As a global leader at the intersection of SEO, content marketing, and data analytics, Anastasia Braitsik has a unique vantage point on the seismic shifts AI is causing in the industry. With a career built on understanding how content drives business outcomes, she offers a clear-eyed perspective on navigating the new digital landscape. We sat down with her to discuss the evolving role of the content professional, exploring how to blend human strategy with machine efficiency. Our conversation delves into structuring content for both LLMs and human readers, proving the value of our work with new “trust metrics,” and future-proofing our skills for a world where originality and strategic wisdom have become the most valuable currency.
Chelsea Alves mentions writers should view AI as a collaborator for “research acceleration,” while Andy Betts advises positioning yourself as the strategic thinker. How do you blend these roles? Please describe a project where your strategic direction and AI’s research capabilities led to a superior outcome.
That’s the essential tension we all have to master. You can’t be just one or the other; you must be both the architect and the tool user. I recently worked on a campaign to shape the narrative for a CEO in a new market. My role was purely strategic: defining the core message, identifying stakeholder needs, and mapping out a storytelling arc. I used AI as my research collaborator, tasking it with synthesizing market data, identifying competitor messaging, and generating initial outlines for thought leadership pieces. But the final output was always mine. I took that raw material and infused it with the CEO’s authentic voice, weaving in anecdotes and empathy that a machine simply can’t fabricate. The result was a series of articles that not only performed well in search but also shaped investor conversations and drove recruitment quality—a strategic outcome far beyond what simple AI-generated text could achieve.
Heather Lloyd-Martin champions “messy prompting” to infuse nuance and voice, but Adam Riemer cautions against adapting too much from human-centric writing. How do you balance these perspectives? Could you walk us through your step-by-step process for ensuring a piece maintains its authentic voice while using AI?
It’s a delicate balance, but the guiding principle is simple: never forget your audience. AI isn’t your customer. I start every project by grounding myself in the human element, focusing on the audience’s skill level and needs. My first step is to establish the brand’s voice guidelines and the strategic goal of the piece. Only then do I bring in AI as a creative wingman. I’ll use what Heather calls “messy prompting” to brainstorm—throwing in fragmented ideas, brand personality traits, and specific anecdotes to see what kind of creative connections the AI can make. But this is purely for ideation. The next, and most crucial step, is to take that AI-assisted outline and write the final copy myself, ensuring every line is infused with genuine insight and our unique point of view. It’s the difference between using a calculator to speed up your math and letting it write the entire thesis for you.
The article notes the need for a “layered content experience” for machines and a higher “influence-per-word ratio.” How do you structure an article to satisfy both an LLM and a human reader? Please detail the key formatting and writing choices you make from the headline to the conclusion.
This concept of a layered experience is everything now. I think of it as building a house: you need a strong, clear skeleton for the machines, but you also need a warm, inviting interior for the humans. For the machine-facing skeleton, I focus on impeccable structure: schema-informed headings, clear subheads that capture intent, strong internal linking, and definitional clarity. I’ll often add an FAQ section or a “quick takeaways” box at the top to help LLMs grasp the core value immediately. For the human-facing experience, I focus on the emotive elements. This means crafting a compelling narrative, using storytelling to make data stick, and writing sentences that stand alone with context but also flow together beautifully. This approach naturally increases your “influence-per-word ratio” because you’re not just producing text; you’re directing a strategic asset designed for dual audiences.
Instead of just traffic, Chelsea Alves points to “trust metrics” like share of voice and mentions in AI summaries to prove impact. What specific, non-traditional metrics do you use to demonstrate content ROI, and can you share an anecdote where these metrics convinced a skeptical stakeholder of your value?
We’ve moved far beyond traffic and clicks. I had a client whose leadership team was skeptical about content investment, seeing it as an overhead cost. Instead of showing them page views, I presented a dashboard of what I call “trust metrics.” We tracked our share of voice against competitors, our appearances in AI-generated summaries for key industry queries, and mentions in third-party media. The real breakthrough came when I shared qualitative feedback: the sales team forwarded an email where a high-value prospect specifically referenced one of our data reports as the reason they reached out. That anecdote, combined with data showing our growing authority in AI summaries, completely shifted the conversation. Leadership finally understood that content wasn’t a cost center; it was a strategic function that multiplied our organizational output and built tangible credibility in the market.
Heather Lloyd-Martin states that “great content doesn’t expire” and champions refreshing old posts. What is your process for auditing and updating existing content for renewed impact? Please explain how you identify which pieces to refresh and how you then repurpose that content for other platforms.
I’m a huge believer in this. So many brands are sitting on a goldmine of forgotten content. My process starts with an audit to find the low-hanging fruit—older blogs or guides that are already ranking on the second or third page for valuable queries. These pieces often deliver faster wins than starting from scratch. Once identified, the refresh is thorough: we update the headlines to be more eye-catching, improve internal linking to newer content, add fresh data or expert commentary, and then execute a full re-promotion campaign. The magic doesn’t stop there. A single refreshed guide can be repurposed into a dozen other assets. The new data points become a LinkedIn carousel, the expert quotes fuel a week of social media posts, and the core framework can be adapted into an explainer video or a dedicated email newsletter. It’s about making your best assets work harder for you across every channel.
What is your forecast for the single most in-demand skill for content professionals in the coming years?
The single most in-demand skill will not be prompt engineering or writing speed. It will be strategic wisdom. In a world saturated with AI-generated sameness, the scarcest resource will be experienced human judgment. This means having the ability to know what to say, why it needs to be said, and how to direct AI to assist that vision without sacrificing authenticity or creative integrity. Companies are already realizing that simply producing more content faster is a losing game. The real value will come from content leaders who can tie their work to tangible business impact, whether it’s shaping investor conversations or building a brand that sounds unmistakably human. Those who master directing AI while maintaining that strategic, creative core will command premium value.
