The Changing Role Of SEO

The search landscape has never been so uncertain. For consumers search is becoming easier with the introduction of AI. With Google Labs SGE (Search Generative Experience) and Bing's Co-pilot integrated into search, users can get to information and more in-depth answers more directly and rapidly than ever before.

As a result, already consumers have stopped relying on traditional search and AI chatbots are increasingly handling straightforward informational queries, leading to a decline in traditional search engine traffic. Gartner predicts a 25% drop in web traffic from search engines by 2026 due to AI chatbots and virtual agents. Personally, I rarely use Google or Bing search anymore and prefer to use Perplexity or ChatGPT to get straight to the solution without the need to navigate an annoying set of ads or irrelevant links. I find Perplexity to be the most effective, providing in-depth answers to queries, and am constantly surprised by how few people are aware of its existence.

But what are the implications for SEO? According to Authoritas, an SEO agency, AI generated results in Google SGE do not match the links in organic search results by an astonishing 93% of the time, indicating that AI search s drawing knowledge very differently from traditional search. The good old days of creating content and driving organic traffic are coming to an end soon!

Companies will rapidly find that traditional search SEO strategies will no longer guarantee traffic and awareness and need to adapt rapidly to the paradigm shift in search and ensure that strong SEO practices can still lead to visibility within AI-generated responses.

With that in mind, below are a few SEO trends to be aware of.

Emergence of New Optimization Strategies

The advent of AI has introduced concepts like Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). These strategies focus on structuring content to be easily interpreted by AI systems, ensuring that information is presented in formats conducive to AI parsing, such as clear headings, bullet points, and concise answers. Schema markup, FAQ-structured snippets, and HTML5 semantic tags are fast becoming table stakes. Prioritizing natural language, long tail key words is increasingly important as initial results show AI search is much more conversational and users are seeking more in-depth answers than traditional search perhaps because they know AI is capable of delivering that.

SEO optimization and automation at scale. There are new SEO agents coming onto the market such as marketbrew ai, and market muse that can automate many of the tasks that previously required copyrighting and analytics resource. AI agents can now perform tasks such as creating SEO optimized content, titles and headers as well as advising what content types to cover that are not covered by competitors. AI can also update existing pages, tags, meta data, images, automatically and optimize for SEO saving time and money.

Strategic Importance of SEO Amidst AI Advancements

While AI alters the search landscape, SEO continues to be a vital component of digital marketing. It not only aids in maintaining visibility in traditional search engines but also plays a significant role in ensuring content is accessible to AI platforms. Moreover, well-optimized content can lead to increased brand authority and trustworthiness, factors that AI systems consider when sourcing information.

Therefore, investing in SEO is not just about driving traffic but also about establishing a credible and authoritative online presence in both traditional and AI-driven search environments.

In practice, that means doubling down on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust), building first-party data to own your audience, and shipping genuinely useful content rather than spinning out low-value keyword soup. AI is brutal at surfacing the best answer—make sure the best answer is yours!