SEO Team Leader Kelsie Tune shares insights into the changing landscape of search.
Search is changing fast. What began as a keyword-matching system has evolved into a dynamic, AI-powered landscape. Tools like ChatGPT, Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), Perplexity and Claude are not just influencing how people find information; they’re fundamentally reshaping the concept of search itself.
Users are no longer simply typing keywords into a box. They’re asking complex questions, using voice and visual cues, and relying on conversational interfaces to deliver answers instantly. At the same time, digital marketers are navigating a shift from keyword-first strategies to intent-driven optimisation, where understanding why people search matters more than what they type.
In this article, we explore the future of search and SEO. We examine how artificial intelligence, evolving platforms, and changing consumer behaviours are shaping digital marketing, and how brands can adapt to stay visible, relevant, and competitive.
What is the future of search?
Search is no longer synonymous with Google. The very idea of “search” is expanding rapidly as people turn to a broader range of platforms and technologies to find information.
Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude are transforming search from a static list of results into an interactive dialogue. At the same time, social platforms such as TikTok and Reddit are emerging as alternative discovery engines, particularly for younger audiences. In fact, a 2023 HubSpot review found that 12% of users were already searching via AI chatbots, while 33% were turning to social media platforms instead of traditional search engines.
Visual search is on the rise, allowing users to search by image rather than text, while voice assistants are making search more conversational and frictionless.
This diversification of platforms marks a fundamental shift from searching by keywords to searching through context, intent and natural language. Brands that want to remain discoverable will need to extend their visibility beyond traditional SERPs and adapt to where their audiences are truly searching.
The future of Google search: From indexing to answering
Google’s evolution reflects a broader trend: the move from indexing content to delivering direct answers. With the introduction of AI-powered features like the Search Generative Experience (SGE), the familiar list of organic links is giving way to AI-generated summaries that sit prominently above the fold.
Despite Google maintaining dominance with approximately 13.1 billion daily searches, it’s important to note that ChatGPT has reached 1 billion daily searches 5.5 times faster than Google did in its early years. The pace of adoption for AI-native tools is accelerating, and fast.
This shift carries significant implications. Top rankings no longer guarantee visibility alone; structured data, schema markup and content clarity now play a vital role in feeding the AI models that generate summaries. EEAT signals (experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness) have also become more critical, as Google seeks to validate the quality of its answers. As a result, organic click-through rates are likely to decline, particularly for informational queries that no longer require users to visit a site to find what they’re looking for.
In this new environment, success comes from anticipating questions, structuring content for machines, and establishing authority through every touchpoint.
AI and the future of SEO: Friend or foe
AI is transforming how content is created, discovered, and ranked. But is it a threat or an SEO opportunity?
Google’s algorithm updates, from RankBrain and BERT to MUM and the Helpful Content Update, have gradually incorporated AI to understand queries more contextually. Search is becoming more semantic, more conversational, and more focused on delivering genuinely helpful content.
For marketers, this means prioritising topical depth over volume, and relevance over repetition. Authority is no longer built by publishing dozens of shallow articles, but by demonstrating deep, consistent knowledge across a connected content strategy. Long-tail queries, natural language, and clear structure are essential. Structured data and metadata, once considered technical details, are now crucial tools for visibility in AI-powered SERPs.
Rather than replacing SEO, AI is raising the bar. The future belongs to marketers who can pair strategic insight with a deep understanding of how machines interpret value.
How AI is shaping the future of digital marketing
AI’s impact isn’t limited to search. It’s fundamentally changing how marketers operate across the board.
Content creation is faster and more scalable, with AI able to draft outlines, generate copy, and suggest improvements in real time. Personalisation has evolved from static segmentation to predictive targeting, using behavioural data to tailor experiences down to the individual. Paid search and programmatic campaigns are increasingly optimised through automation, with platforms testing and refining creative variations in response to performance.
Crucially, AI allows for human creativity to scale. It can support ideation, reduce production bottlenecks, and free marketers to focus on strategy and storytelling. The brands that will succeed are those that use AI as a collaborator, not a shortcut.
Changing consumer behaviour due to AI
As technology evolves, so too does consumer behaviour. Searchers today are more conversational, more visual, and more intent-driven than ever before.
Users increasingly expect fast, context-aware answers from the platforms they trust. Voice-enabled searches reflect natural speech patterns. Image-based search is becoming a preferred method for product discovery. Meanwhile, Gen Z and younger Millennials are bypassing Google entirely, turning to TikTok, YouTube, and Reddit for advice, inspiration and answers.
Reddit, in particular, has emerged as a powerful search and discovery tool. With over 500 million users in 2025, it provides a space for highly contextualised questions and authentic conversations. Reddit is also playing a significant role in online shopping, as users research brands, cross-reference product reviews, and evaluate authenticity, all through real-life experiences and peer opinions. For many, this kind of engagement offers a level of trust and nuance that traditional search engines often lack.
This behavioural shift requires marketers to meet audiences where they are, and to deliver content that reflects how people actually search today, not how they did ten years ago.
Where AI gets its answers: What LLMs are really citing
As search engines evolve into answer engines, understanding where AI is sourcing its information becomes critical for brands aiming to stay visible. A recent Semrush study based on over 150,000 AI citations provides fresh insight into the sources large language models (LLMs) rely on when generating responses, and the results are eye-opening.
Here’s the breakdown:
- Reddit (40%) – The single largest source. AI is increasingly drawing from authentic user-generated content (UGC) and real conversations. Reddit’s niche communities offer rich, contextual insights that help LLMs answer highly specific, real-world queries. For marketers, this highlights the value of community engagement and brand presence in organic conversations.
