SEO Signals That Can’t Be Automated

When most people think of SEO, they think mainly of keywords, backlinks and technical work. These are all very important, but they’re certainly not the full story! If you focus only on these, you’ll always be chasing instead of leading.

That’s because Google has evolved far beyond counting links and keyword density. Today, some of the most powerful ranking signals are the hardest to measure, and they’re impossible to fully automate. They’re the signals that reflect real human behaviour, trust, and authority.

The good news?  This means AI will never be able to fully replace the human element of SEO. Ironically, though, you can use it to help you enhance and amplify these signals. Here’s where to focus:

1. Engagement and Dwell Time

If visitors click onto your page and bounce straight back to the search results, that’s a signal to Google that your content didn’t deliver. On the other hand, if people stick around, scroll, and engage, you’ve shown real value. Dwell time is a key way we can measure this.

In SEO, dwell time refers to how long a visitor from search results spends on a web page before returning to those same results. For a long time, opinions were split on whether dwell time was a ranking factor at all, with statements from key figures such as Google’s Gary Illyes saying ‘search is much more simple than people think’. However, then came the infamous algorithm leak of 2024.

The leaking of key internal Google documentation in 2024 was hug for SEO’s worldwide. Search may be changing faster than ever, and AI may be supercharging that process, but the findings from these documents still matter. And one of those related to the measuring of ‘long clicks’ and other engagement metrics which are very similar to dwell time, just with different names. So, does it matter? Yes, definitely.

The fact is you can’t fake engagement. People will only spend time with content that answers their questions clearly, provides depth, or tells a story worth reading. That’s where human insight makes the difference and where machines just can’t provide the same level of real world experience. What they can do, though, is help improve the user experience.

AI tools can support by improving structure and readability. They can analyse your draft for flow, suggest ways to break up dense text, or generate ideas for FAQs and visual aids that encourage people to stay longer. The magic happens when you pair that efficiency with your expertise — making sure readers leave with exactly what they came for.

2. Brand Searches and Reputation

One of the strongest signals Google recognises is brand demand. When people type your brand name directly into the search bar, it tells search engines you’re a trusted authority. To return to the aforementioned algorithm leak, renowned SEO authority and Moz co-founder Rand Fishkin’s key takeaway was that brand matters more than anything else.

This isn’t something you can automate or shortcut. You don’t “hack” your way into brand searches — you earn them through visibility, consistency, and delivering genuine value. This means building a well-recognised brand that has its own space and eco-system separate from search results.

What AI can do is help you monitor and amplify reputation. Social listening tools can track where and how your brand is being mentioned. Sentiment analysis can show whether that buzz is positive or negative. AI can also uncover opportunities to connect your brand more closely with the problems your audience is searching for. But the reputation itself? That’s built only through authentic relationships and results.

3. E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trust

Google’s guidelines are clear: content that demonstrates real-world experience and proven expertise is far more valuable than generic information. That’s why E-E-A-T has become such a cornerstone of SEO. Building EEAT signals for a brand takes time and significant work outside of search marketing, but that work is some of the most crucial you can do if you want to move the needle for your organic traffic.

AI can’t replicate lived experience. A machine can generate a neat summary of “best running shoes,” but it can’t tell you what it’s like to train for a marathon in the rain with a specific pair on your feet. It’s the human perspective and real-world experience that builds trust and authority. If you’re writing about a subject, take the time to live it and add your own experience of it. If you’re not an expert in that subject, speak one (if you can) and get their views or a quote. Add case studies that demonstrate your views. Anything that can give you and your brand credibility will also give you authority.

While it can’t go out and get that all-important experience for you, AI still has a role here. It can take raw expert insights, such as interviews, notes and case studies, and help organise them into polished, structured content. It ensures the expertise shines through in a way that’s easy for readers (and search engines) to follow. But the authority itself? That comes from you.

4. Topical Depth and Originality

Shallow, surface-level content rarely wins. Search engines increasingly reward depth: covering not just the basics, but the wider context, related questions, and nuanced perspectives that signal true topical authority. SEO is much less about specific keywords and much more about overall topics nowadays. Identifying these topics that best summarise your brand, services or products and then building comprehensive content that covers them in detail is vital. We call these content pillars, and I’ve written a detailed post on the process which we’d recommend you go and read.

AI often produces, at best, “average” content, even with a good prompt. It’s serviceable, but generic. Left unedited, content produced purely by AI risks adding to the sea of sameness rather than standing out.

The smarter approach is to use AI as a research partner. Ask it to map out related subtopics, surface frequently asked questions, or identify gaps in competitor coverage. Then, fill those gaps with your own insights, examples, and perspective. That combination of AI-assisted discovery and human originality is where real authority is built.

5. Trust and User Experience

Finally, SEO signals aren’t limited to words on the page. User experience, from page speed to accessibility to design, shapes how visitors perceive your brand. If your site feels clunky or untrustworthy, users will leave, and that behaviour sends a clear signal to search engines.

No AI tool can build trust on its own. But AI can make your improvement process faster. It can flag friction points in the user journey, analyse heatmaps or behaviour data, and even simulate accessibility checks. Used this way, AI becomes a diagnostic partner, helping you fine-tune the parts of your site that matter most for credibility and trust.

Finding a Winning Balance

The SEO signals that truly matter in 2025, engagement, trust, authority, brand strength, are human at their core. They can’t be automated and attempts to do so usually backfire.

But that doesn’t mean AI is your enemy here, it just shouldn’t be the crutch you rely on. Instead, use AI as an amplifier. It’s the tool that helps you get your expertise in front of the right people faster, package it more effectively, and act on insights more quickly. The key is knowing where AI ends and where the human touch begins.

At Talking Stick Digital, we specialise in finding this balance and making it work for you. By blending AI-driven efficiency with human creativity and SEO expertise, we help brands not just chase rankings, but earn them in ways that last. To find out more about how we can help you stand out in the new generation of search, get in touch today to arrange your free audit.