Today, we are experiencing a radical transformation in the way people search for information online. More and more users are using ChatGPT or Gemini to get product advice, solve a doubt, or get a short answer. The classic ten blue links of the SERP are often bypassed in favor of automatic summaries, answer boxes, AI Overview and chatbots. The recurring question among insiders is whether it still makes sense to continue doing SEO. Spoiler: it makes sense.
SEO is not dead, but it is only changing, it is evolving. Abandoning it would be a huge strategic mistake for at least 7 reasons.
SEO content feeds generative AI
AIs like ChatGPT don’t create content out of thin air. They analyze, learn, rework. And they do it starting from billions of web pages. In other words, if you’re not online, you don’t exist.
LLMs (Large Language Models) feed on well-written, clear, informative, optimized content. Your articles, your guides, your FAQs can become part of the sources that AI uses to respond to users. But this only happens if they are indexed, readable, and well-structured.
In addition, AI tools with active browsing extract and suggest links directly from search results, particularly from Bing and Google. And those results are built on SEO foundations, with a focus on relevant content, keywords, and site structure. So, if you want to be visible in AI answers, you must first be visible on search engines.
Local SEO remains the point of contact with the physical world
When you’re looking for a nearby coffee shop, a same-day plumber, or a gym in your neighborhood, don’t ask ChatGPT. Open Google Maps, read reviews, look at schedules. And click. In this context, Google Business Profile and local SEO remain fundamental tools.
A business that appears in the first local results has a much better chance of attracting customers. This applies to restaurants, shops, professional studios, artisans, gyms, doctors and many other businesses. Online visibility is the showcase of your real world.
Organic traffic still has the highest ROI, especially for e-commerce
SEO is one of the few channels capable of bringing you qualified users without having to pay for every click. It requires time, skills and strategy, but in the medium to long term it generates a return on investment (ROI) higher than any adv campaign.
This is even more true if you sell online through an e-commerce. Purchase intent (“buy”, “best”, “offer”) is still expressed with keywords searched on Google. Optimized product sheets with images, description, reviews and FAQs, categories and reviews continue to play a decisive role.
SEO is the best way to intercept users at the very moment they are deciding to buy.
SEO oversees the entire customer journey
Not every user is ready to convert on the first click. Often his path is made up of stages, questions, comparisons.
SEO allows you to be present at every stage of the journey:
- When discovering a problem (awareness)
- When evaluating solutions (consideration)
- When choosing where to buy (decision)
- When looking for support or after-sales insights (loyalty)
Imagine that you are selling swimsuits and accessories for swimming. A swimmer, in preparation of his first race, could start by looking for “how to choose a race suit for swimming”. Then, after reading a guide with tips, he could move on to “Arena Powerskin men’s race suit models comparison”, and finally type “Arena Powerskin Carbon Air 2 men”.
If you have content optimized for each stage, you drive the user from discovery to conversion, without ever interrupting the dialogue.
Being present in the results (SEO and AI) strengthens the brand
Being first on Google is not just a matter of traffic, but of perception. When your site appears regularly in search results, your brand gains authority. Users begin to recognize it, to associate it with competence, to trust it.
This applies to the classic Google SERP, but even more to results in AI platforms, where the lack of suggested links makes every mention even more valuable. If ChatGPT or Gemini mentions your website, if you are recommended among the few links that appear in a generative response, the effect is then multiplied.
SEO data is strategic insights for all marketing
The data you collect through SEO (Google Search Console, search volumes, CTR, queries) is not only used to improve content, but is an incredible source of insights to better understand the market.
By analyzing the real queries that drive traffic to your website, you can find out what people are really looking for, what language, what stage of the funnel they are in. You can intercept emerging trends, discover new niches, understand which products attract the most interest and which topics require further investigation.
This data allows you to go beyond SEO content and also optimize adv campaigns, emails, landing pages, and even commercial offers.
Without SEO basics, you don’t talk to users or AIs
Doing SEO today no longer means just optimizing for Google, but designing content and structures that respond well to the needs of the user, on whatever channel they are, from search engines to AI platforms.
A well-organized website with clear content, logical hierarchies, and effective navigation is easier for AI models to scan and understand. Generative AIs struggle with poorly structured, poorly contextualized and ambiguous content.
Information architecture, semantic markup, “entity-based” content, internal linking are all SEO practices that are now also central to optimizing visibility in ChatGPT responses. And if you do SEO well, you improve the UX as well. Which is always the starting and finishing point of everything.
SEO isn’t dead, it’s just evolved.
Stopping doing SEO because ChatGPT exists is like stopping writing books because there is Wikipedia.
SEO is alive, but it has changed. It is not a race to see who can put in the most keywords, but a complex ecosystem, made up of quality content, solid architectures, semantic signals and, increasingly, integration with AI and new technologies.
Today It is no longer enough to optimize for Google, but for the entire AI-assisted search ecosystem. It means writing clear, in-depth, well-formatted content. Structuring the website to be readable by humans and algorithms. Understanding the intent behind each query and deliver real value.
SEO is still one of the most powerful tools for understanding, attracting, and converting. If you know how to use it, it’s also your best weapon to stay visible in a world that is becoming more and more invisible.
