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Ever since I was a little girl watching my parents remove our first family computer from a box the size of a lounge chair, I knew I was about to unlock the secrets of the universe.
From then on, under the fluorescent glow of the screen, I’d sit in anxious glee as the dial-up din prepared me for an evening of information consumption. I was an artist, and Google was my paintbrush.
For better or for worse, Google has always been there for me when I’ve needed it.
What should the internal temperature of cooked chicken breast be? Google it.
What is Cate Blanchett’s astrological birth chart? Google it.
Is it normal to have a headache for 5 straight days? Google it.
And behind every pang of curiosity that leads me to a SERP (Search Engine Results Page) is an SEO genius who led me there.
Me, essentially.
Google (or Bing—I won’t yuck your yum) SERPs look much different lately. The major search engines have introduced generative AI search results. In true Big Tech form, these companies have sold these new AI features as an introduction to a newer, more convenient and idyllic internet.
Except the thing about chatbots, LLMs, and any other generative AI tool is that they aren’t so good at fact-checking. They’re trained on a wide set of data from books, articles, and websites—and they can’t always identify a clear source.
“What books, articles, and websites, Ines?”
*Gestures broadly* A lot of them. Including the ones that are straight up misinformation or disinformation. Nice!
It also means that brands who have spent years investing heavily in paid search and SEO strategies are reporting massive drops in traffic because of these AI previews appearing above the fold, meaning that users now don’t have to click through to another website. This has had such a profound impact on traffic that education tech company Chegg sued Google last month claiming that it’s violating antitrust laws.
Where search engines were once part of the journey for customers, they’re now the destination. In essence, we’re seeing a shift from search engines to answer engines.
Now we’re seeing new terms pop up like GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) which is like SEO, but instead of focusing on optimizing content for search engines, it focuses on optimizing content for generative AI models.
Some marketers believe that SEO is done, some think it’s time to divest from SEO and begin investing in GEO. Others believe that SEO isn’t going anywhere.
It all begs the question: what the hell is going to happen with SEO?
To make sense of this shift, I chatted with my most trusted source on all things SEO, Tiffany DaSilva. While she confirmed that AI-generated results are significantly reducing click-through rates, however, she’s confident that SEO isn’t dying—it’s evolving.
Here’s how she says marketers can adapt their strategies:
The bottom line is that it’s time to pivot towards a balanced approach that considers both SEO and GEO.
You got this.
Talk soon,
Ines
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