AI Isn’t the Future of SEO—Authority Is

How many times a day do you choose ChatGPT over Google?

The way people search is changing, and there's no avoiding it.

Many SEO and content strategists think this change is all about artificial intelligence. They see AI as the enemy or their competition on the SERP (search engine results page). I've even heard some argue it's "unfair" that Google is launching features—like AI overviews—that may diminish their organic traffic and click-through rates.

But if this is your mindset about the future of search, you're fundamentally misunderstanding what's actually happening.

The truth about the future of search

Google's goal has always been to help searchers find the best answers to their questions. That's why they serve high-quality content in top positions and why authority signals have become increasingly important over the past few years.

Google has always put the searcher's experience first. So if you've been putting Google first—and now your traffic is dropping—there's an easy explanation.

You've spent too much time taking the easy route, building a content strategy around questions that anyone could answer. So naturally, a better answer came along. If that better answer wasn't AI-generated, it would have been from a competing site.

The bottom line? If you've prioritized surface-level content, your site was always going to become irrelevant.

Because it's not about AI; it's about the searcher. It's about the user. It's about your customer—and your unique authority to answer questions only you can answer.

What this means for your SEO strategy in 2025

So instead of complaining, try celebrating. AI is an amazing tool that's really good at answering a lot of different types of questions. That means you don't have to waste time generating answers to the same old questions.

You can go deeper. You can finally own your unique authority—whether you're an online banking platform, a destination marketing organization, or a skincare brand.

You can create amazing content that offers value beyond basic answers.

Yes, you'll need to learn the new ways people are searching—and how to get your exceptional content found by them. (More on that in a future article!) But people are still looking for you, I promise. And you can still get found. You just get to do it as an expert now.

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If you liked this piece, thank you! You can learn more about me over at my Linkedin Profile Haley Davidson and check out my boutique SEO consulting firm, Sandbar SEO 🌴 .