Are affiliate websites doomed

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sikakou

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Hey all,

Here is my thinking, in AI era, most people are now doing their research in chatGPT instead of Google. The impact for an affiliate site for anything is that, the old funnel was: Google search → affiliate site→ affiliate link → purchase→ commission.

Today, that same person will ask ChatGPT, get direct links to the product, and there goes the affiliate sites

Given this shift in people usage of Google -> GPT, is affiliate websites still a viable model ?
 
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sikakou said:
Hey all,

Here is my thinking, in AI era, most people are now doing their research in chatGPT instead of Google. The impact for an affiliate site for anything is that, the old funnel was: Google search → affiliate site→ affiliate link → purchase→ commission.

Today, that same person will ask ChatGPT, get direct links to the product, and there goes the affiliate sites

Given this shift in people usage of Google -> GPT, is affiliate websites still a viable model ?
Click to expand...
Affiliate sites are still viable, but you need to niche down, build authority, and diversify traffic beyond Google.
 
Yeah, video’s big now. Not always a must, but short-form on TikTok/IG/YouTube can drive solid traffic.
 
You need to reverse engineer the websites that Chatgpt is referencing and replicate what those sites are doing and improve on it.
 
You need to get into a dataset of chatGPT that is updated every now and then.
 
Build an IWA, you have no problem monitising it. I'm converting my last blog into a story based one, and there is a a little guy with a coffee cart at each part, that asks, would you like to buy a coffee to help with your strength. (Its a buy me a coffee donation api link) and when they donate, they get to move on to the next stage. I've also got affilaite links partway

Its an interactive experiance, something which cannot be replicated in a chat bot, or copied by noobs. So I have no doubt, if you are building quality interactive experiences for your audience, above what a chatbot has to offer, you will make money. The best always wins.
 
So I get from this 2 ways to copie with this AI era :
1- do what AI can't do - video content, an app
2- Optimize content and SEO for AI so that when people are researching using ChatGPT, ChatGPT gives links to my website.

Any other ideas ?
 
sikakou said:
So I get from this 2 ways to copie with this AI era :
1- do what AI can't do - video content, an app
2- Optimize content and SEO for AI so that when people are researching using ChatGPT, ChatGPT gives links to my website.

Any other ideas ?
Click to expand...
That'll do for now. If you are waiting to start , then you already proove you have no idea of the work involved in success. You got the direction, you go the motivation, you maybe got the skills. Now you need the applied work and time clocked in. Money doesn't grow from ideas, it comes from the applied work of successful ideas.
 
Panther28 said:
Money doesn't grow from ideas, it comes from the applied work of successful ideas.
Click to expand...
Well said, you won't go anywhere if you don't put the first step forward and action things. The above does give direction. Thing is we at a shifting point in time (maybe the best time to get in you'll tell me) because what used to work won't necessarily work anymore because of this Google -> ChatGPT shift so we can't apply stupidly what used to work (basic comparison site for example) and cross fingers for it to work. But yes the above does give food for thoughts and one needs to strategize around it now.
 
sikakou said:
I'm actually acquiring theses. Any course to recommend ?
Click to expand...
Look up Udemy, and wait for the days they have high-quality 20-30+ hours courses for $15 about. That's where I started learning some things that were outside the disorganization of YouTube.

There aren't many things to try. basically you have text,video, images, sound, and software. What you want to do? Look up who pays for the choice you make. Youtube pays for original videos and spotify pays for original music and podcasts. Hubpages pays for text. Websites that you own that are IWAs can incorprate a mixture, and link to any affiliate or site you want.

take a look at my favorite place for viral ideas for an IWA https://theuselessweb.com/

There are loads of undermonitised ideas listed from that site.
 
Panther28 said:
Look up Udemy, and wait for the days they have high-quality 20-30+ hours courses for $15 about. That's where I started learning some things that were outside the disorganization of YouTube.

There aren't many things to try. basically you have text,video, images, sound, and software. What you want to do? Look up who pays for the choice you make. Youtube pays for original videos and spotify pays for original music and podcasts. Hubpages pays for text. Websites that you own that are IWAs can incorprate a mixture, and link to any affiliate or site you want.

take a look at my favorite place for viral ideas for an IWA https://theuselessweb.com/

There are loads of undermonitised ideas listed from that site.
Click to expand...
Will do. Thanks !
 
Panther28 said:
Look up Udemy, and wait for the days they have high-quality 20-30+ hours courses for $15 about. That's where I started learning some things that were outside the disorganization of YouTube.

There aren't many things to try. basically you have text,video, images, sound, and software. What you want to do? Look up who pays for the choice you make. Youtube pays for original videos and spotify pays for original music and podcasts. Hubpages pays for text. Websites that you own that are IWAs can incorprate a mixture, and link to any affiliate or site you want.

take a look at my favorite place for viral ideas for an IWA https://theuselessweb.com/

There are loads of undermonitised ideas listed from that site.
Click to expand...

But the issue remains the same, you can hardly get traffic nowadays from SEO for example. The way to monetize isn't the issue
 
Jinao said:
But the issue remains the same, you can hardly get traffic nowadays from SEO for example. The way to monetize isn't the issue
Click to expand...
I guess the answer to that is here :
sikakou said:
So I get from this 2 ways to copie with this AI era :
1- do what AI can't do - video content, an app
2- Optimize content and SEO for AI so that when people are researching using ChatGPT, ChatGPT gives links to my website.

Any other ideas ?
Click to expand...
 
The shift to AI search will reshape, not eliminate, affiliate marketing. Key strategies include adapting SEO for AI, diversifying traffic beyond search, creating niche content AI can't replace, and providing value that justifies direct visits. The focus moves from just referrals to deeper brand relationships and direct consumer trust.
 
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