🌐 The Big Question: Is SEO Doomed?
AI is transforming the digital marketing landscape, but is SEO really dying? The short answer: No. While AI overviews are reshaping how people interact with search engines, the fundamentals of SEO remain intact—especially for e-commerce and services. Let’s break it down.
🔍 Key Idea 1: Informational SEO Faces Turbulence
What’s Changing?
AI overviews—those quick answers generated by AI without requiring a user to click a search result—are a game-changer for informational queries. For example, if you search “Best tent for winter camping in Ireland,” an AI summary may soon provide an instant answer without sending you to a specific website.
This shift significantly impacts niche affiliate websites, which thrive on traffic for informational content like “product reviews” or “how-to guides.” Websites of this nature often depend on clicks to generate revenue through ads and affiliate commissions.
Example:
Instead of reading a detailed blog comparing winter tents, users might get a one-paragraph answer in milliseconds, pulled right from the AI’s training data.
As of Now:
AI overviews haven’t entirely taken over. In many cases, search results still rely on traditional layouts. For example, a recent query for “Best tent for winter camping in Ireland” didn’t populate an AI overview, showing us that informational SEO isn’t dead…yet.
💡 Practical Tip:
If your website depends on informational SEO, diversify your strategy. Consider building directories, tools, or apps that offer something unique beyond AI-generated answers.
🛍️ Key Idea 2: E-Commerce SEO Is Still Thriving
Online Shopping Needs a Destination:
Even with AI overviews capable of summarizing product comparisons or reviews, buyers still need to visit a website to make a purchase. This makes e-commerce SEO resilient against these changes. People will always search for products, collections, and brands—and that isn’t going away.
Example:
Consider a retailer selling vintage watches. While AI might provide basic details about “the best vintage watch brands,” the actual purchase requires a robust website with compelling imagery, secure payment options, and product pages optimized for discovery in search engines.
💡 Practical Tip:
Focus on your product pages. Optimize descriptions, add high-quality images, and incorporate user reviews. Make it as easy as possible for search engines and users to trust—and land on—your site.
🛠️ Key Idea 3: Service-Based SEO Still Holds Strong
Why Services Are Safe:
Regardless of AI, users searching for services—like plumbers, attorneys, or digital marketing agencies—need to engage with actual businesses. AI might suggest providers, but customers need websites to book consultations, learn about service offerings, and build trust.
What’s Different for Service Vendors?
Users might turn to AI platforms like ChatGPT for local recommendations (e.g., “Best plumbers near me”), but the AI still pulls its data from search engines like Google and Bing. This means your SEO efforts still influence whether your service is discovered by AI summaries.
💡 Practical Tip:
Boost your local SEO by ensuring your website includes comprehensive contact information, testimonials, and service pages. Claim your Google My Business profile and consider investing in localized content (e.g., blogs about community-specific topics).
🤔 Key Idea 4: How AI Overviews Actually Work
AI’s Dependency on Search Engines:
While AI overviews feel innovative, they’re fundamentally dependent on traditional search engines like Google and Bing. Here’s how it works:
- You ask an AI like ChatGPT or Perplexity a question.
- The AI scours search engine rankings to extract the highest-quality information.
- It synthesizes an answer but doesn’t show a clickable search engine results page (SERP).
This underscores a key point: AI draws its insights from the same sources that traditional SEO optimizes for.
The E-A-T Factor:
Search engines prioritize content with Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T). AI models, in turn, rely on this prioritization. If your content is already optimized for search, it’s indirectly optimized for AI.
💡 Practical Tip:
Emphasize E-A-T by ensuring your website has:
- Privacy policies and terms of service.
- Authenticated author details on blogs.
- A robust backlink profile from trusted sources.
🤖 Key Idea 5: Concerns About AI Content Recycling
The Dreaded Feedback Loop:
If AI constantly regurgitates information it pulls from itself, could the quality of information degrade over time? Many worry about an “AI content loop,” where the same recycled (and potentially inaccurate) content floods the internet.
Why This Matters:
Over time, this could reduce trust in AI summaries and push users back to original content sources, like well-optimized websites. Could this be the opportunity SEO needs to reassert its value?
💡 Practical Tip:
Position yourself as a go-to source of original information. Publish thought leadership or unique data that stands out from AI-recycled content. Ensure your work is cited across platforms like Google, Perplexity, and ChatGPT.
🌟 New Terminology: AIO (AI Optimization)
Many experts, including Hamish in the video, suggest coining “AIO” (AI Optimization) as a term for SEO tailored for AI systems. Whether you’re optimizing for Google, ChatGPT, or another AI tool, the common thread is ensuring your content is accessible, relevant, and trustworthy.
🧰 Resource Toolbox
Boost your SEO and AIO strategy with these valuable tools:
- Google Search Console – Monitor your site’s performance on Google. Check it out.
- Ahrefs – A comprehensive tool for keyword research, backlink analysis, and content optimization. Explore Ahrefs.
- SEO Automation Services by Hamish – Need professional help? Hire Hamish and his team.
- Skool AI Automation School – Learn about automation strategies for SEO. Visit Skool.
- Perplexity AI – Discover how AI tools integrate search data efficiently. Learn about Perplexity.
🚀 Final Thoughts: Adapting to SEO’s Evolution
SEO isn’t dead—it’s evolving. Informational SEO might take a hit, but e-commerce, service, and original content SEO remain robust. Understanding AI’s relationship with traditional search allows you to future-proof your strategy and continue driving web traffic effectively for years to come.
🔑 The Takeaway: Rather than fearing AI, embrace it as another layer of your marketing arsenal. Optimize for both traditional search and AI systems, and you’ll stay ahead in this evolving digital landscape.
