AI SEO: What We Know So Far
Table of Contents:
How AI is Changing SEO Webinar (From April)
Why AI Search is AWESOME for SEOs and Small Businesses
I founded HelloSEO in November of 2020. It took almost two years to take it from side hustle to full-time job, but in October of 2022, I finally quit. (Wow. What a way to sum up one of my biggest life accomplishments in one sentence.)
And then, in November 2022, ChatGPT was born. Great timing. I knew immediately that AI was going to change my entire career. I knew people would start using it for search, and that it would become my job to help businesses show up in that search.
Did I have any idea how I’d do that? Or when people would actually start adapting to it? Nope.
I didn’t know how fast the shift would happen, or what exactly my job would look like on the other side of it. But I knew I needed to start paying attention.
Over the past year and a half, I’ve been watching, testing, tracking, and (let’s be real) talking everyone’s ear off about it.
Here’s what I know about AI for SEO.
Is AI Search Actually Here?
TL;DR: Oh yeah.
Until April, I thought we had more time. The consensus within my industry was that adoption of AI search would be super slow, and probably affect B2B SaaS (read: the techy fields) first, not small or local businesses.
But then April 1 rolled around, and the reality hit me (and my clients) square in the analytics.
AI search isn’t just “on the horizon.” It’s already showing up in real traffic, real leads, and real sales…across industries.
In my April reports, I found that 25% of my clients were getting leads from AI tools like ChatGPT. And yes, I mean cold, hard, conversion-tracked leads. Including my own site. People are typing full-blown queries into LLMs and being sent directly to our websites. It’s not a “someday” thing. It’s happening right now.
And it’s not just for software companies. I’ve seen this hit travel brands, coworking spaces, wellness providers, plumbers, roofers, and, of course, your favorite SEO agency. While tracking sign-ups for my How AI is Changing SEO webinar, I even saw people registering via ChatGPT.
AI Traffic Report for an Online Business Strategist
AI Traffic Report for a Niche Travel Agency
We’re watching ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini quietly become alternate search engines, and they’re already delivering traffic.
What’s even more interesting: until recently, most of us couldn’t track this properly. It’s only in the past month or two that tools like Scrunch AI have made it possible to measure visibility across these LLMs.
So yes. AI search is here.
But before any dread sinks in...
It’s going to be great for your business.
How AI is Changing SEO Webinar
Here is a replay of my “How AI is Changing SEO” webinar from April. While the information is accurate, we now know SO MUCH MORE! But it’s a great place to start.
Why AI Search Is Going to Be AWESOME for SEOs and Small Businesses
TL;DR
For Businesses:
AI search levels the playing field by favoring clear, helpful content over big brand authority, giving small businesses a real shot at visibility and more qualified traffic.
For SEOs:
LLMs reward genuinely useful, well-structured content, pushing SEOs to do better work. They also create competition within the search game, which means better products for us to play with! And with new tools finally rolling out, tracking visibility is becoming possible.
If you’ve been in SEO for more than five minutes, you know the job comes with one universal truth: everything is always changing. The algorithm updates. The SERP changes. The rules shift…without warning, without mercy.
Now, with AI on the scene, the threat to SEO has been palpable. Especially on LinkedIn. Could this be the end of SEO? Is this an SEO Apocalypse?! And yes… if you want to double down on the SEO tactics you’ve been doing for a decade, this isn’t good news. But honestly, if you’re still doing SEO the way you were in 2015… it’s probably already not working.
However, the more I learn about AI Search… and the more data with have about user behavior and visibility within LLMs… the more optimistic I feel.
I truly believe AI Search is going to be AMAZING for SEO. And even better, it’s going to be incredible for small businesses.
Here’s why:
AI Is De-Monopolizing Search
It’s not just Google anymore. We finally have actual competition in the search space…ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, even DeepSeek. And that’s a good thing.
For years, we’ve been forced to play by one company’s ever-changing rules. But now, Search engines are going to have to work harder to stay relevant. They are going to hold each other accountable.
LLMs have entered the chat.
