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5 Ways AI Is Changing Search
(and What It Means for Your Business)

Home / Blog / 5 Ways AI Is Changing Search (and What It Means for Your Business)

JARRETT BERL
July 01, 2025 in Digital Marketing

AI is transforming how people find, evaluate, and engage with content. This reminds me what it was like working with SEO in 2015. We experimented to see what worked and brought in rankings and sales. Optimizing for 2025 and beyond requires new ways of thinking, testing, and implementing to stay ahead of the new internet.

1. Search Results Are Now Conversations

The rise of generative AI tools like Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude is shifting the user experience from typing keywords to asking full questions and expecting direct answers.

Example:

Instead of searching “best traffic school in California,” a user might ask:

“What’s the most affordable DMV-licensed traffic school online that also works for speeding tickets?”

AI tools return an answer, not just a link to a webpage. This leaps over traditional SEO and puts content clarity, depth, and trust signals front and center.

Content must now be structured for answers, not just rankings. An optmized website needs to anticipate intent and deliver clear answers.

2. Clicks Are Going Down — But Authority Matters More

AI tools often summarize sources directly in the search results or AI interfaces. That means fewer clicks to the website. If content is cited by AI, your brand gains massive authority and indirect exposure.

Featured snippets across tools, not just Google.

Implication:

Focus on topical authority and original insights. AI favors sources that are:
  • Trusted
  • Deep (not fluff)
  • Cited across the web

3. User Behavior Is Changing

People are now asking ChatGPT to compare local service providers. This means traditional keyword-based search is losing ground in areas like:
  • Local services
  • E-commerce
  • Travel

Implication:

Your marketing strategy must expand beyond just Google. Think:
  • Structured content for AI (FAQs, How-tos, summaries)
  • Content with strong CTAs
  • Optimizing your brand presence in AI tools

4. The Rise of “Zero-Click Content”

Your website isn’t the only place website content lives. AI scrapes, summarizes, and reuses your content. Zero-click doesn’t mean zero value — it means your brand needs to show up even if they don’t click.

Implication:

  • Is clearly branded (think brand names, quotes, authority writers)
  • Has standout language or frameworks that get cited
  • Appears across multiple sources (Google, LinkedIn, Reddit, niche forums)

5. SEO Is Far From Dead

Google still matters. It’s important to have:
  • Schema markup
  • Content freshness
  • Authoritativeness (E-E-A-T)
  • AI is re-ranking the web in real time. SEO is about training AI, not just chasing rankings.

What to Do Right Now

Here’s how to future-proof your content strategy:

  • Update old blogs with better answers, formatting, and structure. Think deep knowledge.
  • Add FAQs to key pages
  • Use structured data (schema) where possible
  • Build topic clusters instead of one-off posts
  • Create original perspectives and data when possible

Final Thought

Search is no longer a list of links — it’s a conversation with AI. If your content isn’t part of that conversation, your business gets left out. With a few smart moves, you can be the one AI turns to.

Want help ranking your business for the AI-powered future?

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