It’s no surprise that AI has taken over the conversation lately—especially in SEO and content creation. It feels like everyone’s talking about it, and you’re probably already juggling the ethics, logistics, and the overwhelming pace of it all. AI’s not going anywhere, so the big question now is: what does that mean for the behemoth that is organic search?

Google’s Dominance in Search

Google has been the champion of the internet ever since users figured out a better way to search than Ask Jeeves. For anyone just joining the workforce, Ask Jeeves was like a less efficient Google that was themed around a helpful butler character. Doesn’t the early internet sound quaint?

For the last 20 years, Google has been the best way to find answers to questions, search for content, and navigate the internet. And this has made them rich.

Since 2004, Alphabet (the parent company of Google) has made around $1.2 trillion. We estimate that at least $700 million of that has come from Google Search Ads.

Google is invested in delivering relevant, accurate results for users, because this is how they make their money. All of the algorithm changes Google has rolled out for organic search tend towards this general idea:

Google wants you to find search results in an efficient, useful way, so you use the search engine and they can sell ads.

So now that AI is on the scene… the champion has a new challenger.

Threats to Google, And How They are Responding

Google is no longer everyone’s default. We are already seeing data that Chatbots like ChatGPT and Perplexity are becoming go-to places for finding information. And we don’t see this stopping anytime soon. Recently, after a new image generation update was launched on ChatGPT, OpenAI saw over 1 million accounts made in just 60 seconds. Perplexity saw a 275% jump in monthly active users from Q3 2023 to Q1 2024. One consumer report concluded that 27% of consumers now use Gen AI for at least half of their internet searches.

Google isn’t just letting this happen. They’ve been preparing for years and are now moving fast to integrate AI into search. That said, the shift to AI-first search is still in its early stages. Google’s market share only recently dipped below 90% for the first time—but the momentum is real.

A Quick Note on Gemini

Gemini is Google’s AI tool. It hasn’t gained the same media hype as ChatGPT (the OpenAI PR team is a master at drip-feeding information and keeping the hype train chugging along), but Gemini is extremely impressive. While it has fewer users than OpenAI’s flagship product, it performs better in current benchmarks (though this changes with the weather depending on what version of an AI is released).

But that might not matter for search, or AI in general. Gemini is the engine behind Google’s AI products. It has a leg up on other AI products because it is already in your Google products: Gmail, Docs, Excel… and most importantly for this article, search.

AI Overviews

Love them or loathe them, AI Overviews are here to stay. These overviews, right at the top of the SERP (above the actual search results) take the search that you have entered and answer it with generative AI based on the information that Google has. When AI overviews launched last year, they got off to a rocky start:

(Please don’t put glue on your pizza)

But as time goes on, they are being used more and more. Google wants to collate the information that people are looking for. Ever since “rich snippets” and previews of information directly on the SERP, this form of “no-click” search has worried marketers. AI overviews are the next iteration of that. And they are starting to be a LOT more impactful and relevant:

The data that Google has collected on your websites is being used to help it understand information in context. What you put on your website affects how Google displays information. Google is a key interaction a user has with your organization – you really need to be purposeful in how you communicate information that is critical to your brand (we’ll talk more about this later).

Search Generative Experience

Another piece of the puzzle is Search Generative Experience (SGE) — Google’s experimental version of search powered by generative AI. If you’ve seen a big, colorful box at the top of a results page with a conversational summary, that’s SGE in action. It pulls from multiple sources, answers your question in plain language, and suggests follow-up queries to keep the conversation going.

SGE doesn’t just pull in text—it includes products, reviews, and purchase options too. So if someone searches “best gifts for theater lovers” or “museum memberships near me,” they might see curated suggestions right at the top. It’s a shift from the classic list of links toward something more interactive, more contextual, and a lot more AI-driven. At one point, SGE was the only AI interface on the SERP, but it has since taken a backseat to AI Overviews, which are now the default experience for most users.

