{"id":1873,"date":"2026-03-04T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/2026\/03\/04\/ai-and-seo-what-ai-means-for-the-future-of-seo-expert-tips-interview\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T13:00:00","slug":"ai-and-seo-what-ai-means-for-the-future-of-seo-expert-tips-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/2026\/03\/04\/ai-and-seo-what-ai-means-for-the-future-of-seo-expert-tips-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"AI and SEO: What AI means for the future of SEO [Expert Tips &amp; Interview]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Artificial intelligence (AI) is rewriting the playbook of so much of our lives \u2014 how we interact, how we learn, how we complete daily tasks, and sometimes even what we eat for dinner. So, of course, AI and the future of SEO are no different.<a class=\"cta_button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hubspot.com\/cs\/ci\/?pg=b5296305-8ec6-4375-8245-aadbacbd4058&amp;pid=53&amp;ecid=&amp;hseid=&amp;hsic=\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been just over three years since ChatGPT took the internet by storm. While AI was technically nothing new in modern consumer (and marketer) lives, this level of AI had never been so accessible to the general public before, and they certainly haven\u2019t taken it for granted. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/capabilities\/growth-marketing-and-sales\/our-insights\/new-front-door-to-the-internet-winning-in-the-age-of-ai-search\">According to McKinsey,<\/a> half of Google&#8217;s results already have AI-powered results, and trends predict that number to hit 75% by 2028.<\/p>\n<p>What does this mean for marketers? We\u2019ll unpack how AI and SEO are converging, how AI has changed consumer behavior, and what it holds for the future of SEO.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/how-ai-is-impacting-seo#how-ai-is-impacting-seo\">How AI is Impacting SEO<\/a><br \/>\n <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/how-ai-is-impacting-seo#how-marketers-can-adapt-seo-to-ai\">How Marketers Can Adapt SEO to AI<\/a> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/how-ai-is-impacting-seo#frequently-asked-questions-about-ai-and-seo\">Frequently Asked Questions About AI and SEO<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/how-ai-is-impacting-seo#where-should-marketers-go-with-ai-and-seo\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a><\/a> <\/p>\n<h2>How AI is Impacting SEO<\/h2>\n<p>This topic is a complicated one. AI is transforming SEO practices. It hasn\u2019t just changed how marketers optimize to get found in search engines; it\u2019s changed consumer search behaviors and even the search engines themselves. It was all a chain reaction, really.<\/p>\n<p>AI changed <strong>consumer search behavior<\/strong>, so search engines adopted <strong>AI-powered features,<\/strong> and now marketers are turning to <strong>new strategies<\/strong> to appeal to AI, while also <strong>using AI to expedite and enhance<\/strong> optimization.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s start from the top with the catalyst:<\/p>\n<h3>AI has changed consumer search behavior.<\/h3>\n<p>Google isn\u2019t the only tech giant consumers turn to for answers anymore. People are increasingly calling out to voice assistants like Alexa and Siri, and asking chatbots like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini their questions.<\/p>\n<p>GWI actually found that <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.gwi.com\/trends\/ai-and-search\/?hubs_content%3Dblog.hubspot.com\/marketing%26hubs_content-cta%3Dgenerative-engine-optimization-for-small-business-how-to-wi%26hubs_post-cta%3Dblognavcard-marketing\">31% of Gen Zers<\/a> already <em>prefer<\/em> using AI platforms or chatbots to find information online, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.semrush.com\/blog\/ai-search-seo-traffic-study\/?utm_campaign%3Dllm-visibility%26utm_source%3Dbacklinko.com%26utm_medium%3Dreferral%26_gl%3D1*38cke8*_gcl_au*MTk4MzE2MTQzMC4xNzcwODM3NDgy*_ga*MTQ4MjcwODM5Ni4xNzcwODM3NDgy*_ga_HYWKMHR981*czE3NzA4Mzc0NzkkbzEkZzAkdDE3NzA4Mzc0NzkkajYwJGwwJGgw*_ga_BPNLXP3JQG*czE3NzA4Mzc0NzkkbzEkZzAkdDE3NzA4Mzc0NzkkajYwJGwwJGg2MTQwMTMzNw..%3D%26hubs_content%3Dblog.hubspot.com\/marketing%26hubs_content-cta%3Dgenerative-engine-optimization-for-small-business-how-to-wi%26hubs_post-cta%3Dblognavcard-marketing\">research from Semrush<\/a> predicts that LLM traffic will pass traditional Google search by the end of 2027.<\/p>\n\n<p>On top of that, <a href=\"https:\/\/offers.hubspot.com\/ai-marketing\">HubSpot research found that 79%<\/a> of those already using AI for search believe it actually offers a better experience than traditional search engines. Clearly, <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/how-search-behaviors-are-changing\">consumer search behavior<\/a> and preferences are shifting, and artificial intelligence plays a large role in this.