by Marc Schwartz
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The Age of Answer Engines: Is SEO Dead?
Search engine optimisation has long been the cornerstone of being visible online. But as user behaviour shifts and search engines evolve, the rules of the game are changing. In a world where immediate answers to questions are becoming the norm, there’s no doubt that brands must rethink their strategies to remain visible and relevant. Have our new robot overlords killed SEO? Not so fast.
The Rise of No-Click Searches
No-click searches occur when users find the answer to their query directly on the search results page, without clicking through to any website. Yes, this is happening, and Google’s AI-first strategy means that the traditional model of driving website visits through search is under significant pressure. Google’s AI-first strategy means that the traditional model of SEO is under significant pressure.
But is it all doom and gloom? The surprising answer is no. According to Rand Fishkin in a recent SparkToro report, “Yes, AI tools are popular, and yes, they’re growing. But despite the media hype, AI is still a tiny fraction of overall usage in the US, EU, and UK.”
The report goes on to show that out of all tracked digital interactions (searches, visits, clicks, etc.) during Q1 2025, 9.42% occurred on Google.com in the US, compared to 0.29% for ChatGPT.
The age of Google is far from over. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, has also addressed concerns about the shift on the Verge podcast, stating, “I think more than any other company, we prioritise sending traffic to the web. You will see us five years from now sending a lot of traffic out to the web. I think that’s the product direction we are committed to.”
This all paints a picture of a search landscape in which traditional SEO is a long way from being dead.
Search Engines vs. Answer Engines: What’s the Difference
Search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo have historically provided users with a list of links to relevant websites. The user’s task was to sift through these results to find the best answer. SEO strategies focused on optimising for keywords, backlinks and content quality to climb the rankings.
Answer engines, however, represent a fundamental shift. They aim to deliver a single, precise answer generated by AI. This approach prioritises speed and convenience, minimising the need for users to visit external sites.
The Impact on Visibility and Brand Authority
The proliferation of no-click features means that visibility is no longer just about ranking first. It’s about owning valuable SERP real estate like featured snippets, knowledge panels, and AI-generated answers. These features pull information from authoritative sources, so being cited as the source of truth can enhance brand credibility, even if it doesn’t always drive a click.
The truth is the SEO and AEO are far more similar than they are different. High-quality, relevant and up-to-date content backed up by research is the golden thread that ties SEO and AEO together.
Strategies for Staying Competitive
To survive in this new landscape, brands must adapt by:
- Prioritising Quality and Authority: Algorithms reward rich, authoritative content that fully answers user questions. By creating in-depth resources that reflect genuine expertise, you align with how search engines and modern answer engines rank content and build lasting credibility for your brand.
- Optimising for Featured Snippets and Knowledge Panels: Leverage structured data, schema markup, and consistent brand details across all platforms to boost your visibility and improve your chances of earning featured placements.
- Creating Comprehensive Knowledge Hubs: Transform your website into a go-to resource by addressing frequently asked questions with depth and clarity. Well-structured FAQ sections can significantly boost your chances of being cited in answer engine results, as well as in traditional search.
- Tracking Real Metrics: Stop chasing raw traffic metrics and focus on deeper signals of influence like brand mentions and citations. These are signals of authority that are not going away.
The Future: SEO and AEO together
The combination of search engines and answer engines is not just a passing trend; it’s the future of how brands will be found online.
While no-click searches may reduce traditional web traffic, they also offer new opportunities for brands to demonstrate expertise and build trust. The challenge is to evolve alongside these technologies, ensuring that your content remains visible, authoritative, and aligned with user intent.
In the words of SEO strategist Jeff Herz, “New technology always brings haters, but good marketers don’t fight it; they use it.”
We’re at the crossroads of a new way of audience engagement, and the companies that survive are the ones that know how to manage the transition.
The Age of Answer Engines: Is SEO Dead?
Search engine optimisation has long been the cornerstone of being visible online. But as user behaviour shifts and search engines evolve, the rules of the game are changing. In a world where immediate answers to questions are becoming the norm, there’s no doubt that brands must rethink their strategies to remain visible and relevant. Have our new robot overlords killed SEO? Not so fast.
The Rise of No-Click Searches
No-click searches occur when users find the answer to their query directly on the search results page, without clicking through to any website. Yes, this is happening, and Google’s AI-first strategy means that the traditional model of driving website visits through search is under significant pressure. Google’s AI-first strategy means that the traditional model of SEO is under significant pressure.
But is it all doom and gloom? The surprising answer is no. According to Rand Fishkin in a recent SparkToro report, “Yes, AI tools are popular, and yes, they’re growing. But despite the media hype, AI is still a tiny fraction of overall usage in the US, EU, and UK.”
The report goes on to show that out of all tracked digital interactions (searches, visits, clicks, etc.) during Q1 2025, 9.42% occurred on Google.com in the US, compared to 0.29% for ChatGPT.
The age of Google is far from over. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, has also addressed concerns about the shift on the Verge podcast, stating, “I think more than any other company, we prioritise sending traffic to the web. You will see us five years from now sending a lot of traffic out to the web. I think that’s the product direction we are committed to.”
This all paints a picture of a search landscape in which traditional SEO is a long way from being dead.
Search Engines vs. Answer Engines: What’s the Difference
Search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo have historically provided users with a list of links to relevant websites. The user’s task was to sift through these results to find the best answer. SEO strategies focused on optimising for keywords, backlinks and content quality to climb the rankings.
Answer engines, however, represent a fundamental shift. They aim to deliver a single, precise answer generated by AI. This approach prioritises speed and convenience, minimising the need for users to visit external sites.
