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Does Google’s latest AI Model update mark the death of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

May 23, 2025 by Kathy Hendershot-Hurd

Does Google’s latest AI Model update mark the death of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? According to ChatGPT, the risk is high.

Does Google’s latest AI Mode update mark the death of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Google’s latest AI Model Announcement

According to CBS News:

On Tuesday, March 20, 2025, Google launched its newest feature called AI Mode. The goal is to deliver more comprehensive and personalized answers to user search queries. This announcement was made during the company’s annual Google I/O developer conference and marks a year since the introduction of AI Overviews, the initial tool leveraging generative AI to improve search functionalities.

I’ve spent the last 20 years chasing the favor of the SEO gods on behalf of my clients. When I saw this announcement, the only thing I could think was, “OMG! This is the beginning of the end of SEO!”

In 2020 I was promoted to the role of partner in a medical practice. That means I still spend an inordinate amount of time on SEO tasks even though I’m not working with clients anymore.

So instead of panicking, I decided to ask ChatGPT if my fears were well-founded.

ChatGPT’s analysis of Google’s latest AI Model

Our conversation began with a prompt asking ChatGPT to analyze the statement. In the prompt, I asked it to list every assumption the statement relies upon. I also asked it to rate each assumption’s risk and how to validate or mitigate the risk.

Here it is, straight from the ChatGPT horse’s mouth.

Straight from the ChatGPT horse's mouth

Analyzing the claim “Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is dying because of Google’s latest AI Mode” involves uncovering the underlying assumptions behind this statement. Below is a breakdown of the assumptions, their risk levels, and how to validate or mitigate each.

ChatGPT then came up with 8 inherent assumptions contained within that single statement.

Assumption 1: Google’s latest update significantly reduces the effectiveness of traditional SEO strategies.

The risk of Google’s latest AI Mode update: Risk Level High

Risk Level: High

Validate: Compare traffic trends across a diverse sample of websites pre- and post-update (using tools like Google Search Console, SEMrush, and Ahrefs).

Mitigate: Test and evolve SEO strategies with an emphasis on user experience, EEAT (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness), and AI-aligned content models.

Assumption 2: Google’s update deprioritizes organic search results in favor of paid or AI-generated responses (like SGE or sponsored content).

The risk of Google’s latest AI Mode update: Risk Level High

Risk Level: High

Validate: Analyze changes in the real estate of Google’s SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) using SERP tracking tools (e.g., Moz, STAT).

Mitigate: Diversify traffic sources (e.g., social, email, direct, YouTube) and invest in featured snippets, video SEO, and voice search optimization.

 

Assumption 3: The majority of users now bypass traditional organic search results due to AI summaries, featured snippets, or zero-click results.

The risk of Google’s latest AI Mode update: risk level mediumRisk Level: Medium

Validate: Review studies and reports (like from SparkToro or SEMrush) on zero-click search trends and user behavior shifts.

Mitigate: Optimize content for inclusion in AI summaries and snippets. Use schema markup and concise, structured content.

Assumption 4: SEO cannot adapt or evolve fast enough to remain effective under the new Google algorithm.

The risk of Google’s latest AI Mode update: risk level medium

Risk Level: Medium

Validate: Track the evolution of SEO best practices and case studies from successful websites adapting post-update.

Mitigate: Invest in continuous learning, agile SEO experimentation, and update cycles to remain algorithm-resilient.

Assumption 5: The decline in SEO viability is permanent rather than a temporary fluctuation during the update rollout.

The risk of Google’s latest AI Mode update: Risk Level High

Risk Level: High

Validate: Monitor long-term trends (3–6 months post-update) to determine if rankings stabilize or continue to drop.

Mitigate: Treat updates as cyclical, adapt early, and maintain a diversified digital strategy rather than relying solely on SEO.

Assumption 6: All industries and niches are equally affected by the update.

risk level lowRisk Level: Low

Validate: Analyze SEO impact across verticals (e.g., health, finance, news, e-commerce). Not all are hit equally.

Mitigate: Niche-specific SEO strategies should be developed, with special attention to Google’s treatment of YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) content.

Read more on this site about the importance of content development with YMYL in mind: Strategic Internet Marketing: Making the Intangible Major Sale

Assumption 7: Content quality, backlinks, and technical SEO no longer matter.

risk level mediumRisk Level: Medium

Validate: Run A/B tests isolating changes to content quality, backlink profiles, and technical SEO on ranking performance.

