Welcome to the third annual State Of SEO report by Search Engine Journal! In 2022, it looked a lot like SEO professionals were going back to basics, focusing on their core competencies like technical SEO and looking for solid metrics of success. This year, rapidly developing technology threatens to throw wrenches into the works. SEO pros struggle most with – and are most focused on – content and content strategy. Marketers are still trying to work out what healthy adoption of generative AI for content looks like. Meanwhile, Google upped its standards, adding “experience” to “expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness” to make E-E-A-T. Competition in the SERPS, issues with budgets, client dissatisfaction, and competition in the job market are also on the minds of SEO professionals as disruptive forces. The most experienced respondents are honing in on ways to match their work to specific business goals and measures of audience quality.