Anyone working in SEO today will have come across the question "Is SEO dead?" more than once. Once again, the answer is "no".
No, AI will not replace SEO.
Rather than making SEO obsolete, AI will make it more valuable.
How can we say that?
Let's look at some hard data on AI and SEO suggesting that AI will not replace SEO any time soon.
Will ChatGPT replace Google?
No. Some types of online search suit a question-and-answer format better, but most searches still happen through keywords. Here are three reasons:
1. Google still dominates search
If you are worried that ChatGPT will replace Google, it may help to know that Google is still far ahead. Reports from Datos show that ChatGPT still has a long way to go.
There is even reason to think that Google and ChatGPT are not necessarily competing with each other.
Recent research from Semrush shows that 70% of ChatGPT searches are unique to ChatGPT: they are prompt-style requests, not the standard queries people type into Google.
Another analysis by Rand Fishkin puts ChatGPT at only about 4.33% of market share in traditional search. And that assumes every use of ChatGPT is a Google-style query rather than a long, heavy prompt.
AI has a lot of ground to cover before it fully replaces Google and traditional search.
2. AI adoption is lower among Millennials than among Gen Z
Many people who are ready to buy will keep using traditional search tools such as Google and Bing rather than change their habits.
The same pattern shows up on Facebook, where 81.4% of users are over 24. Compare that with the age profile of TikTok, where 70% of users are under 35.
These figures are true in general, but that does not mean your target audience matches them exactly right now. If you are targeting younger generations, the picture changes in several ways.
Plenty of research shows that Gen Z and Gen Alpha prefer social media platforms more than other generations do.
Gen Z is also the most likely to search in an AI-friendly format.
If your audience includes younger generations, consider AI SEO services as part of your marketing strategy.
For other age groups, Google and Bing remain the most used tools.
3. Google's business depends on organic results
If organic search disappears, so do the advertisers.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, Google generated total revenue of $96.47 billion, $54 billion of which came directly from Google Search.
Google search advertising accounts for 56% of its total revenue.
You cannot expect Google to stand by while its golden goose disappears.
In practice, that risk is not there.
AI Overviews, built into Google Search, generate roughly the same ad revenue as their non-AI counterparts. Despite the extra competition from ChatGPT, Google Search ad revenue grew 10% year on year in Q4 2024.
Yes, Google will change how search results are generated to make use of AI. But Google Search will keep serving results (whether or not they are a list of links) that give advertisers a reason to bid on keywords. As for AI-written text, four large-sample studies show what actually happens to AI content and rankings.
Will AI replace SEO jobs?
No. SEO jobs will not be replaced by AI as long as the work keeps pace with what AI makes possible.
"AI won't replace humans, but humans with AI will replace humans without AI." - HBR
AI will make SEO more competitive
There are so many ways to do SEO, and AI can affect all of them.
Several parts of the SEO process can be automated with AI. That means:
- Faster research into keywords and topics to write about
- On-page SEO is easier, as titles, meta descriptions and headings are automated
- Technical SEO, at least at surface level, will be easier
- Off-page SEO will be saturated, as backlinks that once went to little-known content will point to AI-generated content.
In the end, this can lead to higher-quality content being produced on a regular basis.
In February 2024, Statista reported that 42% of marketers were using AI tools in their content creation process. See our guide on how to use AI in digital marketing.
Google's ranking algorithm will adapt to people exploiting its loopholes, as it always has. Traditional search will still become more competitive than ever.
SEO agencies and consultants will have harder work to do, as business owners and short-staffed marketing directors struggle to get results.
New developments in marketing are making it harder for businesses to stay competitive.
Get in touch if you want help holding your rankings in search results. We work on AI Overviews, generative engine optimisation and search everywhere optimisation.
Search is a pillar of how we buy
Supply and demand: a story as old as time.
Google, ChatGPT, Claude and the rest are answer providers.
Users searching for products and services are the demand.
There will always be a need for some kind of search, as long as the following hold true:
- Potential buyers are looking for products and services.
- Several options offer those products and services.
Even looking ahead to a time when AI agents can answer any question instantly, there will still be a need for answers. As a business, you will want to be the one that AI agent recommends, won't you?
As long as there is competition, there will be ways to optimise for that process.
Users will search, and you will need to optimise
SEO may mean something different in future, but optimising for search remains. Whether it is search engine optimisation (SEO), generative engine optimisation (GEO) or search everywhere optimisation, the goal is still to rank as well as possible.
No, AI will not replace SEO.
