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The search landscape is undergoing its most profound shift in years. We’re already seeing the impact of AIOs and AI Mode today. How can you position your brand to come out ahead in the new AI era of search?
This is not a prediction post. Rather, we offer our perspective on what will keep you adapting to this rapidly changing environment. That way, you’ll be ready for whatever the search experience evolves into.
The Reality Check: Change Is Here, But It’s Not Chaos
AI is altering how people discover and interact with information. More queries are being answered directly in search interfaces. Zero-click experiences are growing. And the line between SEO and brand visibility is blurring.
But let’s be clear: Search engines are evolving, not disappearing.
While the hype cycle pushes some to overhaul their entire approach, we believe strategic adaptation will outperform reactive overhauls.
Many of the fundamentals - like, technical SEO, bottom-funnel optimization, and brand storytelling - still hold power. They just need to be reweighted and reprioritized.
Reassessing the Value of Search
Top-line traffic and directly attributable conversions, for better or worse, have long been primary KPIs of your Search strategy. With AI siphoning traffic and making clean attribution nearly impossible, how should we be evaluating our SEO & SEM investments?
1. Search as a Brand Channel, Not Just a Performance Channel
Search marketing has traditionally been undervalued as a brand-building channel. AI is now forcing a mindset shift.
Historically, marketers have evaluated SEO & SEM performance strictly on their effectiveness at driving directly attributable traffic & conversions. However, AI is equipping search engines to answer many queries without clicking anything, causing attribution to become even murkier.
How do we respond when a key traffic-driving channel is expected to funnel less traffic to our websites? We adapt like we did in the early 2010s when social media platforms did the exact same thing.
5 trillion searches occurred last year on Google alone, and ChatGPT had 14 billion “search-like” prompts (source). While performance attribution may be getting harder, your audience is still searching and brands are still being surfaced. Winning brands will adapt to value SEO & SEM as a brand-building channel.
2. Quality Over Quantity: Less Traffic, Higher Intent
We expect to see overall referral traffic from search engines decrease across many websites. But that’s not inherently a negative.
AI is absorbing top-of-funnel traffic, meaning fewer people are landing on your site with informational search intent. But those who do visit are more likely to be closer to conversion. In fact, brands with a strong presence in SEO & AI spaces are reporting less top-line traffic, but higher homepage traffic.
That’s why our focus is shifting toward winning on bottom-funnel search queries, improving conversion rate optimization (CRO), and building brand authority.
Brands that don’t panic at top-line traffic declines, but instead value quality site interactions & brand visibility (and take action to grow these areas of performance) will emerge on top in the AI era of search.
How We’re Responding (and Helping You Do the Same)
We’re taking a measured approach to help our clients thrive in this new age of search, and we think you should too. Don’t be that Luddite sticking to the same old roadmap and metrics. But, don’t be over-reactive to every AI hype post and abandon your strategy while you chase shiny objects. Here’s how you can find your balance.
1. Redefine Your Measures of Success
Traditional search metrics like ranking positions and clicks are losing relevance. We’re rethinking how we measure success as visibility becomes the main currency of search.
- Organic impressions: Tracking your presence in organic & AI spaces
- Engaged users: Traffic exhibiting your desired site behaviors or actions
- Share of voice: How your brand’s visibility stacks up against competitors
- Brand mentions/citations: A factor that correlates highly with AI visibility
- AI crawl health: Content must be indexed to be eligible for AI results
While Paid Search is a bit more insulated than SEO from the impacts of AI-powered results (which are most heavily impacting top-funnel queries), we’re already beginning to see brands value ad impressions more and more.
2. Rebalance Your Tactics
Traditional Search and AI share more similarities than differences in what they reward. You don't need an entirely new playbook. Rather, you need to refresh the one you have.
What to prioritize more:
- Content Distribution
We’re advising clients to invest more in YouTube, Reddit, digital PR, and thought leadership. Brand mentions are the highest correlating factor with appearance in AI Overviews. - Technical SEO
Technical optimization is a make-or-break factor for AI visibility. AI platforms crawl the web in a fashion similar to search engine bots. If your website is not optimized for efficient crawling, rendering & indexing, you won’t stand a chance in AI-powered search results. Unsurprisingly, to show in Google AI Mode, your page must be indexed. - Conversion Rate Optimization
With fewer users arriving at your site, every visit counts more. We’re doubling down on CRO to make sure your site turns intent into action. - SEO & SEM Alignment
We’ve long advocated for these two oft-siloed channels to operate under one strategic direction. As more search engine interactions remain “in-platform”, alignment across your SEO & SEM presence is key to maximizing your brand’s visibility.
- Bottom-Funnel Optimization
AI may absorb research queries, but it still leads users toward brands. We’re doubling down on bottom-funnel content - especially for ecommerce - to ensure visibility for monetizable queries. - Product Feed Optimization [Ecommerce]
Product results are taking over AIOs and AI chatbot responses. Your product feed is a critical source of structured data that feeds these results.
What to de-prioritize:
- Top-funnel Content Creation
We’re not advising that you abandon top-funnel content altogether; it may well have value for your users and your opportunity to earn visibility. But, you should stop any pure-play, top-funnel SEO content tactics. - Backlinks (for the Sake of Backlinks)
Backlink quantity is not a highly correlated factor with AI visibility. Reallocate this budget to the tactics in the first two sections above. - Checklist-Driven SEO & SEM
Brands that approach search as a strategic investment serving their broader business goals, and not a series of best practices to check off, will see their efforts pay off.
Adaptability Wins
This isn’t search marketing as usual, but it’s also not a crisis. Brands that are willing to adapt how they value search have time to reevaluate their SEO & SEM strategies and shift tactics to meet the changing landscape.
We’re committed to helping our clients navigate this new era with clarity, confidence, and measurable results. AI is rewriting the rules of search, but we’re already rewriting our playbook.
Want to know how your brand is positioned in the AI era of Search? Let’s talk.
