The future of SEO isn’t AI – it’s searchers
Marketers love a bit of morbidity. We’re hotter on death than many funeral directors I’ve met and can give Wednesday Addams a run for her money. Whether it’s a fresh look for a brand we’re unlikely to buy, or the death of a channel completely – if we reckon something’s dying or going to be killed, we’re there. Keyboards primed and opinions sharpened.
When it comes to AI and its impact on SEO and search, there’s chum in water, the Great White opinion sharks are circling, and someone is questioning why they dressed as a seal for Dress Down Friday.
It’s dead! SEO is gone, PPC forgotten, and AI is set to rise from the funereal ashes, feathered, singed and ready to take flight towards lord knows what promised land. The LinkedInfluencers have announced it, and so it must be.
Yet there are holdouts. SEOs who will tell anyone who will listen that nothing has changed and never will. That the rules of search are immutable and work perfectly well, so nothing needs to change. Stay the course, all will be well.
There’s only way to sort this…. Fight!
Futurists vs Status Quo – who is winning this fight?
Both sides of this argument are on shaky ground – one is selling snake oil and the other is in deep denial.
The development of AI Overviews and SERPs that answer questions does change the landscape, and it’s time we faced it, but things are nuanced. AI isn’t the enemy of SEO; it’s a new, more intelligent layer in the user journey. It’s the final boss, and to optimise for it, brands must get smarter, not more panicked.
Searchers have evolved.
That does not mean that Fiona in Preston has developed an extra finger for texting, but rather that the way she interacts with search engines and brand content has changed gradually over time. SERPs have been moving away from just providing a blue link to click for years. AI Overviews are the next step in creating more and more of the zero click experiences that users want.
Searchers are now savvy and specific. Today, it’s estimated that around 1/5th of searches are questions and almost 92% are long tail queries. Users are looking for detail and AI has the ability to answer simple questions more efficiently than hyperlinks to websites. If the AI can answer the question, then why the hell not?
The change in searchers and search journey has to be reflected in brand’s strategies.
The search journey now breaks into three tiers.
Tier 1 – SERP as quiz master
The top of the search funnel is now handled pretty exclusively by AI. Everyday questions and queries like “What time is the Co-Op open until?” are meat and drink to AI overviews and the latest generation of SERP. It’s an easy, zero-click win for the user and the search engine. Given the choice, this is where brands want AI operating. It’s a waste of bandwidth and website time and wins the battle for visibility and authority, not clicks.
Tier 2 – The messy middle
This is the tier where the AI and SEO battle is mainly waged. The messy middle tier of content that AI can support but brands feel they should own. AI won’t have what it takes to properly answer a question like “Do Gray Nicholls make good cricket bats?” because it can’t address the ‘why’ part of that question. Brands win here with rich, human-centric contextual content that searchers really need.
Brand content in this tier needs to be indispensable. Create assets so valuable that the user is compelled to click through, even if an AI has already given them an overview.
Brands win with content like Proprietary Data – research, surveys, and case studies where AI can cite your findings, but the user must click through to see the full report. Similarly interactive tools that extend beyond the answer. If your content is on “How to save for retirement,” provide a custom calculator. Finally Irreproducible Media – a picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is worth a thousand AI summaries. For that cricket bat review, embed a high-quality video of an expert using the bat. The AI can’t replicate that experience.
Tier 3 – The full monty.
There are some things that only a brand can do, and AI won’t ever come close to delivering the kinds of experiences, expertise and loyalty-building content that searchers want. Forget simply rattling content out on the blog. Think multi-channel with an authentic tone of voice, and it answers the longest of long-tail queries.
This tier is the ultimate acceptance that your brand isn’t a quiz master doing quick fire rounds in the Dog and Duck – it’s the welcoming landlord, pulling your pint as you walk through the door. It gives you something that no one else can give you.
The new mandate
How people search has evolved, and those are the two things that matter. People and evolution.
Evolution happens in small increments over long periods. AI powered SERPs aren’t unexpected but, they are catching out brands whose strategies haven’t kept pace with both users and technology. Even the shift in GA, away from sessions and towards Events, hinted at a new landscape, while millions of marketers remained wedded to the old paradigms. Maybe AI search is the final death-knell for measuring your channels in terms of impressions and clicks, and finally focus us on income and outcomes?
People still want the same things from your brand, but they are getting used to more efficient journeys to you and the things that you do. You now get to operate in an environment where your marketing channels are focused on the things that you actually want to talk about – not dealing with the basic questions that take up time and energy you’d rather expend elsewhere.
Your platforms are no longer a mere destination for clicks. They are the high-value, trust-building engines of your brand.