Why SEO Is More Important Than Ever in the Age of AI Search

There’s no question the search landscape is shifting—and fast. Every week, our team fields questions about the future of search and how search engine optimization (SEO) and answer engine optimization (AEO) are both distinct and highly connected.

With more than 60% of searches now ending without a click, it’s never been more important to capture your qualified share of the 40% that still do.

So, let’s start with the first question: How connected are SEO fundamentals to AI-driven results?

The short answer: very.

ChatGPT’s primary objective is to reason, so it depends on external signals and tools—search, plugins, and various retrieval methodologies—for its information rather than storing or “memorizing” every fact. The reasons are simple: efficiency in the form of lower cost and faster output and accuracy through access to recent, authoritative sources. One of the best ways to help ensure your content is part of that pipeline is to continue dominating search results. Put differently, ranking well organically is how ChatGPT (and other AI tools) find and ingest your content. When AI can’t easily read, extract, or verify your information, they’ll likely deprioritize or omit it.

Beyond visibility in both traditional organic search results and AI tools, brand authority remains vital. Ranking first has always conveyed credibility—especially for B2B brands—but that’s truer than ever today. Imagine you’re a procurement lead comparing three vendors for a digital transformation project. You take these steps:

1. You Google each brand with “digital transformation” added to the query (“Brand A digital transformation,” “Brand B digital transformation,” etc.).
2. You prompt ChatGPT to rank Brand A, Brand B, and Brand C for suitability.
3. You then ask ChatGPT which sources it used to rank them.

If Brand A ranks first in Google and also appears first in ChatGPT’s response—with citations pointing to earned media and its own whitepapers—it gains a powerful credibility advantage. This “one-two punch” of organic performance translates to real authority for any corporate decision maker.

The same applies to AI-generated responses that produce no clicks.