<\/p>\n<h3>AI has changed search engines.<\/h3>\n<p>Seeing the popularity of AI platforms, Google began rolling out <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.google\/products-and-platforms\/products\/search\/generative-ai-search\/\">several generative AI-powered features<\/a>, such as <strong>AI overviews<\/strong> and <strong>\u201cAI Mode,\u201d<\/strong> that offer more chatbot-like experiences than traditional search results pages.<\/p>\n\n<p>Google reports that <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/zero-click-searches-up-organic-clicks-down-456660\">over 27% of searches<\/a> now end without a click as users get what they need directly from these features. And the traffic implications are significant.<\/p>\n<p>Zero-click searches have climbed from 56% to nearly 69% of queries from May 2024 to May 2025, while search referral traffic to 1,000 tracked web domains fell from 12 billion visits in June 2024 to 11.2 billion in June 2025, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/ir.similarweb.com\/news-events\/press-releases\/detail\/140\/similarwebs-annual-digital-100-report-finds-serious-utility-powers-the-fastest-growing-websites-and-apps\">SimilarWeb\u2019s Annual Digital 100 Report<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>With AI overviews taking up about 42% of desktop screens and 48% on mobile, organic listings are further down the page, so even once \u201chigh-ranking\u201d, highly visited, high-quality <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/ai-in-content-marketing\">content marketing<\/a> is getting ignored.<\/p>\n<p>Understandably, that makes anxiety a bit high for us marketers, so we\u2019ve had to adapt.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pro tip: <\/strong>Use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hubspot.com\/ai-search-grader\">HubSpot&#8217;s free AI Search Grader<\/a> to check how visible your brand is in AI-powered search engines and identify where you can improve.<\/p>\n<h3>AI has changed search engine optimization.<\/h3>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.semrush.com\/blog\/ai-overviews-study\/\">Semrush analysis of 200,000+ keywords<\/a> reported that nearly 95% of keywords triggering AI Overviews have no paid ads or minimal commercial value. In other words, it seems Google is deploying AI summaries mainly for informational searches, while keeping transactional content in the traditional SERP format.<\/p>\n<p>Why does that matter? Well, it means the website traffic most at risk is top-of-funnel educational content that typically grabs a lot of clicks for businesses and builds brand awareness \u2014 and Google gets to protect its ad revenue. <em>Clever if you\u2019re Google, cruel if you\u2019re a marketer.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>But there are ways to fight back.<\/p>\n<p>Marketers need to incorporate <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/answer-engine-optimization-best-practices\">answer engine optimization (AEO)<\/a> into their strategies to help their businesses appeal to AI features in search engines and <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/generative-engine-optimization-small-business\">generative engine optimization<\/a> (GEO) to cater to generative AI \u2014 but those are not the only ways their SEO is pivoting.<\/p>\n<h4>Keyword Research and Topic Discovery for AI Search<\/h4>\n<p>Old school keyword research focused on matching exact phrases and measuring search volume and keyword difficulty. Keyword research for AI search encompasses intent mapping, topic clustering, and, most importantly, conversational query analysis.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ve likely heard it a lot lately \u2014 People engage with AI more like they do with other people than they do with search engines. Instead of typing \u201cice cream shop nyc\u201d (A regular query for me and my sweet tooth), they\u2019d likely say, \u201cWhat\u2019s the ice cream shop near me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/impact-of-ai-overviews-how-publishers-need-to-adapt\/556843\/\">Pew Research Center<\/a> confirms, finding that longer, question-format queries are most likely to generate AI Overview responses.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2025\/07\/22\/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results\/https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2025\/07\/22\/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results\/\"><em>Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Because of this, marketers need to structure keyword strategies around \u201cwhat,\u201d \u201chow,\u201d \u201cwhy,\u201d and \u201cbest\u201d queries.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pro Tip: <\/strong>Build an inventory of the questions your audience typically asks during the buyer\u2019s journey. Connect with sales and customer service to understand the questions they field regularly in each stage.