If you are in or around SEO and have looked on LinkedIn at all in the last two years, you’ve likely witnessed firsthand the wildfire that our industry has become.
LLMs and AI chat tools are cutting into organic traffic in ways we can now see. ChatGPT is eating away at Google’s share.
AI-powered features like Copilot and AI Overviews are claiming clicks that used to be ours.
It’s a seismic shift – and many of us are left wondering if SEO is still worth pursuing.
The fear is real
It’s an honest question. Many people, even the most seasoned SEO pros, are asking it.
Traffic is down in many verticals, sometimes dramatically, and clients are nervous.
It’s not just numbers, it’s people worrying about their jobs, their agencies, their livelihoods.
The search results page itself feels like it’s getting carved up by AI-generated answers, endless ads, and zero-click experiences.
It’s easy to feel like the work we’ve built our careers on is crumbling.
’ll be real: I’m writing this because half the time I feel like I’m scrambling to keep up.
The FOMO is real – and I know I’m not the only one. And if you’re nodding along right now, good. You’re not alone.
Organic web traffic is still valuable
Even with AI experiments everywhere, Google still drives over 60% of all U.S. web traffic referrals, according to SparkToro.
That’s not exactly “dead channel” territory.
Yes, AI Overviews and answer boxes might change how users click.
Some queries might get satisfied on the results page.
But users don’t stop needing in-depth content, products, services, or expertise. They still click through, just more thoughtfully.
Now is not the moment to throw up your hands and quit SEO.
It’s the moment to focus harder on being the site worth visiting, the answer worth citing, and the brand worth trusting.
If your strategy is just “rank for anything and hope for clicks,” yes, you should be worried.
But if your strategy is to actually help people? AI can’t kill that.
Dig deeper: The new SEO imperative: Building your brand
AI-EIEIO and the barnyard of new acronyms
In times like these, the industry does what it always does: it invents new acronyms to sell the fear back as opportunity.
I can’t tell you the number of courses, webinars, and straight-up service offerings flooding my newsfeed, all for a price.
You’ve probably seen some of these galloping across your screen: AI Overiews, GEO, and more.
They’re pitched as magic formulas to make your content “AI-friendly,” guaranteeing your brand will be cited in chatbot answers or appear in some AI-powered search result.
Peter Rota, an SEO I really respect, recently called these “hustlebro acronyms.”
Couldn’t have said it better.
Because that’s what they are – a new coat of paint on old, solid advice.
But here’s the truth: even the best in our industry admit there’s no sure-fire secret playbook.
Wil Reynolds put it so well on a recent LinkedIn post,
- “The real truth is we don’t know what ranks in AI with the precision that we did in SEO and there’s a chance we never will.”
If Reynolds is willing to say that out loud, maybe the majority of us should too.
What these acronyms actually mean
Let’s break down the acronyms making the rounds. Here’s what they really mean, minus the hype.
- AIO: Structuring content so even AI summarizers don’t get lost.
- AEO: Crafting content designed to be the answer.
- GEO: Aiming to earn generative AI citations.
- SEX: The same UX best practices, but rebranded to sell.
- ETC: Organizing info so AI and search understand your entities. (Yes, entity SEO… Still here.)
If you’re doing good SEO now, congratulations – you’re already halfway to “AIO” without even trying.
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What actually still works
Let’s start with the good news. The rules haven’t changed as much as the hype suggests.
Yes, we need to understand how AI systems ingest, summarize, and present information.
Yes, we should keep learning.
But the best way to show up in those answers is the same as it’s always been: be the best, clearest, most trustworthy source.
- Know your audience better than they know themselves.
- Write the most helpful, thorough content out there.
- Earn links because you’re genuinely worth mentioning.
- Build a site that’s fast, accessible, and easy to love.
Optimizing for AI is just optimizing for people – because AI models train on our content, and they reward clarity, authority, and usefulness.
Dig deeper: How to get cited by AI: SEO insights from 8,000 AI citations
How to actually use AI in your SEO work
If there’s one thing I want to be clear about: AI isn’t just a threat.
It’s also an incredibly useful tool, if you take the time to adapt your processes to include it.
We might not know the “secret” to ranking in AI Overviews, but we know how to use AI to do our jobs better.
Here are a few ways I use AI in my processes:
- Client education and discovery: Learn about your client’s industry faster. The conversational nature of ChatGPT cuts down on the time needed to search, read, re-search, and develop ideas for strategy, content, and clarifying questions for your client.
- Faster and deeper research: Dive deeper into topics, use AI to pull from its massive knowledge base to strengthen your content. Find sources and previously published information to back up your claims. Provide something valuable that your competitors aren’t.
- Competitive analysis: Summarize competitor content, identify gaps, and even ask AI to compare multiple webpages on the same topic. This is a great way to understand what your webpage needs to stand out from the crowd.
- Content briefs for writers: Generate structured outlines to hand off to freelance or in-house teams. Once you’ve done the research, use AI to speed up the process of organizing it for a writer!
Is this a comprehensive list? No.
If you’ve spent any time toying around with LLMs, you’ve likely already gotten lost down the rabbit hole of their capabilities.
Everything from automating writing tasks to structured data generation and more.
AI tools have simply made great SEOs faster and broadened their abilities.
Is it magic? No.
You still need to check, edit, and think critically.
But AI can save hours of busywork, help you spot ideas faster, and let you focus on real strategy.
Dig deeper: Want to beat AI Overviews? Produce unmistakably human content
How to be the calm voice clients need
Here’s another truth: Many clients are scared right now.
They’re seeing traffic dip, hearing the hype about AI killing search, and worrying about their budgets.
They don’t need someone to sell them the latest acronym. They need someone calm, strategic, and honest.
This is your chance to be that voice:
- Help them see the long-term.
- Show them real opportunities to improve.
- Advise them on diversifying their channels.
- Teach them how to create content worth citing – even for AI.
- Be the partner who helps them navigate change instead of reacting to it.
Final thoughts
I know it’s easy to get cynical or burned out. I’ve been there myself.
But here’s what I believe: SEO is not dead. It’s demanding more from us.
The work is still here for people willing to focus on the fundamentals.
The clients are still here for those willing to be calm, strategic advisors instead of selling the next acronym.
And honestly? It’s never been a better time to do meaningful work.
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