When I came across Google Search Advocate John Mueller’s response to a Reddit user’s query about SEO’s relevancy in the age of AI, I found it incredibly enlightening. The question was whether traditional SEO is still sufficient or if there’s a need to pivot towards generative engine optimization (GEO).
His advice was strikingly straightforward: the labels we use are less significant than the reality we face.
“If you have an online business that thrives on referred traffic, it’s essential to see the bigger picture and prioritize your strategies accordingly. The name you give it isn’t critical, but AI isn’t disappearing anytime soon,” Mueller emphasized.
While Mueller didn’t delve into whether GEO will become its own field, he made it clear that AI’s presence is a constant we need to accept.
Google remains skeptical about treating AI optimization as separate from traditional SEO, as seen in several instances:
- Google says normal SEO works for ranking in AI Overviews and LLMS.txt won’t be used
- Google’s Danny Sullivan: ‘Good SEO is good GEO’
- Google VP: SEO and AI search optimization have ‘a lot of overlap’
- Google says doing optimization for AI search is ‘the same’ as doing SEO for traditional search
- Google’s Danny Sullivan: SEO for AI is still SEO
I realized that it’s crucial to ignore the surrounding buzz and focus on how our audience truly behaves. Mueller’s recommendation was to examine practical data, like:
- How many of our audience members are using AI tools?
- How does AI usage compare to search engines, social platforms, or other traffic sources?
- What implications does this have for allocating our time and resources?
The takeaway for me is that while SEO continues to be a significant traffic and revenue driver, it doesn’t guarantee AI visibility. We need to remember that not all SEO practices align with GEO.
To quote Mueller from his Reddit comment:
- “If you have an online business that makes money from referred traffic, it’s definitely a good idea to consider the full picture, and prioritize accordingly. What you call it doesn’t matter, but ‘AI’ is not going away, but thinking about how your site’s value works in a world where ‘AI’ is available is worth the time. Also, be realistic and look at actual usage metrics and understand your audience (what % is using ‘AI’? what % is using Facebook? what does it mean for where you spend your time?).”
If you’re interested, you can check out the complete Reddit discussion here.
Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
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