Reports of Programmatic SEO's Death Are Greatly Exaggerated

TL:DR: Despite whispers and outright declarations that Programmatic SEO (pSEO) is "dead," especially after Google updates, it's very much alive and incredibly effective for those who implement it thoughtfully. pSEO means creating valuable pages at scale using templates and data – think travel sites listing hotels by city, or SaaS tools detailing integrations. The negative reputation comes from lazy, low-quality execution, often misusing AI to generate spam ("Scaled Content Abuse"). Google penalizes useless scaled content, not scaling itself. Success stories like Zapier prove that high-quality, data-driven, user-focused pSEO drives massive traffic and results. The key isn't avoiding scale; it's ensuring value at scale.

There's a narrative gaining traction in some circles that I feel compelled to address directly: the idea that Programmatic SEO (pSEO) is finished. You hear things like "It doesn't work anymore," "Google's Helpful Content Update killed it," or "You'll get penalized." Frankly, this couldn't be further from the truth.

Programmatic SEO isn't just alive; for those who understand its principles and execute it strategically, it remains one of the most potent tools for dominating search results and capturing targeted traffic without manually crafting thousands upon thousands of pages. Let's clear the air and separate the powerful strategy from the poor execution that gives it a bad name.

First, What Exactly Is Programmatic SEO?

At its core, Programmatic SEO is elegantly simple: it's the strategic process of generating a large number of optimized web pages using structured templates filled with unique data.

Think about common examples:

• A travel website creating pages for "Hotels in [City Name]" for hundreds or thousands of cities.
• An e-commerce site generating pages for "[Product Category] in [Location]."
• A recipe site creating variations like "[Dietary Restriction] [Meal Type] for [Occasion]."
• A SaaS company like Zapier creating pages for every possible integration, like "Connect [App A] to [App B]."

The layout (template) stays largely consistent, but the specific data changes for each instance, targeting a specific user need or search query. When done well, each generated page is unique, valuable, and rankable. The arrival of sophisticated AI has simply supercharged the content generation aspect of this, allowing dynamic text, FAQs, and summaries to fill these templates more easily – if used correctly.

So, Why the Backlash? The Problem Isn't Scale, It's Sloppiness

If pSEO is so powerful, why the negativity? Because, unfortunately, a significant portion of attempts at pSEO are executed poorly.

The ease with which content can be generated, especially with AI, has led many down the wrong path. They automatically generate thousands of pages using thin templates, inaccurate or unoriginal AI-generated text (complete with hallucinations), minimal oversight, and zero focus on actual user value. They're chasing volume for volume's sake.

This is what Google rightly targets as "Scaled Content Abuse." Read Google's own guidelines carefully: creating content at scale is considered abusive if its primary purpose is to manipulate search rankings and it doesn't provide value to users. The keyword there is value. Low-quality, unoriginal content designed only to rank, regardless of whether it helps someone? That's spam. Useful, informative pages created efficiently to serve specific user needs? That's smart strategy.

Exhibit A: Zapier's Masterclass in pSEO

Need proof that high-quality pSEO works? Look no further than Zapier. They have built a dominant SEO presence largely through programmatic pages. Their site features countless pages detailing specific integrations, like "How to connect Google Sheets to Instagram" or "Automatically send data from Excel to Google Forms."

What makes Zapier's approach successful?

• Clear User Value: Each page addresses a specific user need and intent.
• Structured Data: Information is presented clearly and logically.
• Relevant Details: Pages often include helpful FAQs and use cases.
• Proprietary Data: They leverage their own platform's data about integrations.
• Likely AI Enhancement (Done Right): While not confirmed for every element, much of their supporting content (like FAQs or introductory text) appears programmatically generated or AI-assisted, but it's high-quality, relevant, and likely reviewed.

The result? Estimates put their organic traffic from Google in the realm of 9.2 million clicks per month, and it's likely even higher. Google isn't penalizing Zapier; it's rewarding their incredibly useful, large-scale resource.

The Real Danger: Confusing Strategy with Spam

The failure point for many isn't pSEO itself, but mistaking a thoughtful system for churning out AI-generated slop. Bad implementations will kill your SEO efforts due to:

• Thin or Useless Content: Pages offer no real value or unique information.
• Lack of Search Demand: Targeting page variations nobody is actually searching for.
• Poor User Experience: Bad design, slow loading times.
• Technical Bloat: Wasting crawl budget on thousands of low-quality pages.

The Playbook for Programmatic SEO Success

Want to leverage pSEO effectively and avoid the pitfalls? Focus on these principles:

1. Start with Valuable Data: Use unique, proprietary data whenever possible. If using external data, ensure it's accurate and adds value.
2. Focus on User Intent: Ensure each generated page template genuinely serves a specific user need or answers a real question.
3. Prioritize Quality & Helpfulness: The content on each page must be useful, accurate, and provide a good user experience.
4. Implement Human Oversight: Use AI as an assistant, not a replacement for quality control. Review templates, data inputs, and outputs.
5. Target Value, Not Just Volume: Don't create pages just because you can. Cut any template or data set that results in weak or unhelpful pages.
6. Maintain Technical Excellence: Ensure pages load quickly, are mobile-friendly, and technically sound.

Final Thoughts: Effort Still Required

Remember, the concept of programmatic SEO existed long before the current AI boom. Data-driven page generation has been a powerful tactic for years. AI has simply lowered the barrier to entry for the content creation part, which unfortunately attracted many lazy players.

You absolutely can use pSEO and AI to achieve incredible results today. But it requires strategic thinking, quality control, a focus on user value, and yes, effort.

Most people who tell you pSEO is dead are likely referring to the lazy, spammy version. For those willing to be thoughtful, strategic, and user-centric? Programmatic SEO remains one of the biggest advantages available in the digital marketing playbook. Don't dismiss the strategy because of poor practitioners.

Build value at scale. That's the key.