If SEO is RIP, What’s Next for Marketers?
Now that AI overviews have rolled out, almost every brand, in every vertical, is going to hit an organic search wall. That moment has either arrived for you, or it's coming.
A lot of us are still processing how the SEO game has changed. We spent years building out “content hubs”—beautiful, evergreen libraries that delivered millions of pageviews. And now? Those online destinations are seeing a major decline in tourism.
Should we try to salvage what we’ve built by optimizing already-published content for AI-driven search? Probably. But the end goal shouldn't be gaming bots into mentioning our brands.
The mission should be to develop a new and better understanding of our audiences...and determine where we can offer them the greatest support.
While SEO is having a bit of an identity crisis, it’s important to remember that search itself isn’t dying—it’s diversifying. New AI tools, social channels, influencers, community forums, podcasts, video content, and a ton of live (or live-streamed) events mean your customers have more options and opportunities to discover and learn than ever.
As marketers, we need to embrace the diversification of our channels and assets in order to reach the people we care about.
How do we do that, exactly? Here are the needs my team and I are leaning into as we carry out a mission to better serve our clients and their audiences:
Audience Research
This is the starting line. Changing your strategy begins with understanding how your audience is really finding, vetting, and trusting information in a post-AI world. Where are they gathering and vetting information? Which influencers do they turn to for answers? We’re using tools like Waldo, Deep Research, and Spark Toro to help us figure it out before evolving the strategy.
Brand & Community Building
You can’t entirely control the narrative about your brand—but you can definitely influence sentiment by being present and helpful on UGC sites like Quora and Reddit. These forums are increasingly earning top rankings on Google, especially for opinion-based queries like “What’s the best CRM?” And yes, you can show up as a brand without getting called out or sounding like you’re peddling snake oil.
Email Growth & Segmentation
AI has made it a lot harder for audiences to find you, and the very existence of social platforms can change at a moment’s notice (TikTok 👀). That’s why a clean email list—filled with people who’ve opted in to hear from you—is worth its weight in gold. We’re using AI to personalize segmentation, surface better recommendations, and deliver more value in every send.
Public Relations & Earned Media Content
PR isn’t just about traditional media placements anymore. That’s still important, but right now, earned media also helps build the online credibility and brand reputation needed to influence AI algorithms and results. We’re syncing PR and content efforts to tell buzzworthy, reputation-building stories across the digital ecosystem.
Branded Search Protection
Unbranded search may belong to AI—but branded search is yours to lose. When someone Googles “your brand + [topic],” you should own that result. It’s surprising how often competitors or aggregators show up first. Definitely need to change that through strategic content development and AI-focused optimization.
Site Experience
As SEO traffic diminishes, more of your users will come to your site through direct traffic or branded search. Once they do, they’ll need somewhere to land and learn and…hopefully know where to go next. If it’s been a minute since you’ve considered how your site architecture and user experience, it’s time to take a closer look. We’re mapping cleaner, frictionless user flows to help your visitors explore and convert faster.
Mid-to-Lower Funnel Asset Development
Generative AI is good at top-level summaries—but not at deep dives. When decision-makers want to evaluate and take action, they need rich, useful assets like case studies, customer stories, and custom research. Before you get started, partner up with your sales and customer service team to understand the questions people have around buying, using, or sticking with your product or service, and commit to developing content that solves these pain points.
As people’s habits evolve, their options to search and learn are expanding by the day, and it’s our job to figure out how—and where—we can offer the greatest support.
Want to talk through what that might look like for your brand? There’s nothing I love more than chatting trends, strategies (and White Lotus fan theories). Let’s get together and discuss the best of ‘em.