Mitigate: Focus on quality content aligned with Google’s Helpful Content guidelines and build brand trust through authority links.

Assumption 8: AI-generated content or platforms like ChatGPT are replacing the need for search entirely.

The risk of Google’s latest AI Mode update: risk level mediumRisk Level: Medium

Validate: Study usage trends of AI assistants vs. search engines and user reliance on real-time, source-cited content.

Mitigate: Position your content to power AI answers (via structured data and high-authority citations).

The Takeaway on Google’s latest AI Mode Affect

So what’s the takeaway from all of this?

Obviously, Google’s latest AI Mode update is going to revolutionize the search landscape. The focus is shifting from traditional keyword-based queries to a more conversational, context-driven approach.

Users are already interacting with search engines in a question-and-answer exchange. This update is moving the bar, with interactions resembling a natural conversation. Google’s goal is to provide more relevant results tailored to the user’s individual needs.

What you need to know.

If you’re creating content, SEO will continue to evolve. You should shift your SEO focus from targeting specific keywords to producing high-quality content that answers complex questions thoroughly.

Anyone who prioritizes real engagement over keyword stuffing will win as a result.

If you haven’t already, quickly adjust your marketing strategies. Start focusing on targeting a selective (a.k.a., niche) audience and addressing their specific wants, needs, and desires. Now more than ever, authenticity is key to engagement.

Old-school SEO practices are a lot like the Pony Express.

Old School SEO is like the Pony ExpressThe Pony Express was important for communication with the growing West before telegraphs and telephones were common. However, the beginning of the end of the Pony Express was when the first transcontinental telegraph was set up on October 24, 1861. This telegraph connected California to the rest of the United States and ended the need for the Pony Express.

So, if your entire marketing strategy is based upon your website’s position on search engine results pages (SERPs) for specific keywords or phrases, get ready to pivot. It’s about to become a bumpy ride for you.

Note: All the images in this blog post were generated by ChatGPT’s image creator, Sora.

Suggestion: Be kind and polite to ChatGPT and Sora when you’re using it. You know, the things your kindergarten teacher taught you, like saying please and thank you.

 

What are your thoughts?

The Importance of Search in Visual Content Marketing

September 6, 2016 by Kathy Hendershot-Hurd

Visual Content Marketing An email to a colleague began an unexpected journey.  I began searching for a quote source and ended up writing a blog post on the importance of search in visual content marketing.

The role of images in Content Marketing is to bring visitors to your site.  Why include images? Because content which features relevant images gets more page views.  The next question is – how will those visitors find your website?   In many cases, the answer is via a search engine. Organic search still accounts for more than 50% of website traffic while social media only accounts for 5%   That’s why it’s important to make sure the relevant images you’re using are optimized for search.

The importance of optimizing images for search in a visual content marketing campaign.

I paraphrased a quote I remembered from an episode of Scrubs in the email.  I wasn’t sure if my colleague was familiar with the show, so I tried to provide context.  This began an unexpected journey.

I searched for the quote and was presented with a list of sites.  The first site had hundreds – perhaps thousands – of quotes in text format.  The site was pages and page of text and there wasn’t a global search feature.  I didn’t want to dig through dozens of pages of text so I moved on.

The next result was a blog featuring animated gif images.  The images were ugly and because the quote text was hidden inside the images, it was impossible to search for a particular quote.  I moved on down the list.

I then clicked on the third link.  While the page only listed less than a dozen quotes from this particular television character, the images featuring the quotes caught my eye.  I kept reading as I scrolled down the page.  Each quote was contained within an image but unlike the last site, these images drew me in.  As a result, I quickly found myself at the bottom of the page.  When I got to the bottom of the page, I visited other pages.  I also wanted to share these images with others.

That’s called “visitor engagement” which is a huge win for this site.

Visual content marketing objective achievement unlocked!

(Crowds cheer and throw confetti.)

I then picked up my cell phone to share the images. I had two choices.

  1. I could try to type out the incredibly complex url or
  2. I could search for the images on my phone.

I chose the latter.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the images I wanted to share when I searched using my cell phone.

That’s when I noticed there were zero shares using the social media share buttons.  Something is amiss here. I started looking for answers.

No Image Optimization = 0 Social Shares.

Long story short -the site isn’t optimized for search.  Even worse, the images aren’t optimized for search.  Yes -that’s a thing.   Optimizing images for search should be a priority for visual content marketing campaigns.

The search engines can’t “read” the text inside an image. If the search engines can’t read it, they can’t index it. It’s just that simple.

