Answering the Difficult Questions: Tackling the Integrity of Using AI-driven Results in the iGaming Sphere

Remember the days when SEO used to reign supreme? Now, the tables have turned; the times have changed, and so has the entire balance of power between SEO and AI.

In 2020, this situation would have seemed perfectly plausible.

SEO Expert: “I’ve optimized the H1s, fixed the schema, built 50 backlinks, and crushed Core Web Vitals.”

Google: “Top of the page, no questions asked.”

2025 is somewhat (or perhaps completely) different.

SEO Expert: “I did everything perfectly.”

Google AI Overview: "Here's a made-up answer with zero citations and a sprinkle of hallucination. You're welcome."

SEO: "I died doing what I loved — being ignored by Google's AI summaries."

Someone unfamiliar with AI may be overwhelmed by the numerous new technologies emerging in today’s online world, especially when they are niche-specific, such as iGaming.

In this article, I’ll narrow it down, dissect certain approaches, and make it easier for everyone to understand the world of AI combined with SEO in the iGaming industry.

From Rankings to Reasoning: The New SEO Frontier

Like all other major search engines, Google, the top dog, is pushing its AI technology to the stratosphere, aiming to dominate the AI field in all aspects, including the SERP. 

Their AI Mode is steadily growing in use and already rewriting the SEO rules. Optimizing for a specific keyword or page is a thing of the past. No longer is your content optimized to be semantically relevant across multiple hidden queries. This is because ranking is not deterministic but probabilistic, driven by how large language models (LLMs) interpret and retrieve information. Now, it’s less about flexing your authority and more about how your content chunks are embedded and interpreted by AI.

To stay relevant, you have to:

• Shape how users search by leveraging other brand channels

• Craft content at the paragraph level to align with both meaning and language model preferences
• Predict and adapt to environments dominated by AI-generated queries
• Enhance content with strong semantic alignment and clear subject-object-predicate structures
• Monitor performance using personas modeled with intentional user behavior patterns
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With the new model, content isn't evaluated solely by what it says, but by how closely it aligns with Google’s interpretation of what the user meant.

A Multimodal Approach for a Multimodal Relevance

Organizations need to start thinking about format-level coverage, not just keyword or topic clusters. It’s no longer enough to write the best article: you also need to create the best video, the best chart, and the best quote that might show up in search.

This diagram outlines the key components required to strengthen a company’s online presence in the age of AI dominance, as demonstrated through HIREQUARTERS’ strategic approach.

If you’re not producing these formats, Google’s AI may generate them from your content, but without crediting you. Creating multimodal content (text, video, visuals, audio) isn’t just a bonus anymore. It’s how you stay in control of your brand.

In AI Mode, Google builds answers by pulling from many sources and content types, using reasoning chains instead of simple keyword matching. To stay visible, your content needs to show up in those chains and not just rank, but actually help the model think.

Now, if we want to compete, we need tools and strategies that test questions like:

• Does my content rank?
• Does my content help the model think?
• Where does my content drop out of the AI’s logic path?

If your content isn’t part of the AI’s reasoning process, it’s already invisible.

Content That Wins in the Age of AI

To succeed in AI Mode, content must do more than just target keywords. It needs to be designed for how AI models read, reason, and respond. Here are the four key pillars:

1. Match the reasoning goal: Your content should stand on its own, clearly explain comparisons or options, and avoid unnecessary fluff. This enables AI models to utilize it in ranking or summarizing results.
2. Support query expansion: Include clear, specific entities (brands, products, concepts) that connect to Google's Knowledge Graph and align with common user intents like comparing, choosing, or filtering.
3. Be easy to cite: Use solid facts, numbers, sources, and clear statements so LLMs can confidently pull and attribute information from your content.
4. Be structurally modular: Use lists, headings, FAQs, and TL;DRs. Content that’s easy to scan and split into parts is more likely to be reused in AI summaries.

From Semantic Signals to Spin Rates: AI SEO for iGaming

As AI continues to reshape how Google surfaces content, one of the most significant shifts is the distribution of visibility across the results page. In the traditional SEO model, the top three positions in the SERP were everything, and the difference between ranking #3 and #5 could mean a dramatic drop in traffic. However, with the introduction of AI Overviews and a more fragmented, dynamic presentation of search results, the importance of absolute position has begun to wane.

This evolution presents a unique opportunity for mid-tier affiliate brands, especially those previously occupying positions 5–20. These players, often stuck in the long tail with limited exposure, now have a much better chance of being pulled into AI-generated snippets and summaries (placements that can drive significant traffic regardless of their core SERP position).

Even smaller, lesser-known brands now stand a chance of surfacing if their content meets the right criteria: semantic depth, alignment with user intent, and structural readiness for AI parsing. This was nearly impossible under the old SEO regime, where high domain authority and backlink volume were king.

In this new, AI-first environment, visibility depends more on relevance and structure than on traditional rankings. That means a well-optimized content block on a smaller site might get picked up over a poorly structured post from a top-tier domain. The playing field isn’t fully level, but it’s far more dynamic, and that creates new opportunities for those who understand how to optimize their content for AI discovery.