<\/p>\n<p>Mine <a href=\"https:\/\/answerthepublic.com\/\">AnswerThePublic<\/a> and Google\u2018s \u201cPeople Also Ask\u201d (PAA) boxes for your core topics. These reveal what users want answered and what Google\u2019s algorithm considers relevant.<\/p>\n<p>In a very meta twist, many AI tools are also emerging to help marketers optimize for AI.<\/p>\n<p>HubSpot&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hubspot.com\/products\/artificial-intelligence\">Breeze<\/a>, Semrush\u2018s Copilot, and Ahrefs\u2019 AI Content Helper, for example, have features to help analyze search intent at scale, identify content gaps, and generate topic clusters that map to the full buyer journey \u2014 including the conversational, long-tail queries that AI Overviews most frequently address.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hubspot.com\/products\/content\">HubSpot&#8217;s Content Hub<\/a>, in particular, is great for building topic clusters that map keywords to buyer intent and create content that earns citations across both traditional and AI search.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/topic-clusters-seo\"><em>Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Content Optimization for Machine Learning<\/h4>\n<p>Quality is very much a factor in AI and SEO success. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/google-e-e-a-t-how-to-demonstrate-first-hand-experience\/474446\/\">Google evaluates websites using its E-E-A-T quality framework<\/a> (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), and Google is one of the many sources AI consults in crafting its answers.<\/p>\n<p>AI tries to generate the most helpful, factual answers possible. Making sure your content references trusted sources and thought leaders, and even shares original research and data when possible, is a great way to appeal to this.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalmarketinginstitute.com\/blog\/optimize-content-for-ai-search%23heading_83349\">Digital Marketing Institute has found<\/a> that content enriched with credible citations and statistics improves AI visibility by 30-40% compared to baseline approaches.<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully, AI tools can help you with both content structure and quality. How\u2019s so?<\/p>\n<p>Ask ChatGPT for feedback on how to improve an article draft to better reach a specific audience. It can also help you brainstorm topics, identify knowledge gaps, write metadata, source data, create visual aids, and even proofread for you.<\/p>\n<p><em>Heck, I used Claude for ideas on this article\u2019s title.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p>For existing content, try asking your AI system of choice to identify where information has gone stale, suggest updated statistics, and recommend structural changes to improve E-E-A-T signals.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than creating net-new content on every topic, AI tools like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hubspot.com\/products\/content\/content-repurposing-software\">HubSpot\u2019s Content Remix<\/a> can even help you repurpose and optimize content for other media. <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/ai-seo\">Learn about more useful AI SEO tools here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Of course, you always want to review and edit any work you generate with generative AI, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.semrush.com\/blog\/ai-seo-statistics\/\">nearly 70% of companies<\/a> report better returns after integrating it into their SEO and content workflows.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/ai-generated-content-seo\">Is AI-Generated Content Good for SEO?: 300+ Web Strategists Weigh In<\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Technical SEO Automation<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/technical-seo-guide\">Technical SEO<\/a> is also a big factor in catering to LLMs. Machine learning systems, both Google&#8217;s and the LLMs powering AI answers, favor content with specific structural characteristics.<\/p>\n<p>More specifically, content with proper schema markup, clear headings, concise paragraphs that directly answer questions, and FAQ sections all improve a page\u2019s \u201cextractability\u201d for AI. As a result, marketers should lean more heavily on structured data, header optimization, and overall page formatting.<\/p>\n<p>Platforms like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.screamingfrog.co.uk\/\">Screaming Frog<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.semrush.com\/\">Semrush<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/\">Ahrefs<\/a> (the fave here on the HubSpot blog team) now also use machine learning to automatically crawl sites, identify issues (broken links, duplicate content, slow page speed, missing schema), and prioritize fixes by estimated impact.