Killing your SEO programme to jump on the AI search bandwagon is a strategic mistake. AI platforms still rely on SEO to find, understand and surface your content. SEO and GEO aren’t competitors – they’re two sides of the same coin. Ditching SEO now risks making your entire digital footprint invisible.
Throwing your SEO baby out with the organic search bath water? Think again.
I recently worked on the site of a multi-billion dollar company that made the bold decision to kill its SEO program in favour of GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation). They aren’t alone – plenty of brands are panicking over the rise of AI search and scrambling to pivot. But here’s the problem: pulling the plug on SEO is a short-sighted move that will hurt your visibility across the entire search ecosystem.
Think SEO is over? Here are five reasons to reconsider:
Let’s start with the facts. As of May 2025, Google commands 89.6% of global search engine traffic. Bing, its closest competitor, trails far behind at around 4%. And despite all the noise around AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, AI search only accounts for about 3% of total global search traffic.
Yes, AI search is on the rise. But it’s nowhere near ready to dethrone traditional search – yet. Killing SEO now is like demolishing your house because you heard tiny homes might be the next big thing.
Here’s the irony: even AI search depends on good old-fashioned SEO.
Generative engines and AI platforms don’t conjure their answers out of thin air – they crawl the web. They extract content from your site, analyse structure, context, credibility, and freshness, and then synthesise responses. The better your SEO foundations – structured data, internal linking, authoritative content, EEAT – the more likely AI is to find and favour your brand.
Without SEO, your content becomes invisible to AI. Unless you think the web is going to disappear completely (spoiler: it’s not), SEO remains essential.
GEO isn’t a replacement for SEO – it’s an evolution. The core playbook remains the same.
Both disciplines prize:
Where GEO diverges slightly is in format and function. It prefers FAQ-style content, direct answers, and content that gets to the point quickly – especially in metadata and headings. But these aren’t new ideas; they’re simply refinements of what SEO pros have always done.
Killing SEO to “focus on GEO” is like throwing away your running shoes to walk faster. You’re discarding what already works.
Here’s where things get even more practical.
One site I worked on had nearly 200,000 pages – but just 400 of them were surfacing in organic search. Why? Because the majority of content was locked inside PDFs. No structured data. No crawlable HTML. No optimisation.
GEO can’t fix this. If AI crawlers (and Googlebot, for that matter) can’t parse your content, they won’t use it – simple as that. PDF-locked content, poor site architecture, JavaScript rendering issues – these are SEO problems, and GEO alone won’t solve them.
You need a solid technical SEO strategy to make any of your content discoverable, regardless of who – or what – is searching.
SEO is no longer just about chasing position #1 on the SERP. It’s about optimising for visibility across all digital touchpoints – organic search, AI platforms, social platforms, discussion forums, and more.
Search behaviour is fragmented. Your customers are discovering brands through TikTok, Reddit, ChatGPT, Instagram, and Google – and often all in one journey. Kill SEO, and you’re undermining your visibility across all of these real estate opportunities.
SEO is the connective tissue that ties your content, PR, social, and AI strategies together. Without it, you’re playing whack-a-mole with your visibility.
Yes, AI search is exploding. And yes, it’s smart to experiment with GEO strategies. But abandoning SEO completely is not the answer. The two aren’t in competition – they’re complementary. You don’t have to choose between them.
SEO builds the infrastructure that powers visibility across the evolving search landscape. From web to AI to social search, a strong SEO foundation ensures your content is seen, understood, and trusted.
So if someone’s telling you to kill your SEO program – push back hard. The future of search is hybrid. SEO is still your best bet to show up everywhere your audience is looking.
A senior performance marketing strategist driving growth for SAAS, tech and cybersecurity brands across the globe. Specialising in search, SEO, GEO and ppc, she has become the go-to partner for senior leaders seeking measurable growth. Rachael is known for her analytical mindset, sharp execution and ability to build performance engines that deliver measurable results.