We’ve already seen it happen with ChatGPT and DeepSeek
When DeepSeek released its model with a simplified Chain of Thought (CoT) method (basically, a transparent way of showing how the AI was reasoning) it set a new bar for explainability. Suddenly, users could see why DeepSeek made certain recommendations or conclusions.
Shortly after, OpenAI followed suit. The new ChatGPT o3-mini model adopted a similar transparent thinking style, making it easier for users to understand how responses were generated. That’s something OpenAI hadn’t prioritized until competition pushed their hand.
More transparency. More innovation. More accountability.
So cool!
AI Search Prioritizes Small Brands Over Big Directory Domains
Google’s traditional search favors big brands and those giant directories (Yelp, ZocDoc, Amazon, Target, The Knot, et cetera.) Ranking on Page 1 often comes down to site authority, backlink profiles, and years of content momentum… advantages that prioritize enterprise over scrappy brands.
Example: When I Google “Therapist Near Me,” I have to scroll to position #7 to even see a local therapist’s office. When I ask ChatGPT, I only get local results.
But LLMs don’t care (as much) about that. They’re pulling from well-structured, clearly written, schema-optimized content that actually answers the searcher’s question. That means small businesses finally have a real shot at showing up without needing a million-dollar marketing budget.
And with Shopify’s coming integration with ChatGPT, we can expect eComm brands to EXPLODE in AI Search!
LLMs also provide clean, easy-to-understand results often with extra insights about each brand they mention. Then, users can follow up. They can ask clarifying questions like “Which one has the best customer service?” or “Which is Black-owned?” or “Which ships fastest?”
You might get less traffic than you did from traditional Google, but the visitors you do get are more qualified, more informed, and ready to buy.
AI Search Is Making Us Better SEOs
You can’t “keyword stuff” your way into ChatGPT answers. You can’t fake helpfulness. You have to actually… be good.
AI search is pushing us to do the things we should have been doing all along:
Get to know your audience.
Write really, really good content.
Structure it in a way that’s human-first, not robot-chasing.
Stop obsessing over “what Google wants” and start focusing on what people want.
I do not hate it.
As Wil Reynolds from Seer Interactive says… “It’s time to take the stairs.”
A slide from Wil Reynolds’s SEOWeek Presentation, “The Other AI is Hurting Your Organic Traffic.”
You Can Show Up in More Places Now
This is a quick one.
With AI-driven search, you don’t have to put all your SEO eggs in one basket. Even if you’re still working on visibility in ChatGPT, maybe you’re doing great in Claude.
AI search means you now have more opportunities to get found…not fewer. You just need to adapt.
Visibility Is Becoming Trackable
This was one of my big concerns with SEO for AI. How are we supposed to do keyword research and tracking “rankings” in these things?
Until recently, we were kind of flying blind when it came to AI visibility. But with tools like Scrunch AI, we can now actually see which queries we’re showing up for inside LLMs.
I’ll be real. I slept better after my demo call with Scrunch. While there is still of lot more we need tool-wise, Scrunch proves they are on the way.
A screen grab from Scrunch AI. It’s the coolest.
Early Adopters Win
Most people are still catching up…or pretending this isn’t happening.
That’s your advantage (as an SEO or as a business owner.)
If you’re an SEO, this is your moment to serve clients better, stand out from the crowd, and even attract new business by mastering AI search before it goes mainstream.
If you’re a small business, showing up in LLMs now starts a flywheel: more exposure = more engagement = more trust signals fed back to the AI = showing up even more (even as the competition gets steep.)
The algorithms will keep evolving. But if you're already in the mix, you're not scrambling to catch up later. You’re leading the charge.
AI isn’t the end of SEO. It’s the reset button we’ve needed. And the smartest brands and SEOs are already climbing the stairs.
Stay Tuned for More!
Keep an eye out in the next few weeks when we will cover:
New Ranking Factors for Ai Search
Why is Traffic Going Down but Revenue is Going Up?
New Ways to Read Your Analytics (Spoiler: Branded Keywords are Going Up)
Are My Target Clients Even Using AI? And Which One?
