80/20 Rule for Future-Proofing:
80% on fundamentals:
- Content quality and structure
- Entity building
- Authority signals
- Technical foundation
These investments compound over time and transfer across platforms.
20% on platform-specific:
- Understanding platform nuances
- Testing specific tactics
- Monitoring platform changes
- Quick wins for current leaders
Platform-specific tactics are worth testing, but don’t over-invest. When a platform changes, that investment may be lost.
Example allocation:
Budget: $100,000 for AI search
- $80,000: Content restructuring, schema, authority building
- $20,000: Platform research, testing, tools for current platforms
If ChatGPT changes dramatically, you lose maybe $20k of effort. The $80k transfers to whatever’s next.
The danger:
Over-optimizing for ChatGPT’s current algorithm is like over-optimizing for Google’s algorithm circa 2010. It worked then, but didn’t last.
Build for principles, not platforms.