<\/p>\n<p>What I can personally confirm: what once required hours of manual audit work can now be flagged, triaged, and assigned in minutes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pro Tip<\/strong>: Make sure AI crawlers can access your content. Some sites inadvertently block AI bots through robots.txt rules or JavaScript rendering issues. <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/what-is-generative-engine-optimization-geo-444418\">Generative engine optimization (GEO) guides<\/a> from Search Engine Land emphasize that content must be technically accessible and machine-readable to have any chance of appearing in AI-generated answers.<\/p>\n<p><a><\/a> <\/p>\n<h2>How Marketers Can Adapt SEO to AI<\/h2>\n<p>In an interview with fellow HubSpotter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/curtdelp\">Curt del Principe<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/amanda-edens\/\">Amanda Sellers<\/a>, Manager of EN Blog Growth, shared her top takeaways for marketers looking to adapt to AI and <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/seo-predictions\">the future of SEO:<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>1. Lean into original, comprehensive data.<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not enough to produce evergreen, factual content anymore because ChatGPT can arguably do that,\u201d Sellers explains. \u201cYou want to create content that is citation-worthy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A large part of this comes back to how comprehensive your content and answers are. AI reads detail as deeper knowledge and, in turn, credibility worth citing. So don\u2019t just scratch the surface on a topic. Dig deep.<\/p>\n<p>Sellers continues, \u201cWhile LLMs craft their answers from many sources, you\u2018re much more likely to help shape the answer if you\u2019re cited as a source. Original data and thought leadership help here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That means it\u2019s even better if other websites cite you as their data source. Seeing your information cited and backlinked vouches for your authority even in the eyes of your competitors.<\/p>\n<h3>2. Prioritize structure and context.<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cDesign content with structure in mind,\u201d advises Sellers.<\/p>\n<p>As we\u2019ve discussed, \u201cAI retrieves content in chunks and doesn&#8217;t \u2018understand\u2019 information the way a human would. Writing content in semantically rich sections and strengthening semantic association increases the likelihood of good retrieval and, in effect, visibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What does semantic richness look like?<\/p>\n<p> AI-powered search engines change how content is discovered and ranked<br \/>\n Marketers use AI tools for keyword research, content optimization, and technical SEO<br \/>\n HubSpot\u2019s Breeze suite provides AI-powered tools for SEO and content optimization <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s statements that are clear and direct; that define explicitly correlations and relationships.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pro tip:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hubspot.com\/products\/content?hubs_content%3Dblog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/answer-engine-optimization-best-practices%26hubs_content-cta%3Dcontent-hub%26hubs_post%3Dblog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/answer-engine-optimization-best-practices%26hubs_post-cta%3Dcontent-hub\">HubSpot Content Hub<\/a> can help you create structured templates at scale so your team can produce AEO-optimized content more quickly.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Expand your presence.<\/h3>\n<p>The more often people hear or see things, the more we commit them to memory. AI and LLMs work similarly; the more they see a source mentioned or active across authoritative contexts on the web, the more likely they are to trust them and cite them.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, LLMs are more likely to treat your content as credible and worth citing if your brand is cited in reputable industry publications, discussed in high-quality forums, and referenced in academic or government sources, among other things.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t just about backlinks and footnotes, however. It\u2019s about establishing proof that your brand is a legitimate subject-matter expert across many different online territories. Think other publications, forums, review sites, and social media platforms.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Here\u2019s what you can do:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p> Publish thought leadership posts or articles on LinkedIn.<br \/>\n Create educational video content for YouTube.<br \/>\n Participate in relevant Reddit communities and Quora discussions.<br \/>\n Guest blog on reputable publications or being quoted\/mentioned by them.<br \/>\n Create original research and data visualizations that attracts citations.