SEO Isn’t Dead: We Are Going Back to Doing Real Marketing
For the last several years, if you knew the rules, things worked: traffic came, leads came, and rankings came. You didn’t always need great messaging to get results.
That era is over.
What we are seeing now, especially with AI search, is not the end of SEO. It is a return to fundamentals. Useful content. Real expertise. Strong brand voice. The kind of work that used to be called “good marketing.”
The companies that show up most consistently in search and AI answers are the ones focused on good content.
SEO and AI search are connected, not competing
There is a popular line that SEO is dead, and everything has shifted to AI. That is not true. AI systems are trained on search data and still rely on search behind the scenes. Think of SEO as the baseline. If it is weak, everything built on top of it is weaker too, and your site is less likely to show up in AI answers.
Content matters more than it did before
Instead of typing short keywords and sorting through a list of links on their own, web users are now asking full questions and expect a clear answer. They are researching and comparing options. They are looking for help making decisions. This is especially true later in the buying process. People may already know a company exists. What they want next is clarity. How does it work? How does it compare? Is it right for me? That makes content quality even more important.
AI tools notice patterns, repetition, and depth. Thin content does not help. High volume does not help. Content that just repeats what already exists does not help. What helps is unique content that explains what you do clearly, answers real questions, and shows that you understand your space.
And, using AI solely to write your content does not work. It is usually obvious. It feels empty, watered down. It blends in. And search systems are getting better at spotting it. Unique thought is the name of the game.
Blogging is not dead either. As a way to explain, teach, and clarify, a blog is more useful than it has been in years. Read more on that here.
