Will SEO Still Matter in the Age of AI Search?

With the rapid rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, and Microsoft Copilot, many business leaders are asking: will SEO still matter in the age of AI search? For CEOs, CMOs, and business strategists, this isn’t just a marketing question; it’s a growth and visibility question. If your customers start relying on AI tools rather than traditional search, will your business still be found?

The short answer: yes, SEO still matters, but it’s evolving. AI search is changing how people discover, evaluate, and engage with brands. Instead of ten blue links, answers are now conversational, contextual, and often summarised by AI. That means traditional ranking factors are no longer enough. To succeed, businesses need to optimise for both search engines and AI systems.

At Digital Hothouse, we’ve spent over a decade helping clients adapt to the shifting search landscape and in 2025, that means going beyond classic SEO to focus on AI optimisation, E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness), and technical foundations that ensure your content is discoverable, trusted, and recommended by AI systems.

In this post, we’ll explore what the future of AI search means for your business, and share insights into how we’re applying our expertise to keep clients ahead of the curve.

Why AI Search is Reshaping SEO

AI-powered search is not simply a new feature – it’s a fundamental shift in how users find and consume content. Instead of typing in queries and scanning lists of blue links, people now expect AI-driven results that:

1. Summarise information instantly
2. Provide context-rich answers
3. Recommend trustworthy brands and sources

This change puts an even greater emphasis on E-E-A-T signals. If AI can’t confidently determine that your site is authoritative, trustworthy, and technically sound, you risk being excluded from AI-driven results altogether.

Want to learn more about how AI changes trust signals? Read our post: How Do You Build Trust and Credibility for AI-Powered Search?

Will SEO still matter in 2025 and beyond?

Yes, but not in the same way it did in 2015. Think of SEO less as “ranking for keywords” and more as “being the trusted source AI search engines rely on.”

That means optimising for:

1. Entity-based SEO. AI understands entities (people, places, organisations, concepts) rather than just keywords. Structuring content to clearly define who you are, what you offer, and how you’re connected boosts visibility.
2. E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). Google has made this clear, and AI search relies on the same signals. Authored, credible, cited content wins.
3. Conversational queries. AI tools thrive on natural-language prompts. Optimising for long-tail, question-based searches is now critical.
4. Content structure and density. Clear, well-structured content helps AI summarise and extract facts. This includes FAQs, schema markup, and authoritative outbound links.

The Role of E-E-A-T in AI Search

Google has consistently stressed the importance of E-E-A-T in its Search Quality Rater Guidelines. With AI Overviews and generative answers, these signals become even more critical. It’s no longer just about rankings; it’s about being referenced as a reliable source in AI-driven responses.

Postie Case Study

Working with Postie, one of New Zealand’s leading retailers, our technical SEO and content strategy are designed to demonstrate authority and trust in a competitive retail space. By improving structured data, enhancing product categorisation, and aligning content with customer intent, we have not only continued to drive organic traffic but also built the kind of E-E-A-T signals AI search now rewards. Read the Postie case study.

Related reading: Evolving Search Intent: A Glimpse into Shifting Sands

Technical SEO: Still the Foundation of Visibility

While content quality and E-E-A-T are essential, technical SEO remains the backbone of AI optimisation. AI models need structured, crawlable, and machine-readable content to understand your site. That means:

1. Implementing structured data (schema markup) correctly
2. Optimising internal linking to highlight topical authority
3. Ensuring fast, mobile-friendly experiences
4. Maintaining clean, crawl-efficient site architecture

Smart Water Case Study

For Smart Water, we implemented advanced schema markup and improved technical foundations to ensure their water tank monitoring solutions were highly visible and contextually understood by search engines. These changes not only boosted organic rankings but positioned Smart Water as a trusted brand referenced in AI-driven insights. Explore the Smart Water case study.

For a deeper dive, check out our post: What to Include in Your SEO Strategy

What does this mean for CEOs and CMOs?

For senior leaders, the key question is ROI. If SEO is changing, is it still worth investing in? The answer is a resounding yes. Here’s why:

1. AI still needs sources. Generative AI tools can’t invent credible answers. They pull from existing, high-quality web content. If your business isn’t producing that content, you won’t appear in AI-generated results.
2. AI search amplifies winners. Because AI often condenses answers, it rewards the few most authoritative sources. That means the top players get more visibility, while weaker content disappears.
3. Search behaviour is fragmented. People still use Google, Bing, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, and now ChatGPT. SEO ensures you’re discoverable across all these ecosystems.
4. Commercial queries still drive traffic. AI may summarise information, but when it comes to transactions (book a hotel, buy a product, request a demo), users still click through. Strong SEO ensures your site captures that intent.

AI Optimisation: The Next Step Beyond SEO

AI optimisation is not about abandoning SEO – it’s about building on it. The same principles of keyword targeting, intent alignment, and authority building apply, but we adapt them for an environment where AI assistants, not just search engines, deliver answers.

