The way people find information online is evolving, and quickly.
Artificial intelligence (AI), whether that’s applied generatively through tools like ChatGPT or in response to search queries by Google’s AI Overviews, is driving this change.
With organic traffic dropping and click-through rates declining, business owners understandably want an answer to the question of how they should respond to rapidly-shifting circumstances.
What are companies telling us?
What are companies telling us?
The findings of a recent survey from Smarty Marketing discovered that close to 90% of respondents were worried about the future of SEO and online discoverability.
The study, carried out by New York–based marketing expert and former Search Engine Journal Editor-in-Chief, Ann Smarty, canvassed 300 business owners and in-house marketing teams.
While US-focused, the insights are relevant to UK markets, where a similar pattern of AI-driven search disruption is present.
Research by the PR agency Tank found that UK website traffic growth plunged after the launch of Google’s AI Overviews (AIO) and AI Mode – dropping from 26.3% to just 3.7% year-on-year.
For UK businesses already facing stiff online competition, this could herald the start of a fundamental rethink in how they approach search and digital visibility more broadly.
Why are businesses so concerned about the future of SEO right now?
Yep, you guessed it – it’s all down to AI.
Whether it’s asking a chatbot for a conversational-style response to a search query like ‘best digital marketing agency near me’, or relying on Google’s AI Overview summary instead of scrolling down to explore alternative sources, users are increasingly getting answers without ever clicking through to a website.
That’s why, as mentioned above, many businesses are reporting significant drops in organic traffic and engagement – even when their rankings haven’t changed.
This is because the traffic that once flowed from Google is now being intercepted by AI-generated summaries, like AI Mode.
Not only that, generative AI tools also often omit links to the brands they reference altogether, cutting short a customer’s journey.
This goes some way to explaining why, in the Smarty survey, more than 75% of respondents said their top priority was ensuring their brand appears within AI-generated answers as the recommended solution – even if it’s an unlinked citation.
At the same time, 14% stated that they were interested in their site being cited as the resource for an answer, which would in turn generate clicks, with a small percentage of additional respondents suggesting they needed both.
While these businesses agree on the need to ramp up their AI SEO efforts, the question remains: how should they?
Do I need to increase my SEO budget because of AI?
So, should you be looking at increasing your SEO budget to support AI visibility efforts? Well, many businesses already are.
Per the Smarty survey, no less than 83.7% of businesses are investing, or planning to invest, in AI visibility, with 61.2% of companies ready to increase their SEO budget specifically because of AI.
Evidently, businesses are beginning to recognise that appearing in AI-generated answers isn’t just beneficial for brand visibility; it’s essential for staying discoverable online.
As a result, many are diverting a greater proportion of their marketing budgets toward achieving this aim.
However, a bigger budget isn’t always the answer – or even necessary.
In some cases, especially for smaller businesses that may not have as much financial flexibility as larger organisations, it’s about reallocating existing spend more effectively.
Instead of directing all your SEO investment into traditional technical tasks, consider prioritising clear, concise, and well-structured content creation, structured data, and site architecture – SEO activities that make it easier for generative AI tools to find, understand, and trust your brand.
At Aqueous Digital, we’re committed to remaining agile when it comes to how our customers use their SEO budgets.
This flexible approach allows us to easily adjust how and where we direct our team’s expertise, experience, and time, ensuring we deliver the best value.
What should I do as a small business owner when it comes to SEO for AI?
Previously, we’ve explored how AI (Artificial Intelligence) is now reshaping SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) strategies.
When looking at the findings of the Smarty Marketing survey, it’s important to bear in mind most respondents were marketing executives from medium and large organisations – that is, people who are typically more aware of changes in SEO and online visibility than small business owners.
Often, small business owners understand the importance of marketing, but struggle to find the time, resources, or dedicated teams to stay up to date with the rapid changes shaping search and impacting their online visibility.
And yet, for businesses of all sizes, it’s never been clearer that a change in approach is required.
Instead of aiming to improve search rankings for selected business-critical keywords, the challenge is ranking where you want your brand to appear – whether that’s within AI-generated overviews or conversational answers from chatbots.
This doesn’t mean starting from scratch, but it does demand a shift from the traditional SEO strategies to a more considered approach that includes increasing AI visibility.
Essentially, this means creating content that AI recognises and trusts, and therefore is encouraged to include in the answers it generates.
Instead of ensuring every target keyword is included in a piece of content, consider the content’s structure, clarity, expertise, and brand authority.
That’s why the concept of AI SEO – also referred to as GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation), SEO for LLMs (Large Language Models), and even AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) is gaining traction.
It’s not about replacing SEO, but merely evolving it to ensure your business remains visible.
This line of thought is supported by the outcome of the Smarty survey, which found that not a single respondent – whether a business owner or marketing executive – believed that traditional SEO would become obsolete in an AI-driven world.
Making sense of AI-driven search: how we can help your business to stay visible
We know that navigating this rapidly changing search landscape is no easy task.
That’s where the experienced digital marketing experts at Aqueous Digital can help.
We stay up to date with the latest SEO and search developments, including the impact of AI and how users can maintain their search rankings and online business visibility.
Whether you’re ready to increase your SEO budget, or are looking for new ways to respond to a drop in impressions and clicks using innovative and data-led strategies, simply speak to our professional team today.
Feel free to fill in our convenient online contact form and we’ll get back to your shortly to learn more about your current digital marketing efforts and where we can help.
Alternatively, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via:
Phone: 0800 285 1424
Email: hello@aqueous-digital.co.uk
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