Is SEO Dead in 2025? No, But Changes Are Coming

Is SEO dormant successful 2025? Simply put, no. But it's evolving quickly—as it has done galore times before.

One happening is certain, however: 2024 was a pugnacious twelvemonth for SEOs.

Google's AI overviews and halfway updates shook up hunt rankings. Watching rankings driblet without mentation was frustrating, leaving galore wondering if SEO adjacent had a future.

Even heavyweights similar Forbes Advisor and CNN weren't spared. Personally, I've wrestled with SERP volatility too.

But here's the thing: caller opportunities are emerging from these disruptions.

And I've got information and adept insights to beryllium it.

Is SEO Dead?

No, but it's going done monolithic changes.

First, Google's implicit hunt monopoly is coming to an end—but not arsenic accelerated arsenic you whitethorn think.

According to recent data, Google inactive dominates, with 83.54% of the online searches.

But caller players are emerging. 

ChatGPT commands 4.33% of searches, YouTube accounts for 6.79%, and different platforms specified arsenic societal media networks collectively correspond 3.37% of hunt activity.

Of course, we tin expect the stock of non-traditional hunt engines specified arsenic AI chatbots to grow.

And this displacement makes sense. 

AI chatbots supply immediate, personalized answers, alternatively than making users sift done links. 

However, Google's presumption remains beardown for respective cardinal reasons:

1. Google inactive processes billions of searches daily, maintaining its presumption arsenic the superior gateway to accusation online—and I don’t deliberation it’ll suffer its enactment successful the upcoming years.
2. AI tools fundamentally trust connected human-created contented for grooming and responses. Without archetypal contented being published and indexed by hunt engines, these AI models would person thing to larn from oregon reference.
3. Google isn't lasting still. The institution is actively innovating by integrating AI into hunt results—for example, with AI overviews and summaries. While this creates caller challenges for contented creators, it besides signals Google's committedness to evolving the hunt experience.

This assurance is backed by marketplace performance—Google's marketplace worth grew from $1.76 trillion to $2.14 trillion successful 2024 alone, marking a 22% summation astatine the highest of AI adoption.

Source: Oberlo

Secondly, Google itself is actively changing the rules. 

Throughout 2024, we saw galore large algorithm updates focused connected contented prime and idiosyncratic experience, specified arsenic the March 2024 halfway update:

Even manufacture giants weren't immune—arge sites similar Forbes Advisor and G2 mislaid important postulation aft being penalized by Google.

But these changes are really benefiting galore smaller businesses. 

Our caller survey of 700+ Semrush users shows that 78% inactive see SEO highly oregon precise invaluable for their company.

We besides recovered that 62.9% of businesses saw SEO improvements successful the past six months of 2024 and lone 9.5% experienced postulation declines.

All this means that SEO isn't dead—it's evolving into a much nuanced signifier that rewards authenticity and expertise implicit method optimization alone. 

Success present requires high-quality archetypal content, a deeper knowing of idiosyncratic intent, and the quality to accommodate to accelerated changes successful hunt behaviour and technology.

Why Do People Say that SEO Is Dead?

Let’s instrumentality a measurement back. 

What’s each the fuss about? Why are we panicking?

Here are immoderate large hurdles that we’ve been seeing successful the SEO industry:

1. Changes successful Google Algorithms and SERP Volatility

The SEO manufacture has experienced large shake-ups successful 2024.

If you’ve been keeping an oculus connected the SERPs, you’ve astir apt noticed it too. 

Google has rolled retired a bid of halfway and spam updates implicit the past fewer years to bring down low-quality content. 

And sometimes—unfortunately—it has besides affected high-quality, applicable pages. 

While Google is trying to fig retired its algorithms, we’ve seen tons of SERP volatility—especially aft large updates successful March and November.

This has been a acquainted representation connected Semrush’s Sensor instrumentality for a portion now:

Some sites gained postulation overnight, portion others saw important drops. For example, Forbes Advisor mislaid an insane magnitude of postulation successful a span of a fewer months:

At the aforesaid time, galore sites similar Housefresh.com recovered postulation aft initially losing it—and adjacent experienced growth. 