- Wikipedia (26%) – Still one of the most dominant sources for trusted, structured, and well-cited information. If your brand or topic area isn’t represented accurately here, you may be missing out on a major AI visibility opportunity.
- YouTube (23%) – Explainer videos, tutorials, and thought leadership content on YouTube are playing a growing role in shaping AI-generated responses. Video content isn’t just valuable for human audiences; remember AI is watching, too.
- Google (23%) – Despite the rapid rise of new AI-native platforms, Google still holds a significant presence in shaping AI answers. However, as AI becomes more conversational and diverse in sourcing information, Google’s role could be shifting from being the primary source to a supportive one, providing a balanced blend of web pages, knowledge panels, and snippets to inform responses.
- Yelp / Tripadvisor – Review platforms are increasingly influencing how LLMs interpret sentiment and brand perception. Real customer feedback is becoming AI fuel. This underscores the need for consistent reputation management and engagement on review platforms.
What this tells us is that visibility in AI isn’t just about your website anymore. It’s about having a presence across the digital ecosystem, from social media, UGC platforms and knowledge bases to video and review sites. As AI tools cite a more diverse range of sources, brands must think bigger than traditional SEO.
To stay relevant, marketers need to create content that not only performs well in search engines but also aligns with the trusted sources AI models draw from. That means engaging in authentic conversations, producing high-quality video content, ensuring accuracy on public information platforms, and listening closely to customer reviews.
Future-proofing your SEO and search marketing strategy
Adapting to this new era of search means rethinking your approach from the ground up. Keyword tactics alone are no longer enough. Modern SEO requires more holistic, strategic and creative thinking. So, how can search marketers stay competitive in an AI-driven multi-platform landscape?
Embrace content clusters, not just keywords
AI-driven engines favour content that answers related questions cohesively, not just in isolation. Therefore, focusing on isolated keywords is becoming less effective as AI models grow better at interpreting meaning and context.
Instead, marketers should focus on building topic clusters. These are deep, interconnected content ecosystems that demonstrate authority. They offer the depth and clarity needed to be genuinely helpful. Search engines increasingly reward content that clearly and comprehensively answers user questions within a broader context. This structure helps search engines understand how your content relates and supports the user journey. Clusters also improve internal linking and encourage deeper user engagement.
UX and Core Web Vitals are still key
Performance still matters, and strong technical foundations boost both human and machine engagement. Google’s Core Web Vitals, including load speed, visual stability and interactivity, are now critical ranking signals and also influence how your content is surfaced in AI summaries, especially when schema or structured data is used.
A seamless user experience remains critical, particularly as AI-generated answers increase the competition for attention. AI-generated summaries and zero-click search features mean users are less likely to visit your site unless it provides clear value. User experience must be seamless: fast loading, mobile-friendly, and easy to navigate.
Use AI tools to support (not replace) human creativity
AI tools can and should play a role from automating metadata to generating content variations. But it’s essential to keep the human element at the centre. Empathy, originality and clarity remain the foundation of high-performing content.
Use tools like ChatGPT to brainstorm content ideas, generate outlines or repurpose existing assets. Keeping human judgment at the core is key, and think of AI as a collaborator that helps scale creativity, not a shortcut that replaces it.
Invest in structured data, schema and conversational UX
AI engines and search platforms increasingly rely on structured data to understand, summarise and present your content. Adding schema markup to your pages helps machines parse and surface information more effectively, whether in featured snippets, product carousels, or AI-generated overviews.
Meanwhile, conversational UX, such as FAQs, chat-style formats, or Q&A content, makes your site more compatible with how people now search, especially through voice or AI assistants.
Monitor platforms beyond Google
Marketers must broaden their view of the search landscape. Google will remain important, but new AI-native platforms like Perplexity and You.com are growing in relevance.
At the same time, younger users are turning to TikTok, Reddit and YouTube to answer questions and solve problems. Brands that diversify their presence across multiple discovery platforms will be best placed to thrive.
To stay ahead, brands must track where their audiences search, experiment with new formats, and repurpose content for AI-native and social discovery tools.
Why this matters, and how to add it to your strategy
AI isn’t just reshaping how search engines work; it's reshaping how people search, what they expect, and where they go for answers. Adapting means looking beyond rankings to how your brand shows up across all discovery touchpoints.
Integrating these approaches doesn't require starting from scratch. Build on your current SEO strategy by layering in content clusters, improving UX, using AI for scale, and extending visibility across platforms.
Whether you're optimising for today's SERPs or tomorrow's AI-generated overviews, the future of search belongs to brands that can answer better, faster and more credibly than the competition
Ready to future-proof your searchability?
Partner with experts who understand how to balance innovation with performance. At The MTM Agency, we help ambitious brands navigate the evolving search landscape, combining strategic insight, technical know-how, and creative excellence to deliver results that last.
Contact The MTM Agency today to find out how we support our client partners in staying visible, competitive, and ahead of the curve.
Frequently asked questions
What is the future of SEO in an AI-driven world?
As AI is increasingly embedded within our search behaviours, SEO will become more intent-led and conversational. Success will rely on creating structured, high-quality content that AI can interpret and that users find genuinely helpful.
How will Google change in the next five years?
Google is shifting from providing links to delivering actual answers at users' fingertips. We can expect more AI-generated summaries, personalised results, and a stronger focus on structured data and authority signals.
Will AI replace traditional search engines?
Not entirely, but it will change how we search. AI is enhancing engines like Google and powering new platforms, while users increasingly look beyond search engines for answers.
How can marketers adapt to AI in SEO?
Focus on intent, not just keywords. Use structured content, schema, and topic clusters to boost visibility, and let AI tools support, not replace, strategic thinking and creativity.