AI Mode with Google Search

So far, Google has been wary of launching AI search for its main product. But we are starting to see the first hints of a new Google with the launch of AI Mode on March 5th. As of yet, it is in a kind of test mode, only available for Google users with access to Labs. But this may be the big one: Google’s answer to AI search.

AI on Google is Still Evolving

With all of these moving parts (AI Overviews, SGE, and AI Mode), it’s no wonder things feel a little confusing. Google’s AI strategy is still very much in progress, and chances are we’ll be updating this blog again soon as things continue to evolve

Think of AI Overviews as a quick summary, like reading the back cover of a book. SGE is more like attending a book club discussion, allowing for follow-up questions and deeper exploration. AI Mode takes it a step further, offering a personalized experience akin to having a one-on-one session with the author.

So… what can we do about this?

We know that busy, proactive marketers like you are already thinking about how you can use this, and what it means for your organization. We’ve been thinking about this too. The good news is that some of the things you are already doing for SEO will help with this new discipline of Generative Engine Optimization, or “GEO”.

Clarity is Key: Get Your Technical SEO Right

Google is already designed to crawl your site and extract information. Crawling and “indexing” is how Google decides where to place your links on the SERP. A huge amount of technical SEO is all about communicating to Google that you have information on your site that is worth ranking.

The various technical optimizations that we make to ensure our site is readable to Google’s robots are going to help with communicating with AI engines like ChatGPT and Gemini. SEO and GEO recommendations are going to have a huge amount of crossover going forward. The schema optimizations, tag design, content layout, and site structure that work for SEO is going to be crucial in allowing other crawlers to read your site. In a Google-centric world where websites have been optimizing towards Google’s crawlers, other crawlers follow their lead.

(Aren’t sure where to start with technical SEO? Shoot us an email and we can chat about our technical SEO work.)

We have always believed that organizations should never try to outgame the organic search system. You aren’t going to beat Google or outwit its algorithm. Tricking Google is also known as “black hat SEO” because organic search professionals are dorks who want to sound cooler than they are (trust me, I am a self-aware search dork). Our recommendations put clarity and readability first and foremost, and are honest in how they communicate with Google.

Make Your Own Content

Content is still going to be incredibly important moving forward. One of the core principles of good SEO hasn’t changed:

Write clear, useful content that real people find valuable.

AI is already pretty good at summarizing information, but it still relies on original human-written content to do that. If the internet turns into an endless loop of AI content repeating itself, the whole system falls apart. Search engines and AI tools need high-quality, human-first content to understand topics and give meaningful answers.

And, more importantly, only you can tell your story in your voice. That personal, on-brand touch helps people connect to your mission. Your perspective, your programming, and your language are what make you recognizable and trustworthy, no matter where someone finds you.

Remember: Your Website is Still Vital

Even with more info showing up directly in search results, your website remains essential, especially for things like ticket purchases. When someone’s ready to buy, they need to land on the right page, and your SEO helps make that happen.

That’s where branded search becomes critical. You want people to find your site when they search for you (not a third-party reseller or listing site). Make sure your branded SEO is strong, so your audience finds the right page at the right time in their journey.

You Don’t Need to Panic… But You Do Need to Think

AI is getting wild. But let’s think about the demand side of AI, and what people are using it for as a parallel to search: finding information. The basic mechanisms of how that works aren’t going to change that much. The food that people consume is the same; it’s just prepared in a different way and served on a different dish (I’m writing this before lunch, so my metaphors are getting food-based, which is always a bad sign).

The shift to AI-driven search isn’t seismic—yet. Gartner predicts that search engine traffic could drop by 25% by 2026, but most of that disruption is still ahead of us. The smartest move is to prepare now, before these changes go from experimental to expected.

Clarity in how your website presents information and creating content that people want to read is still the pillar of SEO, and will be for the foreseeable future. Who knows, this may all change in the coming years. But we can only work on what we know now, and our best guesses for the future.

I doubt that anyone will want to stop seeing your incredible shows, concerts, performances, and exhibitions. So we just need to help people find them.