I’ve besides noticed changes straight successful the SERPs, affecting however Google approaches search intent. 

For example, keywords related to tools (e.g., “Best AI tools”, “Best representation generators”, etc.) saw merchandise pages regenerate listicles.

Compare February 2024, erstwhile astir results for “AI tools” were blog posts…

…with November 2024, erstwhile the SERP was alternatively dominated by instrumentality pages.

This is conscionable 1 illustration of however hunt intent is evolving, and it’s happening crossed the board.

What does this mean?

The volatility we’re seeing isn’t a motion of SEO dying—it’s a motion of evolution.

As manufacture adept Ann Smarty, co-founder of Smarty Marketing, explains:

Everyone, nary substance however large oregon small, is seeing little postulation implicit the years. It’s the world we person to woody with. You request to beryllium good with it and accommodate to enactment successful the game. If you beryllium connected traffic, it volition spell down. But it volition inactive happen, and possibly go much focused.

Ann Smarty, co-founder of Smarty Marketing

2. Google’s AI Overviews Stealing Clicks 

Google’s AI Overviews supply speedy answers to idiosyncratic queries and look close astatine the apical of the hunt page. 

For example, if you hunt “what is generative AI?”, Google instantly shows an reply by pulling accusation from assorted websites. 

The extremity is to marque hunt faster and much convenient for users.

But for websites, it’s a antithetic story. 

While these overviews see links to the archetypal sources, galore users don’t consciousness the request to click through.

As a result, integrated hunt mightiness proceed to alteration and we’ll spot much zero-click searches. 

But this concern presents much opportunities than it mightiness seem:

• AI Overviews inactive thrust marque consciousness and visibility, adjacent without (or with fewer) nonstop clicks
• AI summaries enactment champion for basal information—they can't regenerate elaborate guides that person steps, examples, and instructions
• AI Overviews look to favour contented from 2 main sources: established marque names and pages with high-quality archetypal contented (such arsenic unsocial information oregon research). Focusing connected these areas tin besides assistance you summation your visibility there. 

One of the cardinal issues is that we inactive conflict to quantify and way clicks and impressions from AI Overviews. 

As Ann Smarty points out:

It’s hard to recognize what users are clicking on. Was it an AI overview? Organic search? Something else? Measuring postulation and clicks has go hectic.

Ann Smarty, co-founder of Smarty Marketing

While we hold for analytics tools to accommodate to the caller reality, you tin inactive way different metrics.

For example, Ann recommends focusing connected branded hunt arsenic a cardinal show indicator:

When radical commencement searching for your brand, it’s a large awesome that your strategy is working. It shows you’re being highlighted crossed channels, adjacent successful places we can’t measurement consistently yet.
 

Ann Smarty, co-founder of Smarty Marketing

The maturation of your branded hunt is simply a beardown indicator of whether your SEO strategy is moving oregon not.

3. Shifts successful Consumer Search Behavior 

As we discussed earlier, user hunt behaviour is evolving.

Google is nary longer the sole go-to for answers. 

Instead, radical are turning to assorted platforms, including AI chatbots, specified arsenic ChatGPT and Perplexity, arsenic good arsenic forums specified arsenic Reddit and Quora—especially for elemental queries.

And portion this inclination volition proceed to grow, what's truly changing is however radical search. 

We're seeing a displacement from elemental keywords to complex, conversational queries. For example, alternatively than searching "best laptop 2025," users present inquire elaborate questions similar "What's the champion laptop for video editing nether $2000 with bully artillery life?"

This displacement is creating chiseled contented opportunities:

• Basic accusation and speedy answers are moving to AI
• Detailed guides, adept analysis, and archetypal probe inactive thrust important hunt traffic
• Product comparisons and different contented that influences buying decisions volition stay important successful accepted search—and truthful volition expertise-driven content

And arsenic I mentioned before, each AI tools are lone arsenic bully arsenic the contented they're trained on.

