Once upon a time, there was just Google…
For years, ranking on Google was the dream. Keywords here, backlinks there, a sprinkle of alt text, and boom, page one. But 2025 has entered the field, and suddenly your best-performing blog post from 2019 is buried behind an AI summary that doesn’t even link to you.
So is SEO dead? Well, no!
Is it changing faster than you can say “zero-click search”? Yes.
Let’s try to understand what is changing, what it means for SEO, and how we as marketers can stay up to date with our strategies, and let do this with the help of some serious SEO heavyweights.
So, how do you rank in AI-generated results?
Wil Reynolds (Seer Interactive) says:
“Most AI content is faking the funk. We’ve gone from writing for people to writing at people.”
His advice? Get real. Content needs depth, purpose, and clarity, otherwise it risks being filtered out by both human readers and AI systems.
Wil and his team at Seer are even building AI Disruption Dashboards, tools that show how AI is cannibalising traditional organic traffic. The takeaway? You can’t just write for algorithms, you need to build trust, anticipation, and clarity into your content from the start.
Rand Fishkin (SparkToro) calls it:
“Search Everywhere Optimization.”
He’s not mourning the death of SEO, he’s celebrating the change. Instead of obsessing over Google’s blue links, Rand wants marketers to optimize for visibility wherever people ask questions: AI assistants, Reddit, niche forums, social feeds, podcasts, even newsletters.
Aleyda Solís reminds us:
“Content must be discoverable and accessible technically, not just contextually.”
What does this mean? Don’t abandon your technical SEO skills. With AI scraping and summarising data, structured content, schema markup, and fast performance still matter – perhaps more than ever.
Is Google search dropping off a cliff?
This question can divide the crowd. It can be used as a Get Out Of Jail card for some, casting blame on declining searches when actually the SEO strategy is simply poor. its easy for SEO’s to blame Google search volume, or AI when things dont go their way – its been happening throughout time!
However, in answer to the question is Google search dropping off a cliff? It’s important not get too dramatic, but things are shifting.
Barry Schwartz (Search Engine Roundtable) tracks this in real time:
- SERPs are now crowded with AI snapshots, People Also Ask boxes, and zero-click results.
- Barry’s blog is a live stream of how Google is increasingly answering questions directly, and linking out less.
So yes, the classic SEO model of top ranking leading to immediate results, is losing steam. But…
Marie Haynes (E-E-A-T Queen) offers a silver lining:
“If you’re focused on real expertise and helpful content, you’re already doing what AI systems value.”
Google (and AI bots) are filtering more aggressively for trustworthy, authoritative, human-authored content. So if your SEO strategy is built on fluff, say goodbye. But if you’ve built with substance, your moment is coming.
What’s the future for SEO agencies & individuals?
Is AI gradually wiping out the role of SEO? Is search engine optimisation what is once was, and does it still require skilled individuals and agencies to continue to drive success?
Of course, AI is absolutely here to stay, and yes the AI engines are starting to eat Google’s lunch. So what can be done about this?
Agencies need to:
- Offer AI content risk audits
- Track visibility across the wider platforms, not just Google
- Help brands build a presence, not just rank focused on a handful of keywords
Individuals should:
- Follow folks like Martin Splitt, who helps bridge the gap between devs and SEOs.
“If you don’t understand rendering, indexing, and how JavaScript affects crawling – you’re leaving traffic on the table.”
- Stay curious. Learn how to optimise prompt-based experiences, voice search, and even AI-chat-first customer journeys.
10 top things SEOs must do to rank in AI results (2025)
- Write like a human, not like a robot
- AI rewards content that is clear, conversational, and context-aware.
- Avoid fluff and waffle. Aim to answer real questions being asked better than anyone else.
- Target topics, not just keywords
- AI looks at semantic understanding, not exact matches.
- Build topical authority, not just keyword density.
- Still use keyword research to get your started but that research should be much more rounded than just using the Google keyword tool
- Use structured data (Schema)
- Schema markup helps AI understand your content contextually.
- Mark up FAQs, how-tos, product info, reviews, and more.
- Answer questions like an expert
- Use clear headings (e.g., “What is X?”, “How does Y work?”).
- Structure answers like you’re helping a real person in conversation.
- Focus on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trust)
- Show who wrote the content, why they’re credible, and how it helps.
- Include author bios, credentials, sources, and experience-based opinions.
- Optimise for AI summary boxes (Answer Engines)
- Craft content in a Q&A style.
- Use TL;DRs, bullets, and mini summaries to feed AI crawlers neatly.
- Create multi-format content (text, video, audio)
- AI doesn’t just read, it’s learning from every format.
- Embed videos, add transcripts, and repurpose across platforms.
- Improve page speed, Core Web Vitals & mobile experience
- AI tools prioritize fast, clean UX, especially on mobile.
- Don’t neglect performance just because the content is great.
- Monitor AI mentions & visibility
- Use tools to see where you show up in ChatGPT/Claude/Copilot/etc.
- Track what answers AI gives for your target queries, and who it’s sourcing from.
- Stay flexible: SEO is now “Search Everywhere Optimization”
- Think beyond Google: optimize for Reddit, YouTube, TikTok, ChatGPT, voice search, and niche AI bots.
- If your content isn’t visible where your audience hangs out, AI may never see it either.
Final thoughts
What we’re seeing in 2025 is a shift from Search Engine Optimization to Search + Experience + AI Optimisation.
It’s not about optimising for a single platform anymore. It’s about earning trust, being visible across AI and human spaces, and evolving your skills in step with the technology.
With years of SEO experience under my belt, I would argue that SEO has always been about trust, authenticity, and working toward being found across multiple channels. So from that position not much changes, however the way in which users search, question and research information, services and products has rapidly changed – and the way the information is now delivered to users is embarking in some of the biggest changes we have seen in digital marketing for a long time.
As Rand Fishkin says:
“Marketing success isn’t about ranking anymore – it’s about resonating.”
Is your SEO strategy up to scratch for AI?
