I Did an SEO Roast of an AI Search Engine Startup (Klu)
This section has been automatically generated with AI based on the transcript from the video roast.
AI search engines are an exciting new technology, promising to make finding information across apps and data silos fast and seamless. As the founder of an SEO agency who helps startups grow, I was intrigued when I heard about Klu, an AI search startup founded by Sandra. I decided to do a quick SEO audit and provide some feedback on how they can improve their organic search strategy.
In this post, I'll share where I see room for optimization in Klu's SEO, from technical issues to content and keywords. My goal is to provide constructive tips to help them better attract and convert their target customer base.
Examining Klu's Current SEO Strategy
I started my analysis by looking at Klu's current presence in Ahrefs, a leading SEO toolset. Right away, I noticed a couple of on-page SEO issues:
Duplicate Page Titles
In Ahrefs, I could see that Klu has two
<title> tags on their homepage. This is invalid markup that could confuse search engines about the page's focus.
I confirmed the duplicate titles by viewing the page source and searching for the
<title> element:Best practice is to have just one
<title> tag per page.Suboptimal Title Tag
The first title tag - "Find information instantly" - is very broad and not something users would search for related to an AI search engine.
The second title - "Klu – AI Search Engine for Your Work Apps" - has potential but could still be improved. Using a more specific title tailored around Klu's unique value proposition and ideal customer segment could help them better attract searchers.
For example, something like:
This still contains the relevant keywords but positions Klu for enterprise search buyers specifically.
Existing Enterprise Search Competition
When I search for related keywords around Klu's current title tag, competitors like Bloomreach, Coveo, and even Google itself appear.
There are also existing articles reviewing enterprise AI search platforms like Guru, Coveio, and Algolia.
This indicates that Klu faces stiff competition for generic enterprise search keywords. A more targeted SEO strategy is needed to differentiate their offering.
Optimizing Technical SEO
Before diving into content and keywords, I wanted to review Klu's technical SEO implementation. This establishes critical site infrastructure needed for SEO success.
Running Klu through Ahref's Site Audit tool, I immediately saw some areas needing improvement:
- No
rel="canonical"tag - needed to prevent duplicate content issues
- Missing XML sitemap - makes crawling and indexing harder for search engines
- No structured data markup
- Limited alt text usage - misses SEO optimization opportunities
Fixing technical SEO issues like these is relatively straightforward. It just takes some knowledge of best practices and a tool like Ahref's site audit to identify gaps.
I'd recommend Klu go through this process to resolve any technical problems. That will make it much easier to get pages indexed and ranking with the content optimization tips I'll cover next.
Evaluating Existing Keyword Rankings
I next wanted to analyze what terms Klu currently ranks for. In Ahrefs, I sorted their pages by position to see the top keywords driving traffic:
- Maximizing productivity in a digital age
- AI calendars
- All calendars in one place
- Clue experience
- No search bars
- Gmail search bars
- Knowledge management
However, none of these seem likely to drive significant search volume. For example, "maximizing productivity in a digital age" is not a common user search query.
And rankings for one-off keyword phrases containing "Clue" itself indicate very little non-branded organic traffic.
So despite some homepage keyword rankings, Klu doesn't appear to have any meaningful search presence currently.
Blog URL Slugs Are Too Long
Looking at Klu's blog specifically, I noticed very lengthy URL slugs:
These verbose titles might work for on-page copy, but make for poor URL structure and keyword targeting.
For example, this blog post ranks for "gmail slack integration", which is a useful search term. But the slug itself includes no relevant keywords - it's focused entirely on branding Klu rather than matching search intent.
In general, blog post slugs should contain just the core keyword you want to target to have any chance ranking.
Improving Blog Content for SEO
In addition to optimizing URL structure, Klu's blog content itself could be better formatted for organic search.
Let's look at a few ways to improve their existing posts.
Use Shorter Titles
Many of Klu's blog headlines take up 50% or more of the visible page space. Compare this to better optimized sites where the title is short and impactful:
By shortening titles, visitors immediately see the page image and intro copy, which helps engagement.
Fix Blog Post Layout
Scanning down Klu's posts, the massive title dominates the entire screen. This reduces readability and looks spammy.
A better template would include:
- Short headline
- Eye-catching intro image
- Article preview / excerpt
- Table of contents menu
- Body content sections with graphics
- Clear call to actions
Optimizing these elements helps search engines understand the content and keeps visitors reading.
Develop Targeted Blog Content Strategy
Currently Klu's blog covers a wide range of disconnected topics that aren't specific to keywords searchers are using.
I'd recommend:
- Identify the integrations and apps Klu supports (Slack, Gmail, Notion etc.)
- Analyze the search volume for keywords around integrating those tools (e.g. "slack gmail integration")
- Create posts optimized and tailored to rank for each high-value keyword
For example, a blog post targeting "slack gmail integration" would focus specifically on connecting those tools and highlight Klu's value add.
Rather than a vague title like "Unifying Slack and Notion", it would be "Slack and Notion Integration Guide".
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