No, AI is not going to kill SEO
Believing that AI is going to kill SEO is a fundamental misunderstanding of SEO
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by the Digital PR agency Search Intelligence and North Star Inbound. See their case studies linked in the newsletter. (To sponsor this newsletter, please get in touch.)
I am always asked why SEO will still be relevant in a world of AI Overviews, chatbots, and, eventually, AI agents that do the searching and browsing for us.
This perspective misunderstands the core purpose of SEO and the evolving nature of how users discover information online. Far from killing SEO, AI systems and agents are poised to reinforce its importance, provided we reframe our understanding of what SEO truly is.
SEO is here to stay, although the practices and tactics will inevitably change.
SEO is not and should never have been about gaming algorithms or spamming Google with keywords. It’s about ensuring users can find the information, products, or services they seek. It’s about creating content that answers questions, solves problems, and meets user intent. As AI processes and tools become more integrated into our digital lives, this user-centric approach to SEO will become more critical than ever.
The misconception that SEO is solely about ranking on Google has led to the belief that AI-driven responses will make it irrelevant. After all, if users can ask an AI tool a question and get an immediate answer, why would they need to click through to a website? While it’s true that AI responses can provide quick answers to simple queries, they don’t eliminate the need for deeper, more comprehensive content.
Search is not just informational
Moreover, not all searches are transactional or informational. Many navigational users are looking for a specific brand, product, or service, and the search engine or AI response is the means to find that outcome. In these cases, AI engines will still direct users to websites, and SEO will play a crucial role in ensuring that your site is the one they find IN THE AI.
[SPONSORED by Search Intelligence]
We noticed that Snoop Dogg’s follower count dropped by half a million in the past days.
We took a screen shot of the facts.
We pasted the image in an email, and sent it out to 2,000 journalists.
Within hours, it blew up and was all over the news.
This secured massive links for our social media client, including Yahoo News and New York Post.
This is the most critical area where SEO needs to change from its current paradigm. SEO isn’t just about optimizing for Google or, for some, Bing; it is about optimizing for the user who goes online to fetch information in whatever medium they choose. SEO is needed to ensure that a website (or app) follows the best practices and tactics to achieve the desired visibility in that medium.
In this context, SEO is not about manipulating rankings but about making your content more accessible and understandable to humans and machines. By focusing on quality and structure, you’re optimizing for search engines and the future of AI-driven discovery.
Content will always be needed
AI systems often pull information from websites, meaning the content they rely on still needs to exist somewhere. If your website provides valuable, well-optimized content, it’s more likely to be sourced by AI engines and presented to users. In this way, SEO becomes a bridge between your content and AI systems, ensuring that your information is discoverable by humans and the algorithms that serve them. This is precisely what SEO has always been.
If you run an e-commerce site, detailed product descriptions, customer reviews, and structured data markup will help AI systems understand and recommend your products more efficiently. Similarly, if you publish blog posts or articles, using headings, bullet points, and other formatting best practices will help AI extract and summarize your content more effectively. These same best practices have always existed.
AI encourages the long-tail
As AI response systems become more sophisticated, they’ll change how users interact with search engines—but they won’t eliminate the need for search. Instead, they’ll create new SEO opportunities, and the forward-thinking SEO professionals stand to gain.
For instance, conversational AI encourages users to ask more complex, long-tail queries. Instead of typing “best running shoes,” a user might ask, “What are the best running shoes for flat feet on a budget?” This shift toward more specific queries means that websites with highly targeted, niche content or product offerings will have an advantage. SEO strategies must adapt by focusing on semantic search, natural language processing, and intent-based optimization.
SEO is evolving
SEO is a story of constant evolution. When I first started learning SEO, keyword stuffing and link exchanges were the way to drive more traffic. Those tactics fell away and were replaced by other tactics like link buying and long-tail keyword optimization, but ultimately, I discovered that this was all a race to the bottom. This led to me developing the concept of Product-Led SEO and writing my book.
The rise of AI response systems is just the latest chapter in this ongoing evolution of search, but it is not a comprehensive revolution if SEO is already focused on the user and the intent behind their searches.
Rather than killing SEO, AI is pushing it to become more sophisticated and user-focused. The days of spamming Google with low-quality content are long gone. Today, successful SEO requires a deep understanding of user intent, content strategy, and technical optimization. As AI becomes more integrated into search, these principles will only become more critical.
Humans are still required
One of the biggest misconceptions about AI is that it will replace human creativity and intuition. In reality, AI is a tool that enhances human capabilities, not a substitute for them. While AI can analyze data and generate content, it still relies on humans to create original ideas, stories, and experiences that resonate with audiences.
This is where SEO shines. At its best, SEO is about understanding your audience, anticipating their needs, and creating content that connects with them on a human level. AI can help streamline this process, but it can’t replace the creativity and empathy that drive truly effective SEO strategies.
A travel blog that shares personal stories and insider tips will always have an edge over a generic AI-generated list of destinations. A brand that builds trust and loyalty through authentic engagement will outperform one that relies solely on algorithmic optimization. In this sense, SEO is not just a technical discipline; it’s a creative and strategic one.
The rise of AI response systems and intelligent agents is undoubtedly changing the day-to-day practice of SEO, but it’s not the death knell for the industry. On the contrary, it’s an opportunity for user focus and creativity to emerge rather than SEO efforts that rely solely on having an enormous war chest to buy content and links.
So, rather than fearing the impact of AI on SEO, embrace it as a catalyst for innovation and growth. The future of SEO is not about competing with AI; it’s about collaborating with it to deliver better user experiences.
SEO is here to stay.
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