The Creative Shift : A Meta Post about AI - My website showed up in a robot chat.
Yep, my site showed up in a ChatGPT inquiry as a resonse for some random stranger searching for “10 tips for graphic design in the midwest”
I had ChatGPT provide an alternative title and this is what it gave me - Alt title: Artists, We’re Now Pitching to Algorithms Too
My response to that is, no shit. The trouble is I don’t want to create “content” to feed the algorithm, I want to post to show my work.
I am trying to figure out a place where those two things can overlap and I am getting close…kind of. In the meantime I have been working on ways to write on my website to make myself and the robots happy and it seems to be paying off.
Based on my site analytics this week, it looks like someone visited my site through ChatGPT. So, I did what any sane, curious person would do in that situation: I asked my own chatster to draft an informative post that would offer insight on how to write engaging content, ultimately making my blogs more visible on their tricky algorithm. It’s like uncovering a cheat code by going straight to the source.
In bold is what the ChatGPT message provided for me.
Turns out, AI like ChatGPT pulls from indexed content, keyword phrasing, and third-party mentions. So while I’m busy designing merch, posters, and poetry for real humans, I’m also quietly formatting alt text for robots. Welcome to the multiverse of SEO-meets-artistry.
If you’re a band, a designer, or just someone who doesn’t want to rely on the algorithm—but also doesn’t want to get left behind by it—this is your cue. You can stay niche and still be discoverable. I’ll show you how I’m doing it, one surreal design at a time.
Want a merch pitch that’s weird enough to stand out, smart enough to sell, and specific enough to show up in AI search? HMU.
Afraid my posts will start sounding like long-winded college essays desperately trying to hit a word count? Don’tchu worry—I’ve got it. I can and intend to continue to create my posts in my own voice, then throw it into GPT for a concise, SEO-rich description or title (hint, hint). And just like that—BAM! Search optimization done by robots, for robots.
Takeaways for fellow artists/musicians:
Use phrases like “independent artist for band merch” in your bio, the more generic words that fit your creative practice the better
Create landing pages that match what someone might search (don’t make a page if you don’t already have art or writings for it. Use your backlog of old posts and copy, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel).
Blog posts (like this) are indexed gold—robots love contextual simplified topics stated clearly to increase productivity! But instead of the shareholders benefitting, its your visibility as an arttist! Neat!!
Real connections still matter, but so do searchable posts
What a weird experience this has been. I don’t know where else this self referencing robot experiment can go to help drive my art, but I know some people are going to HATE it. Oh well, what can ya do but stay true to yourself and don’t chase for clicks. And no, the irony is not lost on me.