Remember, search drives over 50% of traffic online.  Without the search engines, luck plays a huge role in whether or not your visual content marketing will succeed. Do you really want to give luck such a HUGE role in your content visibility ?

When Email Newsletter Message “Success” Leads to Failure

October 2, 2013 by Kathy Hendershot-Hurd

communicationTaking old school direct marketing tactics and applying them without alteration to email is a popular practice that is doomed to fail.  Applying the old school tactics without considering the change in media will lead to a never ending cycle of “successful” email-marketing newsletters that fail to convert as effectively as they should.

I wrote recently about the many “new media marketing” mistakes a former “sales training guru” I once admired is making as he tries to transition from “old school” to “new school” selling strategies. I shared how signing up for his newsletter has resulted in a never-ending onslaught of product pitches. Since his marketing techniques are sound, I haven’t unsubscribed. Instead, I have chosen to “learn” from him these days based upon what he does – or doesn’t do –  instead of purchasing the products he’s selling.

Recently, one of his emails caught my eye and I opened it.  This action immediately makes that particular message a success.  This message continued to rack up “wins” as I read the message and then clicked on the link to learn more.

EMAIL MARKETING SUCCESS ACHIEVED!

While this message chalked up several wins – making it a technical success – it didn’t win on the most important point which was making the sale.

How can an email-marketing newsletter be a success but not result in a sale?

There are many reasons that a successful email-marketing newsletter message might not “connect” and make a sale. In this case, it was the lack of understanding about how the “prospect” is connecting with the message.

If this particular marketing message had been delivered “old school style” – via direct mail marketing – I probably would have purchased the product.  However, this message wasn’t delivered “snail mail” – it was delivered via email and that changes everything.

NEW MEDIA DISCONNECTS

There are two serious disconnects which have taken this campaign which I’m sure was a “winner” in the direct mail game and turned it into a “loser” in the email marketing game.

DISCONNECT #1: Lack of Responsive Design

I opened this message on my “smart” phone and I’m not alone. According to eMailMonday,

Mobile email will account for 15 to 65% of email opens, depending on your target audience, product and email type. eMailmonday – “Party safe mobile email stats” (2013)

When someone clicks on an email message on their smart phone, it’s critical that the landing page is created with mobile in mind.

In this marketer’s case, my successful email newsletter “click”  landed me on a page which was a mobile nightmare design wise.

GOOD NEWS: Many, many WordPress themes are now mobile responsive – so if you’ve been creating content in WordPress, redressing your content in a mobile friendly design is as easy as installing and applying a new theme.

Consumers expect your pages to display properly in their smart phones.  You can’t expect to sell anything to someone who is playing “let’s try to read the content” on their mobile phone.

Mobile responsive design is now a “must have” not a “nice to have” feature if you expect your website to “sell”.  You can’t expect consumers to run home and sit down at their desk top computer in order to purchase your product or services.

 

DISCONNECT #2: Price Insensitivity

Like other consumers, I have been “conditioned” to find the best value using the tools at my fingertips – the web.  When I saw the $197 price point on the product offered, rather than click to purchase – my first instinct was to check to see if I could find the product at a lower price.  I quickly discovered the “info-product” offered is actually an audio book – offered for as little as $30 on eBay – and for $44 on Amazon.  I also learned that  the audio-book doesn’t live up to the hype – thanks to the many reviews left by others who have previously purchased this product.

The web has brought price comparison shopping to a whole new level.  On the web:

Price Comparisons Are the Rule Instead of the Exception

Don’t insult your valuable email newsletter subscribers by inflating the price of products you offer them.  Instead, you should offer them discounts that can’t be found ANYWHERE else on the web.

Even though this message only had two New Media Disconnects, finding the product at a fraction of the price – with poor reviews to boot – put an end to my pursuit of the knowledge contained within.

Essential Takeaway: Email marketing is one of the most powerful tools available to your business.  However, it’s only powerful if used correctly.  Share your thoughts below.

Question #56: Should I blog?

September 3, 2013 by Kathy Hendershot-Hurd

money making business

“Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.  Og Mandino”

James Altucher is an investor, programmer, author, and serial entrepreneur who recently shared his  “Ultimate Cheat Sheet to Starting and Running Your Own Business.”  It’s presented like an FAQ for people who want to start their own business.

Probably the most powerful tip was the final one:

RULE #infinity:
You create your luck by being healthy and not regretting the past or being anxious about the future.