Key areas of AI optimisation include:

1. Structuring content for natural language processing
2. Optimising for conversational queries
3. Building topical authority hubs
4. Demonstrating real-world expertise through case studies, authorship, and trusted external references

GO Rentals Case Study

When partnering with GO Rentals, our strategy combined technical SEO, local optimisation, and content authority building. This not only delivered top rankings but also reinforced their position as a trusted voice in the New Zealand travel market – a key factor for AI-driven recommendations. Read the GO Rentals case study.

Related reading: What is AI Optimisation and Why Does It Matter for Your Business?

GEO vs SEO: Local Signals in AI Search

For businesses operating in competitive local markets, geo-specific signals play an increasing role in AI recommendations. AI search engines prioritise businesses with clear, accurate, and trustworthy local data.

This means optimising Google Business Profiles, local schema, and consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) citations across the web.

We’ve broken this down further in our blog: GEO vs SEO

Future-Proofing Your Search Strategy

AI search isn’t a “nice to have” – it’s the new reality. To stay ahead, your business needs to:

1. Build trust through E-E-A-T
2. Maintain strong technical SEO foundations
3. Adapt strategies for AI-driven environments
4. Use case studies, thought leadership, and structured data to show real-world expertise

Need inspiration for your own content strategy? See: 5 Types of Highly Effective Blog Posts You Should Be Publishing Today

Common misconceptions about SEO and AI search

“AI search will kill SEO.”
False. AI search will kill low-quality, keyword-stuffed SEO. But it elevates high-quality, structured, credible content.

“If AI answers everything, clicks won’t matter.”
Partly true. Informational clicks may decline, but transactional and commercial clicks remain strong. Businesses that offer solutions, not just information, will still benefit from organic traffic.

“Traditional ranking factors are dead.”
Not quite. Technical SEO, page speed, mobile-first design, and user experience still matter—because AI search engines use them to evaluate content quality.

Conclusion: Staying Visible in an AI-Driven World

At Digital Hothouse, we see AI search not as a disruption, but as an opportunity. With the right balance of E-E-A-T, technical SEO, and AI optimisation, you can ensure your brand is not just visible, but trusted and recommended by the systems shaping the future of search.

We’ve done it for GO Rentals, Postie, and Smart Water and more and we can help your business stay ahead too.

Recommendation: Treat AI optimisation as an evolution of your existing SEO efforts.

Next step:Get in touch with our team to discuss how we can build a future-proof AI search strategy tailored to your business. You can also check out our AI Optimisation services and SEO services pages for more information.

FAQs: SEO in the Age of AI Search

Will SEO budgets need to increase with AI search?

Not necessarily, but budgets will need to shift. More investment in content quality, structured data, and authority-building is required.

Can small businesses still compete in AI search?

Yes, but only with niche authority. Local expertise and specialised knowledge can still surface in AI answers.

How will success be measured in AI-driven SEO?

Beyond traffic, businesses will measure brand mentions in AI responses, citation frequency, and conversion quality.

What industries are most impacted by AI search?

Content-heavy sectors like healthcare, finance, legal, and travel are seeing the biggest shifts. Transaction-heavy industries like eCommerce and SaaS still rely heavily on clicks.

Glossary of Key Terms and Acronyms

For readers new to SEO and AI optimisation, these definitions clarify the terminology used throughout the article.

Core Concepts

1. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation): The process of improving a website’s visibility in search engine results like Google to attract more relevant traffic.
2. AI Search: Search powered by artificial intelligence, which interprets user intent, context, and natural language to deliver more personalised results.
3. AI Optimisation: The practice of tailoring content and technical signals so it is easily understood, surfaced, and recommended by AI-driven search systems.

Methodologies & Frameworks

1. EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness): A Google framework for evaluating the quality and credibility of content and websites.
2. Content Strategy: A structured plan for creating, publishing, and maintaining content that aligns with audience needs and business goals.
3. Search Intent: The underlying goal or purpose behind a user’s search query (informational, navigational, transactional, etc.).

Technical SEO Terms

1. Crawlability: How easily search engines can discover and navigate the pages on your site.
2. Indexability: Whether search engines can include your pages in their results after crawling.
3. Schema Markup: Structured data added to web pages to help search engines better understand and display content.
4. Canonical Tags: Code used to signal the “primary” version of a page when duplicate content exists.
5. Page Speed / Core Web Vitals: Metrics that measure how quickly and smoothly a web page loads and interacts with users.

Industry Tools & Practices

1. SERP (Search Engine Results Page): The page of results displayed by a search engine after a query.
2. CTR (Click-Through Rate): The percentage of users who click on a link compared to those who see it.
3. Conversion Rate: The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, such as filling out a form or making a purchase.
4. Backlink: A link from one website to another, used by search engines as a signal of authority.
5. Case Study: A detailed analysis of real-world client work demonstrating strategies, results, and learnings.