If you are a business owner and asking the question do you still need SEO in the Age of AI Search you are not alone. With the quick development of the various AI platforms like ChatGPT, and the roll-out and increase of AI overviews shown in Google Search results, it is a valid question to ask and we have the answers.
Do I still need SEO if people are getting their answers from AI?
To be direct and to the point, the answer is yes. However, SEO is evolving as well as how users are searching. The development of AI has not made traditional SEO obsolete. In fact it is quite the opposite, a good SEO foundation is helping businesses stay relevant and visible in a much broader search environment.
It is true that ranking on a traditional search page is a narrow approach and does not take into account the entire picture. The wider picture shows that there needs to be a considerable effort to ensure that your business is understood properly by the AI agents and represented properly in the citations and mentions. Do the search engines understand what your business does? What they offer? Their expertise? The benefits? Their reputation? This is where generative search optimization or AI optimization comes into the picture.
SEO and AI Optimization Are Connected
Until now, SEO has been mostly about providing service pages filled with keywords that help Google rank your site properly for specific user queries. Businesses would fill their pages with information that told users what services their company provides. Along with location pages to show what areas they serve and where they are located. In addition to their contact information. A good SEO foundation meant that information all matched with local business listings and Google My Business profiles. All of that has not gone away and still matters.
A good SEO foundation also included technical SEO which is ensuring your site could be crawled and indexed by the search engines. Making sure you did not have an excessive amount of redirects. As those could use up valuable crawl budget resources. Making sure the pages loaded quickly, there were no script errors, redirect loops or broken links. All of that still matters.
Lastly, your website should have credibility and have a theme. And show that you are an authority around a specific topic or industry. For Delco SEO, we are an SEO company who specializes in search engine optimization. We have several pages, articles and resources around SEO, AI optimization, and local SEO. A consistent theme with helpful content and recommendations around those topics and themes.
To be cited and mentioned in the AI platforms, those fundamentals are still necessary. For example, if someone were to search in ChatGPT for “Who are the best SEO companies in Delaware County, PA?”, the AI system would need an understanding of which businesses would most likely help the user with that specific question or problem. To get that information, it has to pull information from a variety of sources which can include website content, published articles or blogs, press releases, case studies, third-party sites, online review sites, and other online resources. So to summarize, SEO sets the foundation and AI optimization builds on it and enhances it.
AI Search Doesn’t Replace Google Search
So what are people using to search today? According to Stat Counter Global Stats, the traditional search engines still are king with Google capturing 89.9%-91.3%. The next highest is Bing with only 4.5%-5.3%. Around 69% still use the search engines in a traditional manner (searching within Google). Users who would be considered hybrid or augmenters split their journey, using quick links to get directly into the AI platform. 58.5% of those searches end without a click.
So how can we interpret that data? Businesses should not abandon those channels that have been getting them visibility for years in the wake of AI. However, yes the search journey is moving towards AI search and it is growing. You want your business to be visible where your customers are. Think of your target audience, who they are, and where they are searching. For example, younger audiences are more likely to use the AI resources where older audiences might be more set in the traditional search routine.
What AI Optimization Adds to SEO
AI optimization is an extension to SEO. Making your business and what you are an expert in easier for the AI agents and platforms to understand when the proper query is asked by a user.
To accomplish this involves:
- Having an ample amount of resources around the topics your business is an expert in
- Making sure your website clearly explains your areas of expertise and services
- Creating content that helps answer users questions and solve a problem rather than being stuffed with keywords
- Ensuring your similar pages on your website that have similar topics are linked together
- Updating structured data and LLM files to help AI agents interpret your information
- Increasing third party mentions and reference with a good reputation
- Keeping accurate and consistent NAP (name, address, phone number) across the web
- Monitoring how your business appears and is understood in the AI platforms
- Identifying the questions and topics where your competitors are being mentioned and you are not.
In other words, extending from how do I rank, to how can I be a credible and reliable source when a user asks a question related to my business.
Your Content Matters More Than Ever
The good news, you don’t need to create completely different content solely for the AI platforms. As with traditional SEO, having helpful content that helps users solve a problem is just as important in the AI environment. Your content should work harder and do more than just target keywords.
A good example is a company who wants to target users in need of commercial landscaping services should have a service page showing the services they provide. However, that could be expanded to making sure you have the answers to such questions as:
- What is the cost of commercial landscaping?
- How often does my commercial property need to be landscaped?
- What does landscaping provide?
- What is the best way to maintain a property during the winter months?
- What are some of the best preventative maintenance procedures for landscaping?
- What should you look for in a commercial landscaping company?
These types of questions and answers provide an opportunity to showcase the company expertise and be visible in the AI generated search results.
Authority Still Matters
It does not matter if it is traditional or AI generated search results, both want verified, reliable and valid information. Think about it for a second. If they provided bad results, would users continue to use them? Of course not as the platform would not be helpful.
This is where we also see an overlap between traditional seo and generative search optimization. Building authority takes time as you need to establish that you are a legitimate business with expertise in a particular area. You do this by developing your reputation outside of your own website on review platforms, industry publications, press releases, news articles, business associations, social media profiles and mentions, and more. The goal is not to simply get mentioned everywhere, but serve as a credible reference with expertise in a specific industry, topic or area.
Local SEO Still Matters, Too
AI search doesn’t eliminate the importance of local SEO.
If someone asks an AI platform to recommend a plumber, accountant, restaurant, law firm, marketing agency, or other local business, the system needs information about businesses that actually operate in that area.
Your business name, location, services, website, Google Business Profile, reviews, local references, and other information can all contribute to your overall digital presence. That makes accurate and consistent local information important for both traditional search and AI-driven discovery.
What AI Optimization Does NOT Replace
There are no shortcuts when it comes to SEO or AI optimization. There are still basic necessities that your need to have which include:
- A website that is clean from SEO errors so AI systems can crawl and understand your content.
- Useful and helpful content that demonstrates expertise
- Strong local seo that mentions where your business is located, which areas you serve, and your knowledge of the specific region
- Good website structure which consists of a clear and easy navigation system, interlinking, main service pages, location pages, and content which helps support relationships between topics.
- Third party visibility with a good reputation, reviews and mentions that clearly describes your company vision and the differentiators between you and your competitors.
- A good user experience which provides a clear path to the desired result
Generative search optimization does not replace these things, it just broadens the overall strategy.
The Goal Is No Longer Just the Blue Link
As we mentioned prior, the goal was get your website to rank in the search results. That has not changed with the development of AI search and overviews. The goal now is to expand your strategy, to obtain visibility, and get cited and mentioned in the AI overviews and generative search results. If you consistently build and create useful, helpful and authoritative information and content, you will be successful across the different search experiences.
So, Do You Still Need SEO?
Yes you still need SEO. SEO and AI optimization are not either/or strategies. Where traditional SEO sets a good solid technical online foundation with content, authority and relevance, AI optimization takes that foundation a step further by shifting the focus to how your business and expertise is understood and displayed within generative search experiences. Those businesses that are smart enough to adapt will not be left behind, and will expand their search visibility.
Delco SEO looks at both traditional SEO and AI optimization to build a more solid and overall stronger online presence. Consider it SEO with the AI add-on that can better position your company to be found where your customers are searching online.
