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Our SEO theory in an AI world (update May 2025) | iSocialWeb

The AI era raises doubts about SEO’s future, but we’re more confident than ever: it’s time to be greedy when others are fearful.

> Google’s AI-generated results lead to a 34% drop in sales. > > > Ahrefs, April 2025

Ahrefs chart: AI Overviews cut position 1 CTR by 34.5%, from a forecast 0.040 to 0.026 in March 2025

> 13% of all searches trigger AI Overviews in 2025, a 102% increase since January. > > > Semrush, May 2025

Semrush chart of zero-click searches from January to March 2025, higher for keywords with an AI Overview

> As of today, I believe SEO is beginning to die. > > > David Collins, December 2024

Dave Collins blog post titled SEO is dead? Again? Maybe this time.

And yet, the future is more promising than ever…

That something has changed in SEO, we can all agree on that.

In less than 2 years, we’ve gone from the classic 10 blue links on Google’s first page to talking about GEO, LEO, LLMO, and a whole bunch of acronyms no one really understands anymore.

But for over two decades, the fundamentals of search engines have remained the same.

Users will find your business if the content you create:

Is high-quality

Is relevant to your audience

You have the authority to say it

And none of that is going to change in the next 10 years.

ChatGPT doesn’t want to recommend just anything; it wants to give you content that aligns with your interests. And it knows you.

No LLM (ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Google AI Overview…) includes advertising. Everything is organic, and as of today, ChatGPT alone handles 1 billion searches per week.

OpenAI post on X announcing over 1 billion ChatGPT web searches in one week

To fish in troubled waters, or so they say.

Now is the time to claim positions in a market that’s still untapped, while others rush to run ad campaigns, we can secure a seat at the top of the new search formats:

ChatGPT answering iSocialWeb when asked for the best SEO agency

This is not the death of SEO. It’s the dissemination of SEO.

More opportunities to be discovered.

More points of visibility.

More opportunities to sell.

Post on X by @levelsio showing ChatGPT grew from 5% to 20% of his Google traffic in a month

This is our theory:

ChatGPT and its counterparts can now answer the kind of content we used to publish on a blog, but since they can’t replace your business, they’ll be forced to recommend it.

So your actions shouldn’t focus on recovering traditional organic traffic, but rather on capturing the new kind of organic traffic in Google AI Overview, ChatGPT, and any other emerging search platform.

Transactional traffic will still exist and can be channeled, but it will no longer be as “obvious” as it used to be. Here’s what we’re aiming for:

Chat message from Marcos about a client who found the agency through AI search engines

Yes, I get it, but then what do we do?

We adapt our SEO knowledge into a strategy that includes these new search platforms.

And to do that, what we do is:

  1. We analyze the types of content that LLMs cite in your industry.
  2. We identify the queries affected by AI Overviews and how those answers are constructed.
  3. We adapt your site architecture, content, and internal linking to make your brand appear in the new non-click results.
  4. We create assets that can be cited, even if they’re not clicked.
  5. We measure influence, not just traffic.
Álvaro Peña on video in front of a dashboard of business and SEO metrics

If you’re interested in positioning yourself within the new AI models, you can let us know more about your case here:

Contact us