Expertise Over Authority: How Google Selects iGaming Content for AI Overviews

In the age of AI-powered search, Google’s content selection process has evolved beyond traditional ranking signals. While domain authority (DA) still matters, topical expertise is now emerging as the deciding factor, especially when it comes to inclusion in AI Overviews.

Take the US daily fantasy sports (DFS) market as an example. When users ask Google questions related to DFS, the answers that surface most often come from niche, highly specialized sites like Daily Fantasy Labs. These platforms have established deep topical authority specifically within DFS, and that expertise is now being recognized and rewarded.

Contrast this with the previous SEO landscape, where generalist sites, such as Dimers, boosted by high domain ratings, often outranked more focused competitors. In that model, backlink profiles and domain strength were often enough to secure top positions, even if DFS wasn't their core focus.

Interestingly, Dimers still performs well in AI Overviews for sweepstakes-related queries, likely due to its strong domain rating (DR). Meanwhile, smaller sweepstakes-specialist sites, such as SweepsKings, are less frequently featured, not because of content relevance, but likely due to their lower domain strength.

This points to a hybrid model. When Google evaluates two similarly optimized pages, domain authority still plays a role, but expertise is now the tiebreaker. If two sources have comparable DR, the platform with deeper specialization in the topic is more likely to be included in the AI-generated summary.

In short, depth beats breadth when paired with credibility. For affiliate brands and publishers, the takeaway is clear: building authority in a specific vertical is more valuable than ever, not just for traditional ranking but for earning a place in the AI narrative.

Intent, Depth, and AI Optimization Now Define Eligibility

While domain authority and topical expertise are key signals in Google's AI-driven rankings, they're not enough on their own. The true starting point for inclusion in AI Overviews is content depth, alignment with user intent, and how well your writing is optimized for AI consumption.

Even high-authority or niche-specialist platforms can be bypassed if they fail to meet expectations in these areas. In cases where neither high-DR nor expert sites effectively capture the query’s context, Google turns to the next best alternatives: publishers that may not be hyper-focused on the topic but have demonstrated topical proximity and content clarity.

Take LegalSportsReport, for example. While it's primarily a sports betting site, Google sometimes prioritizes it for DFS-related queries in AI Overviews. Why? DFS and sports betting share semantic overlap, and LegalSportsReport consistently produces in-depth, structured, and well-aligned content across adjacent verticals. Google's systems can infer competence, even when it's not explicit.

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This illustrates a key shift: Google is less reliant on linear topic matching and more attuned to how well a piece of content helps the AI model reason through a user query. Relevance is now inferred, not just matched. If your content aligns with the broader intent, has depth, and is compositionally optimized, you’re in the game, even if you're not the most obvious expert on paper.

Key shifts in the AI content landscape:

• There's been a 46% increase in citations from first-party sources, such as official app stores and operator websites.
• The presence of low-value affiliate snippets has decreased by 38%.
• User trust is improving, thanks to inline sourcing and summaries that lead with clear, answer-first information.
• However, bias in product reviews and comparisons remains a risk, as these still heavily depend on the quality and credibility of the original source.

Rethinking the Integrity of AI-Generated Content in iGaming

The debate around AI content integrity, especially in SEO and iGaming, is often exaggerated. In fact, the quality and trustworthiness of AI-generated responses, particularly those shown by Google, have actually improved.

This pyramid illustrates the layered foundation required for SEO success in today’s AI-driven digital landscape, but let’s delve deeper.

We’re increasingly seeing snippets and AI Overviews sourced directly from operator websites or app store descriptions, which are arguably the most accurate and unbiased data sources available for information such as bonuses, terms, or features.

This shift reveals a deeper irony. Namely, the criticism around AI content integrity often overlooks the fact that many human-written iGaming articles are themselves derivative, compiled from other affiliate sites without verifying the accuracy of the information. AI systems largely do the same, just with more scale and structure. Yes, errors happen, but humans make errors, too. If anything, judging AI content for its "integrity" when it's trained on flawed or recycled human content is paradoxical.

Importantly, Google’s interface now includes citation links within its AI Overviews, reducing concerns about unverifiable or fabricated information. Users can trace claims back to their sources, which introduces more transparency than the traditional 10-blue-links model ever offered.

That said, the most vulnerable areas for bias and misinformation are reviews and comparison content. If the AI system pulls from biased or overly promotional affiliate sites, that slant can (and often will) surface in the AI response. This is why content quality, neutrality, and clarity have never been more important.

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Despite these nuances, the overall user experience has improved compared to five years ago. Back then, top-ranking results were often thin, and SEO-optimized fluff pieces produced by high DR sites relied on backlink authority rather than content value. Today, even those legacy sites are being forced to level up. They have to go deeper, be more useful, and truly address user intent. 

The AI evolution didn’t kill SEO — it raised the bar for it.

Final Thought: SEO Isn’t Dead. It’s Just Not What You Think

As we shift into the AI-shaped SERP era, the old rules no longer apply. Ranking isn’t about position but about presence. To succeed, affiliate brands, especially in iGaming, need to stop chasing keyword placements and start engineering content ecosystems that align with how models think, reason, and retrieve. Expertise, semantic clarity, and format diversity aren’t just best practices anymore. They’re prerequisites for relevance. The game has changed. Time to play smarter.