure: repetitive tasks work best.
Step 2: Pick a Starter Tool You Know
Avoid committing to niche systems. Pick Gemini or Zapier for experimenting initially. Marie herself uses Anti Gravity for low-code website-building entirely based on prompts, and it’s beginner-friendly.
Step 3: “Feed” the Human Supervision Loop
No agent replaces judgment. Set yourself up as the final reviewer. Step into clarifying workflows where the AI builds 80, 90% of foundational structures: datasets, pricing tiers, or editorial copy.
A Reality Shift Entrepreneurs Can Use to Thrive
Here’s the sharp truth: This transition isn’t just another fancy SEO upgrade, it’s the next logical step in what I call ‘Symbiotechnics.’ You’re no longer fighting an algorithm; instead, you’re crafting interactions where AI fights algorithms for you.
The emergence of decision-capable agents changes the game just as early PageRank systems pulled industries toward crawlspace metadata two decades ago. This isn’t your father’s SEO; this is your opportunity to train smarter, ramp faster, and engage audiences while competitors argue over keywords that will soon mean nothing.
Marie Haynes’s closing quote fits well here (paraphrased): “Those who build workflows early, positioning where agents act seamlessly, won’t just stay relevant; they’ll be indispensable to entire value chains.” It’s both an opportunity and a responsibility for today’s entrepreneurs.
Are AI agents coming for you? To risk undervaluing them may tell us exactly what future – or which clients – will leave unclaimed entirely. The smarter bet remains leaning in.
FAQ on AI Agents and Their Impact on SEO
1. What are AI agents and how are they different from search engines?
AI agents are intelligent systems designed not just to retrieve information but to make decisions, perform actions, and complete workflows autonomously on behalf of users. They represent an evolution beyond traditional search engines by integrating reasoning, multimodal processing, and transaction capabilities. Learn more about AI agents from Google Cloud
2. How are AI agents disrupting traditional SEO practices?
AI agents require structured, agent-readable data rather than traditional ranking optimizations. Professionals must focus on creating content and workflows that build trust with these agents to ensure their services or products are selected automatically. Explore insights from Marie Haynes's Search Engine Journal interview
3. Why is structured data important for ranking in AI-powered systems?
Structured data, such as schema markup, helps AI agents understand and trust the context of content, ensuring it is properly utilized in workflows and selected for action-oriented tasks. Learn about schema and structured data for AI SEO
4. What is the significance of “agentic workflows”?
Agentic workflows involve chaining multiple AI systems to automate complex tasks, reducing manual efforts while scaling capacity for entrepreneurs and marketers. They optimize processes like audits, data collection, and comparisons without human intervention until final review. Discover agentic workflows explained by Shelley Walsh
5. How can I start experimenting with agent-driven SEO techniques?
Begin with tools such as Google Gemini Gems, Zapier workflows, or Anti Gravity platforms, and focus on designing detailed prompts and feedback loops for specific tasks. This allows hands-on learning and workflow testing. Try out Google Gemini Gems for agent experiments
6. Are prompt-writing skills necessary for leveraging AI agents?
Yes, prompts act as instructions for AI systems. Mastering prompt-writing enables users to communicate complex workflows, manipulate data handling, and refine output, which is critical in working alongside AI agents. Check out prompt-writing tips on Search Engine Journal
7. What industries are embracing AI agents most rapidly?
Commerce, travel booking, and lifestyle industries are fast adopters, leveraging AI agents to handle transactions, verify itineraries, and curate personalized options seamlessly. Explore use cases described for AI agents in SEO
8. What mistakes should I avoid with AI in SEO?
Common errors include underestimating the importance of simplicity in content, ignoring experimentation, delaying automation, and relying on manual workflows when competitors are integrating AI-driven processes. Learn best practices via Shelley Walsh’s article
9. What tools are recommended to integrate AI agents into my business workflows?
Marie Haynes suggests platforms such as Google’s Anti Gravity, Gemini environments, and Zapier for easy entry into agentic automation. These tools enable users to set up AI workflows and scale operations effectively. Explore Anti Gravity’s low-code AI platform
10. How soon will AI agents dominate the digital space?
By 2027, research forecasts that 60% of global searches will be driven by AI agents completing decision flows, fundamentally transforming SEO into managing trust and validation within those systems. Accenture statistics on AI-driven web searches
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.