The Impact on Visibility and Brand Authority
The proliferation of no-click features means that visibility is no longer just about ranking first. It’s about owning valuable SERP real estate like featured snippets, knowledge panels, and AI-generated answers. These features pull information from authoritative sources, so being cited as the source of truth can enhance brand credibility, even if it doesn’t always drive a click.
The truth is the SEO and AEO are far more similar than they are different. High-quality, relevant and up-to-date content backed up by research is the golden thread that ties SEO and AEO together.
Strategies for Staying Competitive
To survive in this new landscape, brands must adapt by:
- Prioritising Quality and Authority: Algorithms reward rich, authoritative content that fully answers user questions. By creating in-depth resources that reflect genuine expertise, you align with how search engines and modern answer engines rank content and build lasting credibility for your brand.
- Optimising for Featured Snippets and Knowledge Panels: Leverage structured data, schema markup, and consistent brand details across all platforms to boost your visibility and improve your chances of earning featured placements.
- Creating Comprehensive Knowledge Hubs: Transform your website into a go-to resource by addressing frequently asked questions with depth and clarity. Well-structured FAQ sections can significantly boost your chances of being cited in answer engine results, as well as in traditional search.
- Tracking Real Metrics: Stop chasing raw traffic metrics and focus on deeper signals of influence like brand mentions and citations. These are signals of authority that are not going away.
The Future: SEO and AEO together
The combination of search engines and answer engines is not just a passing trend; it’s the future of how brands will be found online.
While no-click searches may reduce traditional web traffic, they also offer new opportunities for brands to demonstrate expertise and build trust. The challenge is to evolve alongside these technologies, ensuring that your content remains visible, authoritative, and aligned with user intent.
In the words of SEO strategist Jeff Herz, “New technology always brings haters, but good marketers don’t fight it; they use it.”
We’re at the crossroads of a new way of audience engagement, and the companies that survive are the ones that know how to manage the transition.
We’re at the crossroads of a new way of audience engagement, and the companies that survive are the ones that know how to manage the transition.
The Age of Answer Engines: Is SEO Dead?
Search engine optimisation has long been the cornerstone of being visible online. But as user behaviour shifts and search engines evolve, the rules of the game are changing. In a world where immediate answers to questions are becoming the norm, there’s no doubt that brands must rethink their strategies to remain visible and relevant. Have our new robot overlords killed SEO? Not so fast.
The Rise of No-Click Searches
No-click searches occur when users find the answer to their query directly on the search results page, without clicking through to any website. Yes, this is happening, and Google’s AI-first strategy means that the traditional model of driving website visits through search is under significant pressure. Google’s AI-first strategy means that the traditional model of SEO is under significant pressure.
But is it all doom and gloom? The surprising answer is no. According to Rand Fishkin in a recent SparkToro report, “Yes, AI tools are popular, and yes, they’re growing. But despite the media hype, AI is still a tiny fraction of overall usage in the US, EU, and UK.”
The report goes on to show that out of all tracked digital interactions (searches, visits, clicks, etc.) during Q1 2025, 9.42% occurred on Google.com in the US, compared to 0.29% for ChatGPT.
The age of Google is far from over. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, has also addressed concerns about the shift on the Verge podcast, stating, “I think more than any other company, we prioritise sending traffic to the web. You will see us five years from now sending a lot of traffic out to the web. I think that’s the product direction we are committed to.”
This all paints a picture of a search landscape in which traditional SEO is a long way from being dead.
Search Engines vs. Answer Engines: What’s the Difference
Search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo have historically provided users with a list of links to relevant websites. The user’s task was to sift through these results to find the best answer. SEO strategies focused on optimising for keywords, backlinks and content quality to climb the rankings.
Answer engines, however, represent a fundamental shift. They aim to deliver a single, precise answer generated by AI. This approach prioritises speed and convenience, minimising the need for users to visit external sites.
The Impact on Visibility and Brand Authority
The proliferation of no-click features means that visibility is no longer just about ranking first. It’s about owning valuable SERP real estate like featured snippets, knowledge panels, and AI-generated answers. These features pull information from authoritative sources, so being cited as the source of truth can enhance brand credibility, even if it doesn’t always drive a click.
The truth is the SEO and AEO are far more similar than they are different. High-quality, relevant and up-to-date content backed up by research is the golden thread that ties SEO and AEO together.
Strategies for Staying Competitive
To survive in this new landscape, brands must adapt by:
- Prioritising Quality and Authority: Algorithms reward rich, authoritative content that fully answers user questions. By creating in-depth resources that reflect genuine expertise, you align with how search engines and modern answer engines rank content and build lasting credibility for your brand.
- Optimising for Featured Snippets and Knowledge Panels: Leverage structured data, schema markup, and consistent brand details across all platforms to boost your visibility and improve your chances of earning featured placements.
- Creating Comprehensive Knowledge Hubs: Transform your website into a go-to resource by addressing frequently asked questions with depth and clarity. Well-structured FAQ sections can significantly boost your chances of being cited in answer engine results, as well as in traditional search.
- Tracking Real Metrics: Stop chasing raw traffic metrics and focus on deeper signals of influence like brand mentions and citations. These are signals of authority that are not going away.
The Future: SEO and AEO together
The combination of search engines and answer engines is not just a passing trend; it’s the future of how brands will be found online.
While no-click searches may reduce traditional web traffic, they also offer new opportunities for brands to demonstrate expertise and build trust. The challenge is to evolve alongside these technologies, ensuring that your content remains visible, authoritative, and aligned with user intent.
In the words of SEO strategist Jeff Herz, “New technology always brings haters, but good marketers don’t fight it; they use it.”
We’re at the crossroads of a new way of audience engagement, and the companies that survive are the ones that know how to manage the transition.
About the Author: Marc Schwartz