<br \/>\n Be interviewed or featured by other trusted sources. <\/p>\n<p>Multi-channel diversification is also built into the Loop Marketing playbook in the Amplify stage. <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/loop-marketing?hubs_content%3Dblog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/answer-engine-optimization-best-practices%26hubs_content-cta%3Dlearn-more-about-it-here\">Learn more about it here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pro tip: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hubspot.com\/products\/content\/content-repurposing-software?hubs_content%3Dblog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/answer-engine-optimization-best-practices%26hubs_content-cta%3Dcontent-remix%26hubs_post%3Dblog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/answer-engine-optimization-best-practices%26hubs_post-cta%3Dcontent-remix\">Content Remix<\/a> can help you with this repurposing in one click.<\/p>\n<h3>4. Establish your credibility.<\/h3>\n<p>Expanding your presence across the web also helps establish you as a credible expert in your field, but our efforts shouldn\u2019t end there. Showcase your awards, accolades, and social proof on your website.<\/p>\n<p>That means:<\/p>\n<p> Industry awards<br \/>\n Relevant company history and experience<br \/>\n Relevant degrees, certificates, and licenses<br \/>\n Customer testimonials<br \/>\n Ratings &amp; reviews<br \/>\n Case studies <\/p>\n<p>All of these add to your lore as valuable resource to your target audience, search engines, and AI systems.<\/p>\n<h3>5. Don\u2019t forget about SEO.<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cFeed two birds with one scone,\u201d advises Sellers. \u201cLLMs rely on Google&#8217;s index for now, so good AEO is dependent on good SEO. Invest in strategies that will help content rank on search and also increase AI visibility.<\/p>\n<p>For example, think about positioning and the unique things your publication can offer that can\u2019t be found elsewhere. That could mean the input of an expert in your field, industry data your company already collects, or even just a fun tone readers come back for.<\/p>\n<p>While AI systems don\u2019t emphasize differentiation, SEO does. So, creating content that also offers unique value from other sources will help you in both arenas.<\/p>\n<p><a><\/a> <\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions About AI and SEO<\/h2>\n<h3>What is SEO for AI?<\/h3>\n<p>SEO for AI \u2014 sometimes called <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/generative-engine-optimization\">Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)<\/a> or Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) \u2014 is the practice of optimizing content to appear in AI-generated answers from platforms like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini.<\/p>\n<p>While traditional SEO focuses on ranking in search results, AI SEO focuses on appearing in or being cited as a trusted source in AI-generated summaries. But the two are closely related. Both look for accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive content, an easy-to-follow structure, and technical accessibility, but vary in how.<\/p>\n<p>AI SEO, for instance, favors structured data implementation, a modular content architecture designed for easy extraction, and a presence on authoritative third-party sources when citing pages.<\/p>\n<h3>Is SEO still worth it with AI? Is SEO still relevant with AI?<\/h3>\n<p>100%. Traditional SEO remains relevant alongside AI-driven strategies. According to Ahrefs, <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-traffic-research\/\">Google still sends 345x more traffic<\/a> than ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity combined as of September 2025. But the space is evolving.<\/p>\n<p>Organic traffic is likely to become harder to come by as AI preferences expand, but brand visibility, authority, and citations in AI answers will likely prove important throughout the buyer\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, SEO is essentially the foundation on which AI search visibility is built. AI systems like Google&#8217;s Gemini, ChatGPT, and Perplexity pull primarily from content that has already established authority and trust through traditional SEO signals. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seoclarity.net\/research\/ai-overviews-impact\">More than 99% of AI Overview sources<\/a> come from pages already ranking in the top 10 organic results.<\/p>\n<p>SEO now needs to optimize for both traditional search results and AI-generated answers simultaneously \u2014 not one of the other.<\/p>\n<p>Sites that have strong technical SEO and high-quality authoritative content are best positioned to earn AI citations. Sites that have neglected these fundamentals are doubly disadvantaged as they rank poorly in traditional search and rarely appear in AI answers.<\/p>\n<h3>Can SEO be done with AI?<\/h3>\n<p>Like most things in digital marketing, yes, AI can help optimize for search engines.