AI Versus SEO: Why Search Is Far From Dead

If you’ve noticed a steep drop in your web traffic since the addition of AI tools, you may be wondering if SEO is no longer relevant.

Chad Diller, CEO of Landscape Leadership, argues that search is still the backbone of online discovery.

“AI is not killing SEO,” Diller says. “There’s been a lot of over-sensationalized clickbait headings. I won’t say it’s not affecting it, but research is showing 95% of Americans still just use search engines as their primary means to search for things, and only about 20% of people are using AI tools.”

He says that AI is merely causing search to evolve and is an additional way for consumers to find answers.

“Searchers in this study are using multiple platforms,” Diller says. “They’re using search. They’re using AI. They’re using social media. They’re doing all these things now versus in the past, they might have used a little bit less. I would say, instead of panicking, companies should focus on the core fundamentals of making sure their websites are really helpful, making sure their brand is really trustworthy, not just from their perspective, but all over the place online, because AI is looking for authoritative, trustworthy, helpful answers.”

At their core, SEO and AI are both trying to help provide the searcher with the most trustworthy information on a topic.

New Metrics to Watch

While organic search traffic is dropping because AI is taking all the information available and providing a concise answer, Diller says there are other KPIs you can monitor instead.

“What you’re ranking for?” Diller says. “Are people coming in and filling out leads on your website? That stuff is all still effective to measure. But also with this is you have to also measure things like where’s your brand showing up in those AI answers in summaries.”

He says showing up in the AI summary is another opportunity to get in front of leads.

“The stronger your brand presence is online, where you’re being cited in a bunch of different authoritative content, the more likely it is for you to be mentioned in AI,” Diller says.

How to Optimize with AI in Mind

If you’re looking to improve your Answer Engine Optimization, Diller recommends investing in what you own first, namely your website.

Diller says that AEO is merely an extension of SEO. Instead of just ranking for keywords, you’re optimizing to try to get your direct answer chosen by these AI agents. Similar to when you optimize your website for SEO, you need to have enough depth and quality for AI to want to cite you.

He recommends focusing on clarity, brevity and trust signals.

“When you write an article, write a 40-to-50-word answer before you dive into details,” Diller says. “Use question-based headings of how people actually would search for this stuff. Create step by step guides. Think about someone being extremely impatient. They want an answer for this. Make sure that stuff is really prominent in your content. Put statistics, unique features, points of view or stories or examples in your content because AI is looking for a unique answer as well.”

Case studies are one way to highlight your authority and authenticity without the content coming across as filler.

“It would be explaining clients’ unique challenges,” Diller says. “That’s not something could be duplicated. It’s different for every property, and then detailing a solution, being authentic and helpful and conversational and providing personality to it.”

For the people who are searching on AI platforms for recommendations, you need to have clear, question-and-answer-based content to increase the likelihood that AI will include you in its suggestions.

“AI tools are looking for concise, structured answers,” Diller says. “So you can’t just write thousands of words and pages without organizing that content. You also have to use questions in that content. Use questions in the form of a heading. The first sentence answers the question, and then from there unpacks that a little bit deeper.”

Diller recommends having FAQ sections that state a clear question, answer and provide supporting information.

“I think it just comes back to the balance of writing for SEO, writing for humans, and then also a layer for AI that wants more of that concise information and answering the question a little bit more,” Diller says.

Diller says that both search and AI are relying more heavily on social media than just the words on your website. Instead of writing a case study or article and publishing it one time on your website, Diller recommends dividing it up into different pieces of content that can be delivered on different platforms.

“Having this interconnectedness of your content delivery is really important,” Diller says. “You’re providing it in different formats that meet the context of the platform they’re on, and you’re able to appeal to a variety of different people and how they digest that information, and Google and AI will recognize that.”

Other trust signals that AI looks for include a strong Google Business Profile and sharing knowledge as a respected voice in industry publications.

Diller notes that studies show companies with a poor online reputation are not being cited by AI so it is critical to manage your online reviews.

Common Mistakes with AEO

Diller says one mistake is overreacting to AI and abandoning SEO practices entirely. He says while you should provide concise answers, failing to go deeper will result in shallow content that doesn’t provide any additional expertise or perspective.

“I think the companies that are going to win at this are ones who have been keeping that human voice, being very authentic, that have given true value and expertise, and they’re doing that over a long period of time,” Diller says.

You shouldn’t be focused on just producing massive amounts of content for AI. It should continue to delight the audience. For those late to the game, Diller says it comes down to being consistent and scaling over time versus trying to add a bunch of content at one time and then stopping.

“To build a presence online and to build a brand that is universally accepted as an expert on it, it just takes time,” Diller says. “That takes resources. It takes dedication. It has to become part of your culture as an organization to do that.”

Another mistake is to only put your eggs in one basket, especially as search continues to become more fragmented.

“History shows us that no single platform ever replaced another,” Diller says. “Google didn’t kill television ads. TikTok didn’t kill YouTube. AI is just going to be another layer for discovery. It’s not going to erase the need for SEO. It’s just changing the game and changing the focus a little bit more so that diversification of content formats with blogs and videos and FAQs and being featured in publications is needed.”