Is SEO becoming less valuable?

Search anything on Google these days, and you’ll have an AI-based search result that takes up half the screen, 4 paid search ads below that, video or maps listings results below that, and then normal organic listings.

Granted, that does not happen on every search, however, I've noticed that the days of a pure organic search results being displayed are fewer and fewer.

Agencies and clients are now fighting to appear in AI results, rich snippets and organic results below paid ads and below Google maps listings.

The question now becomes - is SEO losing it's luster since the behaviour of consumers are changing?

Traditional SEO tactics are severely diminished

Brands are getting hit with ranking updates and losing website traffic.

G2, a B2B review comparison website's organic traffic declined by 80% in 2023.

Hubspot's organic traffic declined by 80% in 2024.

My observation for their decline in organic traffic is that they started posting too far out of their core expertise which affected their topical authority and by extension their rankings.

Just writing articles, listicles and trying to capture organic traffic just from posting is not working nearly as well as it used to.

Beyond ranking updates, user behaviour is changing as well with ChatGPT, Gemini, Manus and many others as AI has opened up a new way of finding information.

Large SEO contracts are not a fit for smaller clients

The modern era of SEO requires true expertise, unique industry perspectives, research offering interesting data points, authentic content and a business with risk tolerance as the volatility of ranking positions are on the rise.

Contacting marketing agencies and signing an expensive SEO-only contract to rank for specific keywords should be carefully evaluated against the environment I've outlined. Consider your marketing budget, your current website UX and industry expertise of the agency.

Marketing agencies aren't experts in the field of their clients 

In many cases, there are no specific experts on hand to write original, well-researched, and truly unique content for a client. These are the only types of content that can and should withstand the ranking test of time.

Boilerplate or content on par with AI does not cut the mustard anymore - therefore by extension, having a marketing agency to produce generic content on behalf of a client isn’t such a good idea and is an easy target for a search engine update.

There needs to be a comprehensive content strategy in place in order for SEO to work.

Businesses need full-stack digital marketing

To generate leads and sales, businesses need a full-stack approach to their marketing efforts that encompasses all aspects of generating traffic and converting that traffic.

It’s now more important than ever to:

• Have a modern, fast, UX-first website that caters to visitors;

• Add value at all stages of the lifecycle of website visitors;

• Addressable marketing solutions that deliver targeted messages across marketing channels;

  • Receive website visitors across multiple channels and sources (referral traffic, local search, PPC programs, email in addition to SEO);

• Convert website visitors through social proof, high quality copywriting, and the reputation of your business;

All while being compliant with the latest privacy laws. 

Is SEO still relevant in 2025?

Yes absolutely.

From the countless clients I’ve worked with, I’ve observed that organic traffic is in most instances a large portion of a website’s overall traffic, and it's almost always a top 3 traffic source. 

There are multiple areas of opportunity with SEO as well:

• You could optimize for the regular search results;

• You could optimize for video search results on YouTube and on the organic listings;

• You could optimize for local search results (Google Maps);

• You could optimize for rich snippets within search engines;

Brands, expertise, and authority are still favoured

No surprises here - big brands and big businesses have a much easier time ranking the pages on their website than smaller or medium-sized companies.

It's important to not be hyper-focused on an ‘SEO everything’ mindset - write and publish what’s most useful to your ideal customers.

Prediction: Search engine traffic will decrease and intent traffic will increase

Informational search queries are going to be swallowed by AI, since it can summarise information better than websites can across multiple sources.

SEO is expanding into AI search

However, users are going to be more intentional after having a lengthy conversation with AI about their needs and be more ready to transact when they do visit websites.

The impact of ranking any keyword in position #1 is diminishing due to the changes Google has made to its search results and the impact of AI. 

There is, however, still an opportunity to take advantage of all the different areas to increase a website’s overall visibility & traffic. 

In summary:

“My argument is that SEO, as a stand-alone, high-priced service for smaller businesses, is becoming less effective and a focus on other areas such as Google maps and AI needs to be included.”