<\/p>\n<p>AI tools can assist with:<\/p>\n<p> keyword research and topic clustering<br \/>\n content brief generation<br \/>\n on-page optimization recommendations<br \/>\n technical audit automation<br \/>\n meta description and title tag drafting<br \/>\n content performance analysis. <\/p>\n<p>While AI is a powerful tool for SEO, it should enhance human expertise, not replace it. The winning formula is AI for scale and efficiency, humans for expertise and differentiation.<\/p>\n<p>HubSpot&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hubspot.com\/products\/artificial-intelligence\">Breeze tools<\/a> are designed around this idea, giving marketing teams AI capabilities that amplify their expertise rather than substitute for it.<\/p>\n<h3>What is the relationship between AI and SEO?<\/h3>\n<p>Today, AI and SEO are linked in several ways.<\/p>\n<p>First, AI is shifting consumer search behavior. Second, AI is reshaping how search engines work: Google, Bing, and emerging platforms use machine learning throughout their ranking algorithms, and generative AI now powers the summaries and overviews users see before organic results. Third, AI has become a core tool within SEO practice \u2014 from automated audits to content optimization and competitive analysis.<\/p>\n<p>TLDR: AI is both the environment SEO practitioners work in, and one of the most powerful tools they use to do their work.<\/p>\n<h3>Are recent SEO shifts due to AI?<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cI believe that the &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.seroundtable.com\/google-helpful-content-update-sitewide-36318.html\">Helpful Content&#8217;<\/a> algorithm update (and the broader emphasis on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/google-e-e-a-t-how-to-demonstrate-first-hand-experience\/474446\/\">EEAT<\/a>) is in direct response to AI content creation,\u201d says Sellers. If you\u2019re unfamiliar, she\u2019s talking about a massive update Google made in late 2022 to the algorithm that chooses its search rankings.<\/p>\n<p>That kicked off a long series of additional updates 2023-2025 that aimed to promote content that met Google\u2019s guidelines for quality: Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness (or EEAT) and roll out AI overviews, AI mode, and <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.google\/products-and-platforms\/products\/search\/google-search-ai-mode-update\/%23live-capabilities\">more<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The goal of EEAT is simple: To make sure that the most valuable content for humans shows up in the search results, instead of content made to please search engines.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn theory, generative AI becoming accessible for content creators and website owners means an opening of the floodgates for more content proliferation.\u201d But <em>more <\/em>content doesn\u2019t necessarily mean <em>better <\/em>content, especially for consumers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGenerative AI is very good at providing evergreen, objective information (and regurgitating stances that already exist),\u201d Sellers emphasizes. \u201cIt\u2019s less good at providing opinions, unique stances, emotional reflection, or first-party research.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>And those are the qualities that are winning in the traditional search rankings right now. Qualities that tend to only come from real-life human experience.<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019re seeing changes <em>in response<\/em> to AI, but what about changes <em>driven by<\/em> AI?<\/p>\n<h3>Is AI-powered search changing SEO?<\/h3>\n<p>Coming from the front line, most marketers would say very likely, yes.<\/p>\n<p>Though it still dominates globally, holding roughly 89% of the search engine market, Google&#8217;s search market share <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/google-search-market-share-drops-below-90-476521\">dipped below 90%<\/a> for the first time since 2015 in early 2025. This drop is suspected to be thanks to AI search, as AI traffic began to appear in analytics.<\/p>\n<p>However, it\u2019s worth noting many searches that can be satisfied by ChatGPT would likely have been zero-click searches anyway, meaning the user would have gotten their answer straight from the search results page without ever clicking through to your site.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, Google launched its own Search Generative Experiment (SGE) features in response to the rise in ChatGPT, so even the remaining 89% doesn\u2019t result in the same click or website visit traditional search did.<\/p>\n<h3>Has AI changed search <em>behavior<\/em>?<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cChanges in search behavior are difficult to quantify,\u201d Sellers cautions. \u201cEspecially since these kinds of macro behavioral changes are slow and widespread.