AI search
Is SEO dead? What AI changes for your business
The quick answer
No, SEO isn’t dead. Google says its AI features are built on its core Search ranking and quality systems, so the basics of SEO still apply. What has changed is where customers look and whether they click. Judge your SEO by the enquiries it helps create. Track Google visibility, AI mentions and website visits as separate measures.
On this page
Key takeaways
- Google says its AI features are built on its core Search ranking and quality systems, so the basics of SEO still matter.
- A Pew study of 900 US adults found people clicked a traditional result in 8% of visits with an AI summary and 15% of visits without one.
- Roy Morgan found 58% of Australians aged 14 and over used AI tools in an average four weeks of early 2026, which includes many uses that are not search.
- Fewer clicks don’t prove fewer enquiries, so compare matching periods before you cut or add budget.
SEO isn’t dead, though it no longer always ends with a customer clicking a link. Some AI answers name a business without sending anyone to a website, so a plain click count can miss real customers. The sensible move is to keep your pages clear and accurate, then count enquiries as well as clicks.
Here’s an example. Say you run a landscaping business in Castle Hill. A homeowner asks ChatGPT who can redo a backyard and reads three business names, yours among them. She rings you straight away without opening your website. Your website’s visit count doesn’t move, yet you have a new enquiry.
Customers now ask Google, ChatGPT and other assistants for a plumber, a builder or a physio. That changes what you should measure. It doesn’t change whether your business needs clear pages, accurate details and proof that a person or an AI system can trust. If you want help with that, our AI SEO agency covers both Google results and AI answers.
Is SEO dead or is the way people search changing?
SEO isn’t dead. Google says its generative AI features, such as the AI summaries it shows in search, are built on its core Search ranking and quality systems. That is why the best practices for SEO still apply.1
What is changing is the shape of the result. Google’s AI features can write a summary of a topic alongside the usual links. Assistants such as ChatGPT answer without a results page at all. Work on getting those answers to name and describe your business has picked up names such as GEO, short for generative engine optimisation. Our guide on what is GEO defines it and shows how it differs from SEO.
Google also says you don’t need to write in a special way for its AI features. It advises effective SEO over “AEO/GEO hacks”.1 The foundation is original, expert-led content. That means it comes from people who know the subject and gives readers something beyond common knowledge.
Do AI answers mean fewer people click on websites?
Sometimes. In US browsing data, AI summaries are linked with fewer clicks on traditional results, which are the usual links under the summary. For your own business, your Search Console data is the best evidence. Search Console is Google’s report on how your site appears in search.
Pew Research Center, a US research group, studied the March 2025 browsing of 900 US adults.4 It counted how often people clicked a traditional result on a Google results page. It also counted how often they ended their browsing session, which Pew defines as leaving the web browser for five seconds or more.
Scroll across to read every column
| Visit type | Traditional result clicked | Ended the browsing session |
|---|---|---|
| Search page with an AI summary | 8% of visits | 26% of visits |
| Search page without an AI summary | 15% of visits | 16% of visits |
People clicked a link inside the AI summary itself in 1% of visits that had one.4 So when an AI summary appeared, people clicked a traditional result less often and ended their session more often. Treat these as a direction and not a forecast for an Australian tradie. The chart below shows the click gap.
Clicks in one US browsing study
900 adults · March 2025
Visits with a traditional-result click
% of visits
Source: Pew Research Center
Observed behaviour, not a causal test.
Not an Australian forecast.
How many Australians use AI tools?
More than half of Australians aged 14 and over used an AI tool in an average four weeks in early 2026. That figure counts any use of AI tools, such as writing, images and homework. It isn’t limited to searching for a local business, so it can’t tell you how many people have stopped using Google.
Roy Morgan’s survey found 13.6 million Australians aged 14 and over (58%) used AI tools in an average four weeks during January to March 2026. ChatGPT reached 10.5 million (45%) on the same measure.5
The table shows the share in each age group. It is highest for people aged 25 to 49 and lowest for people aged 65 and over.
Scroll across to read every column
| Age group | Share using AI tools |
|---|---|
| 14 to 17 | 66% |
| 18 to 24 | 68% |
| 25 to 34 | 74% |
| 35 to 49 | 72% |
| 50 to 64 | 50% |
| 65 and over | 31% |
Use these numbers as background. Then ask your customers how they found you and check the questions that matter to your services before you change your budget.
