The SEO Shake-Up: What AI-Powered Search Means for Your Content Strategy
- Loren-Marie Durr
- May 15
- 7 min read
AI isn't just changing search. It's shifting how your brand gets found.
You’ve probably been hearing lots of buzz about SEO being dead. You might have even noticed a drop in organic traffic to your website recently, despite the fact that you’re publishing relevant, well-researched content. Well, the truth is, you’re not alone. We’re all hearing the buzz, too. The other truth is, no – SEO is, in fact, not dead. However, it is radically changing, and as marketers it’s our job to understand what these changes mean for our content strategies.
With emerging search tools like Google’s AI Overviews and users’ new reliance on AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT to find the information they’re looking for, people are discovering and consuming information much differently than they were before. And, no, it’s not just about keywords anymore.
We’re going to talk about what we can do to respond to this evolution in just a second. But first, let’s back up for a few.
A Quick Primer: What SEO used to be.
SEO, or search engine optimization, used to be a pretty straightforward game. Organic search has always been primarily a brand awareness tool, so if you wanted people to find your business online, you did things like:
Try to build the exact phrases that people typed into Google into your content (i.e. “the best CRMs for small businesses,” etc.).
Write blogs targeting those key phrases
Add those phrases to key spots on your site (titles, headers, and metadata)
Get other websites to link to your site (backlinks).
The goal, essentially, was to convince Google that your page was the best answer for a specific question, so you’d show up at the top of search results. That worked for many years. Traffic came to brands and businesses with solid, SEO-optimized content strategies. In fact, most marketers agreed (and still agree) that organic search delivers the highest return on investment of any marketing channel.
The Tides Are Turning: What’s changing in search.
However, over the last year, the way people search (and the way search engines respond) has changed dramatically. Here’s a snapshot of what that our current reality is bringing to the search space:
AI Overviews Are Replacing Traditional Search Results: Google is rolling out AI-generated summaries at the top of many search pages, and these summaries give users the information they need without them ever needing to click a link to the original source. It’s important to remember, though, that these AI overviews are compiled from information contained on key websites (like yours and mine) that show up in the search results. However, users may not ever make it to your website because the AI overviews are designed to provide a zero-click environment for users. In even simpler terms, Google really wants you to just stay on Google.
Chat-Based Search is Taking Off: More people are using tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Microsoft Copilot, among others, to ask for answers in real language instead of searching through a list of links and meta-descriptions. These tools have the ability to scan the web in real time and draw from existing online content. While tools like Perplexity will provide a list of references, ChatGPT doesn’t always. So, while your website may be providing valuable information to these AI tools, there’s no guarantee that it, and your brand, will get found.
From Keywords to Concepts: Search algorithms (and AI tools) are getting smarter. They don’t just match exact words anymore. They understand context, tone, and meaning. That means that brands can’t really win by continuously repeating the same high-volume phrases. Instead, they need to create helpful, nuanced, original content that reflects real expertise on the topics at hand.
Where is SEO headed next?
Just because all of these changes are happening doesn’t mean that SEO is worthless or obsolete by any means. In fact, organic traffic still has a pretty significant presence. According to the 2024 Organic SEO Industry Benchmarks Report by Conductor, organic search still accounts for 33% of website traffic for major industries.
It’s also important to note that AI is fallible. In my own experiences, there have been many times where I’ve queried Google, Perplexity, or ChatGPT, and the overviews or answers that were generated were either not particularly helpful, halfway helpful, or just plain incorrect. And, guess what action I took to verify that information? I checked out the top results under the AI Overviews on Google, I asked ChatGPT to cite its sources, or I explored Perplexity’s references, and guess what I found there? Brands. Lots and lots of brands with interesting insights, stories, and helpful information to share with users like me and you. At least that piece hasn't changed.
What is palpable, however, is the shift away from 100% reliance on key phrases and words.
AI tools and human users are looking for brands with authority, insights, originality, expertise, experience, and unique perspective to contribute to conversations around key topics.
A Real-World Example:
I wanted to take a quick moment to share an example of how a client I worked with successfully evolved their “old-school” (I can’t actually believe I’m saying that 😅) SEO strategy into one that accommodated AI-driven search tools. One thing I’ve consistently heard from a lot of clients given all these changes is that they now feel like they have to start over, or they are concerned that all the optimized content marketing work they did before doesn’t have value for them currently.