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am starting to see demand loss on some queries where I suspect ChatGPT could probably be more helpful than a blog post,\u201d she says. \u201cBut with all the volatility, it&#8217;s hard to say if AI adoption is the main cause of the loss.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, while behavioral shifts are definitely happening, they are currently slow.<\/p>\n<p>What <em>is<\/em> happening is a significant rise in <strong>zero-click searches<\/strong>, and that\u2018s largely being driven by Google\u2019s own AI Overviews rather than users leaving for ChatGPT. Organic click-through rates <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/zero-click-searches-up-organic-clicks-down-456660\">dropped to 40.3%<\/a>, while for news-related queries specifically, zero-click outcomes rose from 56% to 69% year-over-year as AI Overviews rolled out more broadly.<\/p>\n<p>While that&#8217;s bad news for raw traffic numbers, <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/generative-engine-optimization\">optimizing for AI search results<\/a> can still go a long way in boosting your brand&#8217;s visibility and awareness \u2014 especially since early data suggests AI-referred visitors convert at significantly higher rates than traditional organic traffic.<\/p>\n<p>Which makes a lovely segue to the question of how SEO fits into a larger marketing strategy \u2014 a question that existed long before AI jumped in to complicate things.<\/p>\n<h3>Does AI shift the balance of organic vs. non-organic marketing strategies?<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s never good practice to put all your eggs in one basket, however powerful that basket is,\u201d Sellers says. \u201cThis is an opinion I held before widespread AI adoption, and it\u2019s an opinion I\u2019ll continue to hold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>(For SEOs, this is an opinion often learned <em>after <\/em>getting burned by an algorithm update.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGoogle is [still] a powerful channel for blogs because organic search (the behavior) is ongoing and repeatable \u2014 which makes it very easy to scale and get performance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s in contrast to channels like email, paid ads, or social media, which require constant attention (or constant budget). But is AI changing the impact of those levers?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that the effectiveness of Google as a channel <em>is <\/em>decreasing,\u201d admits Sellers. \u201cBut the funny thing is\u2026 It\u2019s been continually decreasing for my entire career as a content SEO. The introduction of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.searchenginepeople.com\/blog\/evolution-expansion-googles-featured-snippets.html\">featured snippets<\/a>, increasing the real estate for Google Ads, the introduction of images and video on the [results page], the rise of <a href=\"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/blog\/less-than-half-of-google-searches-now-result-in-a-click\/\">zero-click searches<\/a> \u2026 have all reduced the effectiveness of the channel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/7-new-10-google-showing-fewer-results-131006\"><em>Source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And yet, Google still leads the way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe adapt and make new strategies in the wake of those things and still see an incredible volume of demand from search as a result,\u201d Sellers says. \u201cThe same will happen through the AI boom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a><\/a> <\/p>\n<h2>SE-Oh, the places AI\u00a0will go<\/h2>\n<p>AI is rewriting the rules of SEO, sure, but it hasn\u2018t thrown out the playbook entirely. What made great content great before AI still hold: accuracy, clarity, and genuine value for the reader. What\u2019s changed is the game board. We\u2019re not longer trying to conquer just a search engine results page, you&#8217;re navigating AI systems that synthesize, summarize, and cite.<\/p>\n<p>So yes, AI has changed we decide our dinner menu and how we find the best ice cream shop in NYC \u2014 and it\u2018s absolutely changing SEO. But if there\u2019s one thing Amanda Sellers\u2018 experience on the front lines makes clear, it\u2019s that change is nothing new for SEO practitioners.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve survived featured snippets, algorithm updates, and the great zero-click reckoning. The AI era is just the next evolution \u2014 and the marketers who lean into it, rather than away from it, will be the ones shaping the future of search.<\/p>\n<p><em>Editor&#8217;s note: This post was originally published in March 2024 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Artificial intelligence (AI) is rewriting the playbook of so much of our lives \u2014 how [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}