Kavera note: We ran our own check on Sydney trades. On 16 and 17 October 2026 we asked 50 questions across 10 trades. We planned 200 checks, each one a question put to one AI search tool. We got 197 completed answers. Across the 50 completed ChatGPT answers, 122 different business names appeared. This is a convenience sample, so it shows what appeared in those answers and not how many customers want AI answers. Read it in full in our Sydney trades AI search index.
Which SEO work is still useful?
The work that still pays is the work that makes your business easy to understand, check and choose. That means accurate service pages, real proof and a correct Google Business Profile, which is your business listing on Google Search and Maps.
Four jobs hold up whichever way customers search:
- Service pages that say what you do, where you do it and what it costs
- Project or case-study pages that show real work
- A Google Business Profile with correct categories, hours and services
- A site Google can reach and read on a phone
Google’s local ranking guidance names relevance, distance and prominence. That means how well your listing matches the search, how far you are from the searcher and how well known you are. Google also says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking.3 That is why local profile work remains part of SEO even when a customer arrives from Maps and not from a web search.
Our AI SEO guide walks through the steps for AI search in order.
What has changed in SEO and what has not?
What the customer is looking for, the quality of your pages and the accuracy of your local details still decide who gets chosen. What has changed is how many places those signals are read.
Scroll across to read every column
| Area | What changed | What has not |
|---|---|---|
| Keywords | Customers type full questions and Google says its systems understand synonyms and meaning1 | Your pages still need to name the service, the place and the price clearly |
| Content quality | Google expects expert-led content that gives value beyond common knowledge1 | Original proof and real project detail still stand out |
| Trust | Show who wrote the advice and the experience behind it | Experience, expertise, authority and trust are explained in our E-E-A-T guide |
| Links from other sites | Google’s local guidance counts links from other websites toward prominence3 | Links remain one signal among several |
| Technical access | AI search tools need to reach and read your pages as well as Google does | A page that cannot be reached cannot be used |
What is replacing SEO?
Nothing has replaced SEO. Search is spreading across more places, each with its own name: Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT search, Perplexity (an AI search tool) and Maps answers.
GEO is work on how AI-written answers use and describe business information. AEO (answer engine optimisation) is work on direct answers, including the short extracts Google picks from a page, which are quoted and not newly written. The work overlaps with SEO. Our comparison of SEO, GEO and AEO explains which checks differ.
Anyone who tells you SEO has been replaced by one trick should show the evidence. Google itself advises prioritising effective SEO strategies over such hacks.1
Which old tactics should you stop paying for?
Stop paying for volume without value, promised rankings and activity you cannot see. These were weak before AI and are weaker now.
- Mass-produced pages. Google says using generative AI to create many pages without adding value for users may violate its spam policy.2
- Pages that repeat each other with only the suburb name swapped. Customers get nothing new and Google gets nothing new to rank.
- Reports that list rankings and nothing else. A ranking that brings no enquiries is a vanity figure, which means it looks good and pays nothing.
- Guaranteed positions. No one controls Google’s results, so a guarantee should end the conversation.
If the work you are paying for does not make your pages more useful to a customer, ask what it does instead.
Use this table to decide what to do with each piece of SEO work you pay for.
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| Decision | Evidence to look for | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Keep | Useful pages and accurate profiles are maintained and relevant enquiries can be traced | Continue the work and compare matching periods |
| Change | Reports show visibility but the pages or enquiry route leave customer questions unanswered | Fix the specific page or enquiry problem and measure it separately |
| Stop | A provider promises positions or cannot show the agreed work | Stop buying that activity and review the scope before renewing |
Can one business show up in Google and in AI answers?
Yes. One of our clients shows both on a small scale. The example has limits, which are in the Kavera note below and in the fine print.
In two checks about two months apart, our client SHORE went from absent to first in one Sydney builder shortlist. It was one question, checked twice. The details are in our ChatGPT SEO case study.
Google’s AI Overview for the search “duplex bondi beach” named SHORE’s SOL duplex and cited its project page. That means Google showed the page as a source. On Google more broadly, SHORE’s non-brand appearances rose from 1,204 to 9,492, about 7.9x, across two four-week periods. Non-brand appearances are the times its listings showed in searches that didn’t include its name. The GEO guide shows the capture.
Kavera note: We built SHORE’s website and run its SEO. Both results sit inside the same program of service pages, project pages and Google Business Profile work. The Google figure counts website and Maps appearances together and isn’t AI traffic, enquiries or revenue. The shortlist result is two observed answers to one question. It is one example that goes against the idea that SEO is dead and it isn’t proof that every business will gain.
What should you check before you change your SEO budget?
