Is SEO Dead with the Advancements in AI?
;No, SEO isn't dead and likely won't be for quite some time. While AI tools have made basic/technical optimisation more accessible, they will also create a "sameness problem" as more websites adopt similar approaches/strategies advised by AI.Remember, there can only be 10 organic results on Google's first page—if everyone is using the same strategies provided by AI, they can't all rank at the top. You'll need to differentiate your approach with unique content angles, genuine subject expertise, or innovative user experiences that AI tools alone can't replicate to break through. The future belongs to those who use AI as a foundation but build or strategise something unique on top of it.
The Current State of SEO in 2025
AI algorithms can interpret user searches with near-human if not human, comprehension. Modern SEO will require content that genuinely answers a user's question rather than just targeting key phrases.
Content
Although I'm not a massive fan of purely AI-generated content, it has shifted the practice if used properly.
Rather than thinking about writing content in its entirety, AI has helped with research and outlining an article, giving the writer everything they need to write the article and dramatically reducing the time for these tasks.
Keyword Research
With the addition of AI, there are many ways to improve keyword research quality and speed. AI-powered tools or custom AI scripts can now analyse search intent, semantic relationships, and user behaviour patterns, speeding this process up tenfold. Even categorising and gathering keywords can be done much more efficiently.
Technical SEO
The baseline for website Technical SEO will increase as more and more people build their websites with AI; what previously would give you an edge, such as schema implementation or slight page speed improvements, will likely start to be built harmoniously into websites.
Depending on the issue, technical issues can be solved faster and more efficiently just by querying a broad AI model.
Link Building
Link-building strategies have changed and will continue to change as AI-backed algorithms improve their ability to detect artificial/bought link patterns.
Link quality and relevance are more important than ever. Search engines that use natural language processing can more effectively weigh links based on these factors.
On-page
On-page optimisation has moved beyond simple keyword placement. AI now helps optimise content structure, readability, entity relationships, and semantic relevance—factors that align with modern search engines' understanding of content.
AI's Double-Edged Impact on SEO
The introduction of AI has caused a shift in the way we think and work in/on SEO. On one hand, AI has changed how we research and implement SEO, accelerating almost all laborious tasks that used to take hours/days and helping to solve some technical issues. On the other hand, access to SEO knowledge has become widespread, increasing competition, thus making it slightly more challenging to stand out.
How AI tools have made basic SEO knowledge mainstream
AI has made SEO more accessible than ever, not only to people/businesses actively looking to improve their SEO but also during the development phase. In a lot of cases of new sites being built, AI is prepping them to be built with basic SEO in mind and with simple prompts users can:
- Implement Schema.
- Generated Onpage metadata.
- Analyse competitor content.
- Suggest content layouts and usage of H1s, H2s, etc.
- Identify technical SEO Issues.
You can even flatten your website into one file, upload it, and ask AI for suggestions; AI will provide a range of improvements. This has lowered the barrier to entry massively.
The "sameness problem" when everyone uses similar approaches
The much lower barrier to entry now creates a "sameness problem" where everyone relies on AI to provide their SEO. If everyone gets the same information and implements the same strategies, they can't all rank on the first page for their desired terms. This creates some form of a creative gap where being one step ahead or more innovative than an AI can be will lead to winners.
Examples of AI-generated content
Even before AI, we have seen results and websites increasingly using similar content patterns that will only be bolstered by AI. Content like Listicles tends to follow the exact same pattern, "10 Ways to.." with the content layout being similar. This is what AI is mostly seeing/learning from the output, which will be identical. You will need to think of an innovative way to create content like this in a unique way that gives the users the desired result in a more compact and effective way.
Short-Term Benefits of AI for SEOs
AI has and will continue to transform some of the laborious tasks that used to take hours/days to perform into tasks that take little to no time.
Time-saving automation
Currently, tools can perform a vast number of basic SEO tasks; if not, most can be created relatively quickly locally.
Keyword Research
Keyword research was mainly a manual process involving multiple tools, exporting data, sorting, and categorising it in one if not multiple, spreadsheets. Now, we can use NLP (natural language processing) mixed with APIs to generate and categorise thousands of keywords simultaneously.
Content Gaps
Previously requiring multiple scrapes and content pulls, you could easily flatten a website or parse all the content on each website and funnel that data into an AI model. The model can compare and highlight all the gaps found and even write content briefs for each of those gaps.
Link Building
If there isn't one out there already, you could create a script mixed with APIs and AI to monitor for broken links or relevant content. This could feed into a list of opportunities with pre-written, uniquely personalised outreach emails.
Schema Markup
Previously, we would have to manually code structured data for each page type. Now, with AI and NLP, we can easily analyse each page and automatically generate the perfect schema setup for each individual page.
Internal Linking
Internal linking was also a very manual task, requiring either amazing content organisation or manually pulling all content and looking for good linking opportunities. You can now create or use a crawler to crawl your entire site and have AI point out and rank all possible link opportunities.
Competitive advantage
Early users of AI in their SEO strategy will benefit massively compared to their competition, as early adopters capitalise on the time-saving benefits.
Speed to market
Identifying trends with market trend analysis can be found and acted upon faster than ever. With a fully integrated AI strategy, time can be saved on:
- Keyword research
- Content Creation
- Design/Assets
Compared to someone who hasn't taken advantage of this, you can get ahead of competitors by days.
Resource allocation
With less time spent on tedious, mundane tasks, more focus can be placed on creative/innovative aspects of SEO, shifting time to more high-value activities. This can either be spent creating more content or technical improvements or going all out on the ones you are working on.
Data-driven strategies at scale
AI has more sophisticated data analysis than previously used manual methods.
- Pattern recognition
- Granular performance insights
- Predictive analytics
- Cohesive strategy across multi-channel data
This will only lead to a greater understanding of the niche/audience and greater performing strategies.
Compound Optimisation
Minor website improvements on a page-by-page basis may have previously taken a while to find and implement, which for some clients didn't seem worthwhile. With the inclusion of AI, these tiny improvements at scale will create a compounding effect, leading to greater overall performance.
Long-Term Challenges as AI Adoption Increases
Saturation of AI-optimised content
As AI becomes the norm, we will see more people using it solely rather than learning or hiring people in the SEO industry. This will cause "content pollution" and standardised content structures, which really only help those who go out of their way to be more creative and unique.
We already have but will likely continue to see an increase in algorithmically generated/optimised content.
This saturation creates a landscape where meeting the optimisation baseline no longer provides any competitive edge, as virtually all content in competitive niches follows similar optimisation patterns.
Difficulty standing out in SERPs
As the bar to entry lowers and more people start optimising their sites with the help of AI, standing out amongst the crowd to search engines will become more difficult. This will lead to the need to think outside of the box more.
I'd assume the following for sure.
- Featured snippets - will become harder to rank for
- Brand recognition - will become increasingly more important
- Engagement metrics - these signals will become even more important than currently
The Human Edge: Creative Strategies for the AI Era
In a landscape where AI is used by everyone and their mother, proper SEO setup will become the norm across all websites. The only true differentiation will come from using AI creatively and strategically that competitors won't. Those who decide to rely solely on AI will likely fall behind as they merge with every other website implementing the exact same thing.
Viewing AI as an extension of your arsenal rather than a replacement and using it to handle routine optimisation while focusing your creative energy on distinctive angles and innovative combinations of data, you'll develop approaches that competitors using AI in more conventional ways cannot match. The winners won't be those who avoid AI or rely on it exclusively but those who use it as part of their strategy.
