With AI Search Rising, Does Traditional SEO Still Matter?

Search has always been our compass on the internet. You think of something, type it in, and a list of answers magically appears. For the longest time, that magic was ruled by one name: Google. With over 90% of global market share, Google didn't just guide our searches—it defined how we built websites, created content, and grew businesses online. And then, AI showed up with a different kind of magic. The kind that doesn't just find answers but writes them for you.

So here's the big question: if AI is answering our queries directly, where does that leave traditional SEO?

In this article, we’ll explore how AI is changing search, what this means for SEO, and whether traditional strategies still hold their weight in 2025 and beyond.

Understanding How Traditional SEO Has Always Worked

Before we jump into AI, let’s quickly revisit how traditional SEO works. When you publish a web page, Google (and other search engines) send bots (called crawlers) to discover it. Once found, they scan the page, understand what it's about, and store that information in an index. When someone types a related search query, Google ranks and displays the most relevant results. That’s crawling, indexing, and ranking in action.

If your site isn't technically optimized for these steps, it may never even show up, neither in classic search results nor in AI-generated answers. So the basics of technical SEO (like site speed, structured data, proper metadata, and mobile optimization) still form the foundation of visibility.

Then comes content. Good content. Content that’s helpful, unique, and designed for humans, not just bots. Google calls this E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It matters because search engines want to serve quality, reliable information, especially on topics related to health, finance, or safety.

Link-building and social signals round out the formula. The more trusted sources link back to your site, the more Google considers you worth showing.

But what happens when the user doesn’t click on a link at all?

Enter AI: Search That Skips the Click

The biggest shift in recent years is that people aren’t clicking anymore. AI tools like Google’s AI Overviews and Microsoft Bing’s Copilot Search are designed to answer your question right there on the search page. This is what we call a "zero-click search."

According to Bain research, over 60% of users now get their answers directly from these AI-generated summaries. That means a lot of the traffic you used to rely on from organic search is vanishing.

Let’s pause here. If you run a business or create content online, doesn’t this mean SEO is dead?

Not quite.

Instead of killing SEO, AI is changing what counts as "success." Getting users to click is still valuable, but now so is being the source of information the AI pulls from. If your site is cited in an AI Overview, you might not get the click, but you still get visibility. And in many cases, users who do click through from an AI answer are more qualified—they’re genuinely interested.

Traditional SEO Is Now the Entry Ticket to AI Search

Here’s the twist: AI search systems still rely on traditional search infrastructure.

AI Overviews, AI Mode, Bing Copilot—all of these use crawlers, indexes, and rankings to pull the best content from the web. If your content isn’t technically optimized (can’t be crawled or indexed), it won't be discovered, and it certainly won't be quoted.

That means everything from meta descriptions to schema markup (structured data) still matters.

Want AI to notice your content? You still need:

Clean, crawlable site structure
Descriptive page titles and URLs
Proper use of alt text for images
Fast-loading, mobile-friendly design
High-quality, original content that solves real problems

So traditional SEO hasn’t vanished. It’s become your gateway to AI visibility.

The Power of E-E-A-T in an AI World

Let’s revisit E-E-A-T—Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.

AI models are trained to prioritize credible, people-first content. If your article includes original research, real-life stories, and clear signals of expertise (author bios, credentials, trusted links), it’s more likely to be selected as a source.

This is especially true for "Your Money or Your Life" content \...health, finance, education, safety—where bad advice could harm someone. Google and Bing take these topics very seriously and heavily factor in trust signals.\

Add detailed author bios and credentials
Use HTTPS and display clear contact info
Collect and showcase positive reviews
Publish unique, experience-backed insights
Earn backlinks from high-authority websites

If AI is the new librarian, E-E-A-T is your recommendation letter.

AI Search Means You Need to Think in Topics, Not Keywords

Remember the days of writing a blog post just to rank for a keyword? Those days are fading.

AI doesn’t work like that. It doesn’t look for keywords—it looks for themes, context, and relationships. This means instead of stuffing pages with variations of the same phrase, you need to create deep, well-organized content that answers real questions.

Topic clusters work better than isolated blog posts. Think of it like building a library on your website: one pillar page covers the main idea, and smaller articles support it with details. This structure helps AI understand you’re an authority on the subject.

This is the core of "Answer Engine Optimization" (AEO): creating content so useful, clear, and complete that AI picks it as a primary source.

Multimodal and Conversational Search Are Changing the Game

Search isn’t just text anymore. With tools like Google Lens and multimodal AI models like Gemini, users are searching with images, voice, and follow-up questions. AI understands these formats and links them together.

So what does this mean for you?

It means your content should work in multiple formats:

Add alt text and captions to images
Include transcripts for videos and podcasts
Optimize for voice queries by writing in natural, conversational language

In short: make your content accessible, scannable, and adaptable.

AI also personalizes search based on user history. If someone often searches for baking tips, asking "what’s the best mixer" might prioritize culinary results. Your content should consider different user journeys and use cases.

Table: Traditional SEO vs. AI Search Strategy Shift

Element	Traditional SEO	AI Search Optimization
Focus	Keywords & rankings	Topics, semantic meaning, usefulness
Clicks	Click-through rate (CTR)	Zero-click visibility & source credibility
Format	Text-heavy pages	Multimodal: text, images, audio, video
Strategy	Link-building & keyword mapping	Topical authority & structured content
User Behavior	Short, transactional queries	Complex, conversational, personalized queries
Measurement	Google Analytics & CTR	Visibility in AI summaries, brand mentions

So... Does Traditional SEO Still Matter?

Absolutely. But its role has changed.

SEO is no longer just about climbing the rankings. It’s about being discoverable, credible, and useful enough to be included in AI-generated responses. It's about optimizing not just for humans or algorithms but for both.

In other words, AI didn’t kill SEO. It made it smarter.

If you're still relying on outdated tactics—like stuffing keywords or chasing links without building trust—you'll likely be left behind. But if you’re investing in strong technical SEO, building E-E-A-T, diversifying content formats, and focusing on real value? You’re in a better position than ever.

The Future of Search Is a Partnership

Think of AI not as a rival to SEO, but as a new kind of search partner. One that doesn’t just help people find information, but also filters and summarizes it.

That means your job, as a content creator or marketer, is evolving too. You’re no longer writing for a search engine. You’re writing for a system that speaks, thinks, and answers like a person.

In this article, we explored how traditional SEO remains essential, even as AI reshapes the rules. From crawling and indexing to E-E-A-T and topical authority, your content still needs to be optimized, but with a broader, more human approach.

Because in the end, it’s not just about being found. It’s about being trusted.