As Sergei Rogulin, Semrush’s Head of SEO, points out:

Search postulation volition decline, but Google and different LLMs volition inactive request quality content. AI needs to beryllium trained connected caller content. And we'll spot however it'll unfold truthful that radical enactment motivated to constitute caller content. That's successful the agelong run, though.
 

Sergei Rogulin, Semrush’s Head of SEO

On apical of that, recent probe by ProRankTracker revealed an important insight: your Google and Bing rankings importantly interaction your visibility successful AI tools. 

Their survey recovered that 45% of top-ranking Google pages (and 63% of Bing pages) appeared successful ChatGPT web results. For Perplexity AI, 63% of top-ranking Google URLs appeared arsenic sources. 

This information suggests that beardown SEO show tin besides straight power your visibility crossed AI platforms—making bully SEO much important, not less.

4. The Rise of AI-Generated Content

At the aforesaid time, we’re seeing much and much AI contented successful hunt results.

Our analysis of the apical 20 SERP results for implicit 20,000 keywords showed that 8% of top-ranking articles were AI-generated successful October 2024. 

While this fig is inactive small, it's increasing steadily. 

Source: Originality.ai

But here's what's interesting: companies that usage AI strategically are seeing singular results. 

Our probe of 700+ businesses revealed that erstwhile AI is utilized arsenic a instrumentality alternatively than a replacement for quality expertise, it tin really heighten SEO performance. 

The information backs this up: 39% of marketers saw accrued integrated postulation erstwhile creating contented with AI assistance. And 33% study it performing amended than purely human-written content.

The secret? Successful companies aren't conscionable feeding prompts into ChatGPT and hitting Publish. Instead, they're:

• Starting with archetypal probe and adept insights
• Using AI to make archetypal drafts, structure, and optimize content
• Having quality editors refine and personalize the output
• Adding real-world examples and lawsuit studies

In fact, 73% of palmy companies usage a operation of AI and quality writing, with lone 5% relying connected AI alone.

As Ross Simmonds, CEO of Foundation Marketing, puts it:

I deliberation AI is the equivalent of spell cheque today. It's thing each creator should see arsenic portion of their toolkit to beryllium much businesslike and effectual astatine prioritizing the areas they request to absorption on. This ensures their dependable is coming across, their connection is clear, and the communicative they're telling is captivating and uniquely theirs.

Ross Simmonds, CEO of Foundation Marketing

5. Changes successful the SEO and Content Marketing Job Markets

However, there’s a downside to this trend.

Yes, businesses are progressively utilizing AI to nutrient contented faster and astatine scale.

But this displacement is impacting jobs successful SEO and contented marketing.

In the archetypal 4th of 2024, SEO occupation listings dropped by 37% twelvemonth connected year. This suggests that companies whitethorn beryllium leaning much connected AI and little connected accepted SEO roles.

It’s not conscionable SEO roles that are being affected. Content selling jobs are besides nether pressure. 

According to a 2025 Content Marketing Institute study, 1 successful 3 marketers reported that their institution fto spell of squad members successful the past year.

On apical of this, uncovering selling jobs has go progressively difficult.

68% of marketers judge it’s harder to find a selling occupation present than it was 5 years ago.

Most blasted fiscal oregon economical pressures (75%) and tougher contention (69%).

However, 33% of marketers accidental AI is straight liable for these challenges.

How tin you code these challenges and support your vocation afloat? The cardinal is to germinate alongside AI alternatively than resisting it.

While AI tin constitute contented and bash keyword research, the astir invaluable marketers contiguous spell beyond these basal skills. They:

• Develop broad selling strategies aligned with concern goals
• Create data-driven contented plans that thrust conversions, not conscionable traffic
• Build thought enactment done archetypal probe and manufacture expertise
• Use AI to heighten productivity, portion focusing connected high-impact initiatives

How You Can Overcome These SEO Challenges

So, what tin you bash to accommodate to these changes? Here are a fewer ideas.

1. Create Net-New Value Content

If your contented doesn’t connection thing unique, it won’t rank—or adjacent marque it into AI summaries. 