Inspired.  There are 101 other great questions and answers in the blog post.   One that caught my eye was this one:

56) Should I blog?
Yes. You must. Blog about everything going wrong in your industry. Blog personal stories that you think will scare away customers. They won’t. Customers will be attracted to honesty.

I won’t dispute the truth of the statement, however I’ve worked with enough business bloggers to want to raise my hand and offer a bit of advice on the subject.

You must blog: Check.

Don’t be afraid to blog about what’s wrong in your industry.  Check.

Angela Hoy of  the self publishing company Booklocker shares her concerns about how many self publishing houses engage in less than ethical tactics in the weekly newsletter.  She  and her husband also maintain a forum – the “original” web 2.0 app – which includes a “whispers and warnings” section.

Blog personal stories that you think will scare away customers.  In the words of Ralphie’s mother in “A Christmas Story” when her husband set up the leg lamp in their front window – “Ahhh, ohhh, uhhh…”

I’ve worked with business bloggers since 2006, and I feel I need to add this disclaimer to this bit of advice.

If you’re in the business of solving problems, it’s not a good idea to blog about how you can’t solve your own current problems.  For example, if you’re a marriage counselor, it’s probably not a good idea to blog about your own personal issues with infidelity.

There is of course and exception to the exception and that’s creating a “here’s how I’ve overcome this obstacle, I can help you overcome it as well” style blog post.   Even better is to create a series of  “I overcame this obstacle,  I’ve helped others overcome it as well” style blog posts. These types of post are by far the most powerful “marketing tool” you can create for your business.

Customers will be attracted to honesty.  Double, triple, quadruple check!

Another word for honesty is authentic – and this is where business blogging can get ugly for some people.  If you think your customers are mindless sheep then it’s probably best if you don’t blog because for some reason, blogging tends to put your “shit on blast.”

Instead of being afraid of the “putting your shit on blast” properties of business blogging, get your attitude adjusted then put on your big boy (or girl) pants and start blogging.

 

Old School Sales Strategies Don’t Work Anymore!

August 26, 2013 by Kathy Hendershot-Hurd

Blogging Topics“Nothing happens until somebody sells something”

Like many newly minted college graduates, when I crossed the finish line and collected my BS degree (pun definitely intended) with dual majors in Marketing and Economics, I quickly discovered that my degree was not what I thought it was.  I thought it was the key to success and instead it was merely an indicator future employers that I was willing to follow a prescribed path to complete a process. The fact that I had completed my degree in 3 years instead of four while spending a trimester in Japan failed to impress any of the HR people with whom I interviewed.

With no job experience other than retail mall clerk during high school, I found myself applying for “marketing” jobs. I quickly learned that “marketing” is HR code for “commissioned sales positions.” Eventually I landed a position with a regional advertising agency only to discover that “account executive” is just another term for “commissioned sales person.”

SELLING is an essential part of doing business.

My mentor was a wise woman who quickly introduced me to the wonderful world of “self-growth” as well as “sales training.” She began feeding me a constant stream of products from top name motivational and sales gurus. In those days, their words of wisdom were carrying via cassette tapes instead of podcasts. More than one of those loaned tapes literally disintegrated in my cassette deck from my ravenous consumption of the material.

Not long ago, I ran across a blog maintained by one of those gurus. It didn’t take any kind of “bribe” to get me to sign up for his email newsletter – because this man already possessed “demi-god” status within my mind.

After I signed up, I was HORRIFIED to see that the “legal bribe” offered by my sales hero had a GLARING TYPO in the first paragraph. (Thanks Mike for pointing out my glaring typo in the first paragraph of this post.)

This person had a huge balance in his trust account with me – so I hoped that this was just an oversight on the part of his staff.  Ever sinceI shared my email address with him, my inbox has been inundated with a never-ending stream of “hard closing” sales messages. Once I made a mistake of actually trying to watch one of his videos – and it was like watching paint dry. Meanwhile his blog posts seemed to be devoted to chasing keywords instead of sharing information.

Unfortunately, this man’s lack of understanding of the “modern sales process” has resulted in his credibility dropping to less than zero with me.  This is a direct result of watching him function in the “new world” of social media.

The new world of social media can seem bewildering to someone who has decades of experience in one-way communication.  I can see where it would be especially frightening for someone who hasn’t been along for the ride – for those who ignored the web until the 2nd decade of this century.

However, in the words of one of my clients – sometimes you can get so far behind that you’re actually ahead and that is definitely the case when it comes to social media and sales.

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