Is SEO dying? Experts weigh in on the future amid rise of AI

In the latest episode of Google’s Search Off the Record podcast, discussions centred on the future of SEO amid the rising prevalence of AI in search technology. Host John Mueller raised the provocative question of whether SEO is on a “dying path,” signalling a significant conversation for digital marketers and publishers invested in the industry’s direction.

Mueller was speaking to Gary Illyes, who has monitored the SEO landscape for years. Illyes expressed his scepticism regarding the notion that AI would replace SEO, recounting a history of predictions about the decline of SEO dating back to 2001. “I mean, SEO has been dying since 2001, so I’m not scared for it,” Illyes noted, highlighting a recurring theme that appears every few years within the industry. This long-standing narrative has often overlooked the ongoing vitality of SEO despite changes over time.

The discussion ventured into retrieval augmented generation (RAG), a mechanism being adopted to enhance the reliability of AI-generated responses. RAG involves leveraging an external search index or knowledge graph to inform large language models, which then generate user-facing answers. Martin Splitt provided a simplified analogy, explaining how documents serve as the foundational elements for this technique. “Probably nowadays it’s much better and you can just show that, like here, you upload these five documents, and then based on those five documents, you get something out of the bag,” Splitt explained.

Mueller later highlighted the connection between RAG and traditional SEO practices, drawing attention to how essential crawling, indexing and ranking remain within an AI-enhanced search environment. “These AI-powered search results are often a mix of the existing things that you’re already doing,” Mueller stated, suggesting that SEO’s core principles continue to be relevant, even with new advancements in search technology.

Nevertheless, the podcast skirted around the significant consequences that increasing AI integration has had on the broader web ecosystem. Many publishers — both large and small — have faced substantial declines in traffic as Google’s AI algorithms evolve. While traditional search results have become less relevant, the importance of understanding and adapting to AI-driven search has never been higher.

An essential concern for SEOs is the shift in search behaviour driven by user interactions with AI. As search queries evolve into more complex natural language questions, traditional keyword-driven content strategies may not suffice. Bing has indicated that it is better equipped to comprehend these intricate queries, posing challenges for content creators who must adapt their strategies accordingly.

Underlying these discussions is an atmosphere of uncertainty surrounding the effects of AI on organic search results, historically represented by the “ten blue links” paradigm that has become increasingly outdated. Publishers worry about the erratic nature of backend algorithms that can dramatically alter traffic patterns, creating a perception of an unpredictable search environment.

Google’s perceived detachment from the realities facing numerous publishers raises additional concerns. While there is an expectation that Google CEO Sundar Pichai will provide more nuanced insights into the company’s support for the web ecosystem in 2025, a sense of urgency remains. As the search landscape shifts, the focus is not solely on whether SEO is dying but rather on the broader implications these changes have for the publishing industry itself.

Source: Noah Wire Services