Monitoring your website's traffic can be exciting and nerve racking at the same time. If you've been investing in your own SEO, you know how hard it can be to get to the point where your website gets consistent traffic.

It took me years to get there. By the end of 2024 I was attracting hundreds of visits a month to my very niche website catering towards marketing for therapists in private practice.

And then I decided to step it up a notch.

I decided to use AI writers to create multiple blog posts for various keywords that are related to private practice and marketing. It was an experiment in what I thought was efficiency. Sure enough, those AI writers were able to produce over 50 posts, the majority of which started with the words: "In today's day and age".

And even though I optimized the produced content and tried to make it sound more human, my experiment killed my website traffic.

Here's a visual that shows how quickly it deteriorated.

Suddenly, I became invisible online.

Luckily, SEO is not the only channel I use to reach my audience and attract clients, so my business was able to survive this collapse. But for discovery by new people, this was a disaster.

So I decided to resuscitate my online presence ASAP. That's how I learned to write a new kind of content. Content that is optimized for usefulness, not just keywords.

Instead of asking, "How do I rank for this keyword?" I started asking, "What does someone need to understand before they choose me?"

I discovered how to leverage AI while preserving my own point of view, and how to get discovered through both traditional search and AI platforms.

Today, a big percentage of my website visitors find me by chatting with ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. As a matter of fact, my most recent client came to me via one of these platforms.

Inadvertently, my failed experiment gave me the push to innovate my approach to online search. On June 24th, I will be explaining this approach in a Free Masterclass How to Avoid Becoming Invisible in the Age of AI Search.

​Register here to join live or receive a recording of the event.

Take it from me, being invisible online is a doozy.

See you next week,

Avivit

And now to the news!

NOTEWORTHY

Talkspace Launches AI Mental Health Bot

Source: Guru Focus​

Talkspace introduced Tee, an AI-powered mental health companion designed to provide 24/7 support for stress, anxiety, relationships, and life decisions. The platform includes safety protocols, continuity across conversations, and escalation pathways to licensed clinicians when needed.

Why it matters: AI companions are becoming more specialized and accessible, potentially changing how clients think about support, availability, and the role of therapy.

BUSINESS AND PRIVATE PRACTICE

Is Social Media Worth Your Time in 2026?

Source: REdD Strategy​

This article explores the role of social media in therapy marketing, arguing that it works best as a visibility and trust-building tool rather than the foundation of a marketing strategy.

Why it matters: Social media can support growth, but it rarely compensates for unclear positioning or weak visibility elsewhere.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Aetna Leads Commercial Reimbursement Rates

Source: Behavioral Health Business​

A new analysis found that Aetna currently offers the highest reimbursement rates among major commercial payers for 60-minute psychotherapy sessions, highlighting significant variation across insurance contracts.

Why it matters: Not all insurance contracts are created equal. Payer mix can have a meaningful impact on practice revenue and long-term sustainability.