Measure Google visibility, AI mentions and enquiries as three separate things. Compare matching periods. Search Console shows the traffic you get from Google Search, broken down by what people searched for and by page.6 A click is a visit from Google. An impression is each time Google showed a link to your site, whether or not anyone clicked.
Scroll across to read every column
| What you see | What it may mean | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Clicks down and impressions steady | Search-result features, ranking changes or a different mix of searches may be involved | Compare pages, searches, positions and enquiries over matching periods before you decide what caused it |
| Impressions down | Fewer people may be seeing your pages for those searches | Look at the pages and searches that lost the most |
| Clicks steady and enquiries down | The traffic may be less relevant or the page may turn fewer visits into enquiries | Review the pages that bring the visits and the way people enquire |
| Named in AI answers but few visits | Customers may read the answer and contact you directly | Ask new customers how they found you |
| No change anywhere | The work may not be reaching the pages that matter | Ask the provider what was delivered last month |
Compare whole weeks, using the same dates from the earlier period. A drop in one week proves very little.
What is the fine print behind the numbers on this page?
The Pew numbers come from watching what 900 US adults did online in March 2025. The results are observational, which means they show what people did and not why they did it.4 The mix of searches, the device and the timing all change the result. The study is also more than a year old.
Roy Morgan’s figures come from a survey base of 14,646 people.5
In our Sydney trades check, “convenience sample” means the 50 questions were picked because they were easy to gather and not drawn at random to represent everyone. It isn’t a survey of homeowners and it isn’t a measure of demand.
For SHORE, the two four-week periods were 22 June to 19 July and 4 September to 1 October 2026.
What should your next SEO decision be?
Keep the work that makes your pages clearer and more useful. Fix the biggest gaps first, then stop spending on anything that promises a position or can’t show what it delivered.
If you can’t tell whether your SEO is working, start with a scoped review. That is a review with an agreed list of what it covers. For ongoing work, our AI SEO agency service covers Google and AI search together.
Our SEO audit is free. Implementation is separate unless retained. Compare the SEO packages for monthly scope and terms. No SEO package guarantees rankings, leads or revenue.
Good questions
Common questions Clear answers
Does SEO still matter in 2026?
Yes. Google says the best practices for SEO still apply because its generative AI features are built on its core Search ranking and quality systems. People still search. AI systems still need accurate, useful pages to draw on. What matters now is measuring enquiries as well as clicks.
Are Google AI answers reducing clicks to business websites?
Sometimes. A Pew study of US adults in March 2025 found people clicked a traditional result in 8% of visits with an AI summary and 15% of visits without one. That is an American sample and not a forecast for Australia. Check your own Search Console clicks and enquiries over matching periods.
What is replacing SEO?
Nothing has replaced SEO. Work on how AI-written answers describe a business is called GEO. Work on direct answers, including the short extracts Google picks from a page, is called AEO. Both can overlap with SEO. Google says its AI features still rely on its core Search systems, so choose the work and measures that fit the customer question.
Will SEO exist in five years?
No one knows. Anyone promising a forecast is guessing. Search products will change. Customers will still need to find trustworthy businesses somewhere. Work that makes your services, prices and proof clear to people and machines stays useful through those changes. Review your plan each quarter against your enquiries.
Is local SEO dead?
No. Google says local results use relevance, distance and prominence. It adds that more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking. Keep your Google Business Profile accurate and make your service pages specific to the areas you serve, so searchers see the same facts everywhere.
Is SEO still worth it for a small business?
It can be, if the work targets searches your customers use and you can trace enquiries back to it. It is a poor fit when the budget goes on vague activity or promised rankings. Start with a diagnosis, fix the biggest gaps and measure enquiries before you commit to a long plan.
How do I know whether SEO is bringing in leads or sales?
Record where each enquiry came from by asking the customer and checking your website analytics. Search Console shows clicks and impressions from Google. It does not count phone calls or quotes. Keep Google visibility, AI mentions and enquiries as three separate measures and compare matching periods.
Sources
- Google’s Guide to Optimizing for Generative AI Features on Google SearchGoogle Search Central. Accessed .
- Google Search’s Guidance on Generative AI Content on Your WebsiteGoogle Search Central. Accessed .
- Tips to improve your local ranking on GoogleGoogle Business Profile Help. Accessed .
- Do people click on links in Google AI summaries?Pew Research Center. Accessed .
- 13.6 million Australians now use AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Canva Magic Studio and ClaudeRoy Morgan. Accessed .
- How To Use Search ConsoleGoogle Search Central. Accessed .