Well, in the case of my client, they invested much of their marketing budget into an SEO-driven content marketing strategy over the course of several years. They published around eighty high-value content pieces, including whitepapers and eBooks, and saw enormous (600% growth) in their website traffic and had a 200% increase in leads just in the first year. In fact, their Director of Sales told us that a colleague at a conference had come up to him and said “I see your stuff literally everywhere,” and that became an enormous point of pride for them.
The way I saw it, even back then, was that they had shifted beyond simply ranking for key words and they had truly become the trusted voice of authority in their niche. Everyone knew the brand not only for their great products, but also for their amazing perspectives on their industry.
So, when the AI search evolution began, we all had the same concern: this SEO strategy had served us so well for nearly five years. Did all of these changes mean we had to ditch our previous efforts and start anew? As we started to dig back in, we discovered that their organic search presence hadn’t suffered much, and that Google’s AI overview was compiling and citing their industry commentaries. So, we decided to stay the course and piggyback off of their previous traction, but gently pivot into larger concepts and trends, focusing less on the key words or phrases and more on bringing all of their complex industry perspectives together into a unified position and voice. This has only helped them continue to build brand awareness and authority, and organic search continues to be their highest-ROI channel. These efforts have also positioned them as the market leader in their industry.
The Three New Pillars of SEO
Based on these changes and our experiences mitigating them, we see three core pillars that marketing strategists need to consider when building their SEO and content strategies.
Authority Over Volume:
Instead of trying crank out hundreds of blog posts on relatively general topics, the new focus is on becoming the trusted voice on a specific topic or subject.
Think about it this way: would you rather be one of a hundred voices talking about general social media tips? Or would you rather be the go-to expert on social media for luxury hospitality brands?
Of course, this is just one example. Your topic of choice might be more niche or more broad, but you get the idea. Choose an area that you can really comment on and contribute to (after all, you know better than anyone else what questions your audience needs answered), and build your content strategy around audience needs.
Insight Over Imitation:
AI tools pull from existing content. If your content is just recycling the same old advice everyone else has given, you’re guaranteed not to stand out.
But, if you publish unique customer stories and insights, strong POVs, case studies, and lessons learned, that’s the kind of content AI systems and humans learn from and reference.
People First, Machines Second:
This may sound obvious, but it’s worth repeating. You are writing for people.
The better your content serves a human reader and can draw on their needs, goals, motivations, and challenges with clarity, empathy, and relevance, the more likely you are to see increased engagement, back links, and trust. All of which fuels your SEO presence.
What Your Team Should Focus On Now
If you’re a CEO, founder, or marketing leader trying to figure out how to adapt, let us give some pointers on where to start.
Invest in Originality: Share the information only you know: founder origin stories, behind-the-scenes decisions and learnings, customer challenges and your company’s responses.
Understand What Your Customers Are Asking: Forget keywords. What are the real questions your prospects ask in sales calls, emails, or social media. Answer those questions.
Create Content that Connects: Link articles together. Help people dig deeper and build an internal web of knowledge that humans can easily navigate and AI tools can easily crawl.
Update and Expand What Works: Don’t just publish new content. Refresh and repurpose old blog posts or content marketing assets with new insights and stronger storytelling.
Double Down on Thought Leadership: Remember that podcasts, LinkedIn posts, and guest features all help establish your voice and build trust across platforms.
Key Takeaways and Final Thoughts: It's not just about search engines anymore.
Search is no longer a list of blue links. It’s a conversation, a summary, a citation, a recommendation from an AI tool: in essence, a whole system that connects topics and ideas to voices and perspectives.
Your job now? Be the source that people and AIs trust the most. At Vector, we believe the next generation of organic search belongs to brands that are willing to speak with clarity, conviction, and originality. If you want to be found, be worth quoting.
About Vector
Vector Insights + Marketing is a marketing and insights consultancy that helps startups and scaling companies uncover what makes them uniquely valuable to their customers. We draw our insights from our proprietary Narrative OS Framework, and we translate those insights into smart, story-driven strategies that build visibility, trust, and momentum.
Are we a good fit for you? Schedule your free, 30-minute consultation here.