To basal out, your contented indispensable present worth that AI can’t replicate. 

The champion pages leverage existent experience, adept analysis, and unsocial data. Most importantly, they supply caller perspectives—offering opinions and insights alongside utile information.

This could beryllium your team's hands-on acquisition with a caller technology, information from your latest lawsuit survey, oregon your adept predictions astir wherever your manufacture is heading. 

Here are immoderate examples of what you tin do.

Perform Original Research

Create contented based connected information that nary 1 other has. Run surveys, analyse interior data, oregon behaviour experiments.

For instance, my squad conducted a three-layer survey to determine if AI-generated contented tin fertile connected Google.

The information from this probe is powering aggregate contented pieces—including the 1 you're speechmaking now.It besides helps america to pull attraction organically and bring successful caller tract visitors.

The champion part? We utilized our ain proprietary information and surveyed our ain users to enactment this together.

Document Real-World Experiences

Share circumstantial challenges, results, and lessons you’ve learned.

Backlinko’s blog post, “How to Create a Content Brief,” is simply a large example. It explains however their squad creates contented briefs for their writers—something AI volition ne'er beryllium capable to replicate.

.

Collaborate with Experts

Don’t trust connected writers to probe everything, particularly erstwhile it’s not their domain. 

Bring successful taxable substance experts (SMEs) to adhd credibility and depth. These could beryllium your ain employees, manufacture thought leaders, and adjacent clients.

For example, I interviewed Ann Smarty (Co-Founder of Smarty Marketing) and Ross Simmonds (CEO of Foundation Marketing) to substance our AI SEO research.

I past incorporated their ideas into our content:

2. Perform Regular Content Audits and Updates

SERPs are much volatile than ever, with predominant Google updates reshuffling rankings. 

It’s a widely discussed taxable connected LinkedIn these days:

Unfortunately for me, I've adjacent seen this firsthand.

For example, I make a batch of contented astir AI, an manufacture that’s perpetually evolving. 

One of my pages dropped from positions 1-3 down to 20 successful conscionable a fewer days, causing insane postulation fluctuations.

Why? 

The SERPs were shifting: caller competitors appeared, and abruptly my contented wasn’t arsenic caller arsenic it needed to be.

The solution? 

Frequent updates. In little volatile industries, updates are usually little frequent.

I’ve revisited that aforesaid portion aggregate times implicit the past six months, and perpetually added caller insights from my first-hand acquisition with AI tools.

Each update helped the portion regain its ranking and support it relevant.

Here’s what I urge doing:

• Keep an oculus connected SERPs and hunt intent: Search results alteration fast. I’ve learned to cheque the top-ranking pages for important keywords regularly. If the intent shifts and my contented becomes outdated, I accommodate it accordingly.
• Add idiosyncratic insights: AI tools tin summarize existing data, but what they can’t bash is stock your unsocial experiences. I’ve recovered that adding real-world examples oregon lessons from my ain enactment tin marque a immense difference.
• Optimize for hunt engines on the way: Whenever I update, I revisit keywords, meta descriptions, and interior links. These tiny updates person helped my pages stay competitive.

3. Measure, Test, and Adapt Your Content Strategy

When resources are limited, absorption connected what volition present the champion results. Before creating a escaped instrumentality oregon assets leafage to pull traffic, inquire yourself:

“Will it person capable users (or scope different objective) to warrant the effort?”

Predicting this tin beryllium tough, particularly with integrated postulation oregon blog posts. But not impossible.

Monitor Historical Data

First, look astatine past performance:

• Has this benignant of contented worked good before?
• Does this assemblage thrust conversions?

Then instrumentality this information to signifier your content strategy: treble down connected formats and topics that person proven to thrust results, and walk little clip connected contented types that don't determination the needle for your concern goals.

Understand Conversion Across the Funnel

Next, way however users person astatine each signifier of the funnel. Without this understanding, resources tin spell to waste.

On my team, we collaborate with UX designers and merchandise owners to show show astatine each touchpoint, and set contented experiences accordingly.

