There’s no question SEO is changing.
Search Engine Land recently hosted a roundtable discussion about how AI is reshaping the future of search with some expert insights for the SEO community.
You can read the full transcript or watch the video. Here’s the brief summary and some solid advice.
Mike King, CEO of iPullRank
- SEO is deprecated, not dead: Traditional SEO still works, but is no longer sufficient. AI-driven search requires new strategies.
- Visibility in AI Overviews is different: Being in the top 10 of SERPs doesn’t guarantee inclusion in AI summaries.
- Demand more: SEOs should push for better tools, compensation, and respect for their evolving role.
- Understand technical foundations: Concepts like vector embeddings and retrieval-augmented generation are now essential.
- Omnichannel strategy is critical: Optimize across platforms like Reddit, YouTube, and LinkedIn Pulse—not just websites.
- Measurement must evolve:
- Input metrics: passage relevance, bot activity
- Channel metrics: visibility in AI engines
- Outcome metrics: brand sentiment, agentic interactions
Duane Forrester – CEO of UnboundAnswers.com
- We’re in a sprint, not a marathon: The pace of change is relentless; SEOs must keep up or fall behind.
- New skills are essential: Companies should start hiring for future skills now (e.g., query fan-out, AI content strategy).
- Tool chaos is coming: Expect proliferation and eventual consolidation of AI SEO tools.
- Human-in-the-loop is vital: AI systems still hallucinate and misattribute; human oversight is non-negotiable.
- Track AI visibility manually: Run prompts regularly across major models and log results to understand brand presence.
Myriam Jessier, Consultant at Pragm
- SEO isn’t dead—it’s evolving: The job is more complex and collaborative than ever.
- Multimodal search is the future: Optimize for image, video, and voice-based queries.
- Branding quadrants matter:
- Known brand (your assets)
- Latent brand (social chatter)
- Shadow brand (old content, leaks)
- AI-narrated brand (LLM outputs)
- Ethical SEO is critical: Watch for LLM poisoning and misinformation.
- Practical tips:
- Disable JavaScript to test content visibility
- Use thumbs-down feedback in LLMs to correct brand errors
- Monitor Reddit via Perplexity to track sentiment
Barry Schwartz, Editor at Search Engine Land
- SEOs must adapt or fade: Those who evolve will thrive; checklist-driven SEOs will struggle.
- Branding is more important than ever: With fewer clicks, brand perception drives success.
- SEO fundamentals still matter: Google claims no new optimization is needed for AI Overviews—but real-world results suggest otherwise.
- Skeptical of renaming SEO: Believes the term “SEO” still holds value and credibility.
- AI is like a confident friend who’s often wrong: Trust but verify everything AI says.