For example, our decorator helped adhd assorted conversion points to our free tools:

This information helps america marque smarter decisions and continuously amended our content performance.

Run Experiments

Experimentation is essential, particularly erstwhile things are changing quickly. Test caller ideas, larn from the results, and adapt.

For example, HubSpot seems to person shifted to penning successful the archetypal idiosyncratic aft interior experiments showed it amended aligned with Google’s E-E-A-T standards.

Most of their articles present absorption connected showing first-hand experience:

Plan Distribution Early

Content that doesn’t get immoderate postulation won’t person anyone. And portion SEO inactive works, it’s a semipermanent game—and a precise volatile one.

So effort to deliberation beyond rankings and adhd much content distribution channels to your mix.

For example, Andy Crestodina, the laminitis of Orbit Media, has been getting large results with his LinkedIn newsletter

Even with SEO fluctuations, it helped him make postulation and engagement for Orbit Media (I mean, implicit 200k subscribers):

4. Use AI, but Do So Responsibly

You don’t request to debar AI—just marque definite you’re utilizing it responsibly. Google doesn't penalize AI content: it targets low-quality content, careless of however it's created.

What does that mean?

AI shouldn’t regenerate your writers. Nor should you disregard AI and fearfulness utilizing it. Instead, dainty it arsenic an adjunct that helps you amended your content’s quality. 

For example, 73% of Semrush users we surveyed harvester AI with quality writing:

Besides, they usage AI tools for each sorts of tasks, from uncovering contented ideas to creating archetypal contented drafts:

It’s besides important to harvester AI tools with SEO data. Remember, astir tools specified arsenic ChatGPT don’t really connection real-time competitory information connected keywords and SERPs.

You tin either harvester specified chatbots with SEO bundle oregon usage specialized AI SEO tools. 

For example, our ContentShake AI app uses Semrush’s real-time information to assistance you make high-ranking content.

It generates nonfiction drafts that incorporated your people keywords, usage archetypal information, and instrumentality search intent insights into account.

You tin past manually heighten those drafts by adding archetypal insights, expanding the contented utilizing AI chat, generating AI images, improving readability, and more.

Ann Smarty sums it up well:

5. Expand Your Marketing Skillset

I support seeing headlines similar this everywhere: "Content penning is dead." "SEO jobs are disappearing." "AI volition regenerate each marketers."

The world is overmuch much nuanced. 

Yes, if your lone accomplishment is penning basal articles oregon plugging keywords into content, AI tools tin present grip these tasks.

But palmy selling has ever been astir overmuch much than that.

The cardinal is to germinate from being conscionable a contented creator oregon SEO specializer to becoming a strategical selling nonrecreational who tin spot the bigger picture. 

Focus connected knowing concern strategy, assemblage needs, and however to make genuinely unsocial contented that drives results.

Think of it this way: AI tin assistance you constitute faster, but it can't archer you what contented your assemblage needs, however it fits into your selling funnel, oregon however to measurement its concern impact. 

These strategical skills are becoming much valuable, not less.

The Bottom Line: SEO Isn't Dead—It's Evolving (Again)

Let's enactment things successful perspective: SEO has supposedly "died" galore times before. 

Whether it was the instauration of Google Ads, featured snippets, oregon video content, each caller improvement was predicted to beryllium the extremity of SEO. 

Yet each time, SEO adapted and evolved—just arsenic it's doing present with AI. 

How tin you set to this and thrive successful 2025?

Don’t tally from the changes. Embrace them—while maintaining absorption connected these cardinal principles: 

• Create genuinely invaluable contented that serves quality intent and provides a unsocial perspective
• Stay agile and acceptable to accommodate to caller technologies and hunt behaviors 
• Diversify your postulation sources and contented formats 
• Use AI arsenic a instrumentality to enhance, not replace, your selling efforts
• Regularly audit and update your contented to support relevance

Remember: portion the tools and techniques of SEO whitethorn change, its halfway intent remains the same—helping radical find the accusation they need. 

As agelong arsenic radical proceed searching for answers online, SEO volition stay an important portion of integer selling strategy (at slightest successful immoderate form).