Does SearchGPT Spell the Demise or Evolution of SEO?

Almost 12.3 billion online experiences start with a search engine every day. They allow users to reach their digital destinations thanks to a sophisticated mechanism that's been around for decades - Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Coined in 1997, SEO has grown to become the backbone of online search. But with a new breed of search engines on the horizon, we venture to explore whether this could be the end of SEO or a whole new rebirth.

SEO's Traditional Role: A Quick Recap

Before uncovering what SearchGPT could mean for the future, it’s important to understand what SEO has historically done. SEO involves optimizing a website’s content, structure, and technical aspects to rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs). This includes keyword optimization, creating high-quality content, building backlinks, and ensuring a good user experience. The goal is to make a website more visible to users searching for related topics or products.

What is SearchGPT?

SearchGPT is an advanced AI search tool developed by OpenAI that uses natural language processing (NLP) to understand and generate human-like text. SearchGPT is a “temporary prototype.” Some of its features might be integrated into ChatGPT in future. Unlike traditional search engines, SearchGPT answers queries like a sophisticated LLM while providing sources from the web for each answer, and can retain context from query to query, making it more intuitive than regular old search engines.

How Will SearchGPT Influence SEO?

There are two schools of thought regarding SearchGPT's impact on SEO. One perspective suggests that SearchGPT could replace traditional SEO practices, rendering them obsolete. The other view believes that SearchGPT will enhance and evolve current SEO techniques, making them more effective in the AI-driven world. Let’s uncover both viewpoints to better understand how SearchGPT might shape the future of SEO.

Why Some Believe SearchGPT Will Make SEO Extinct

Some experts argue that SearchGPT might replace traditional SEO altogether. Let’s explore why some people think this could happen.

1. AI-Driven Content Creation

SearchGPT can generate high-quality content quickly, potentially reducing the need for traditional content creation strategies. If AI can produce relevant and engaging content, the role of human-driven SEO might diminish.

2. Enhanced Understanding of User Intent

Unlike traditional SEO, which relies heavily on keywords, SearchGPT can understand the intent behind a user's query through tone and context. This deeper understanding might reduce the need for SEO professionals to optimize content for specific keywords.

3. Personalized Search Results

SearchGPT's ability to personalize search results based on individual user preferences could render broad SEO strategies less effective. If search results are tailored to each user, generic SEO practices may become obsolete.

How SEO Will Evolve Thanks to SearchGPT

On the other hand, even with the rise of AI search engines like SearchGPT, some believe SEO might continue to play a vital role. Here's how:

1. Bottom of the Funnel SEO 

Bottom-of-the-funnel SEO for users in the last stages of their user journey will be more relevant than ever. While SearchGPT is bound to take traffic away from top-of-the-funnel content that might have catered to basic informational queries in the past, users looking to make high-value long-term purchase decisions will need more information from the brand itself. 

That means SEOs would need to focus more on content that highlights their specific competitive advantage in relation to common features users search for. But how would users discover these brands through SearchGPT? Excellent question and coincidentally also a good segway into our next point:

2. Listings and Directories

Early users of the SearchGPT prototype have reported that for queries containing keywords such as “Top” or “Best”, the AI search engine fetches data directly from directories and listing websites to give the user a list of recommendations (rather than provide a link to the directory website).

For SEOs, it won’t be enough to just be listed on various directories anymore, but to be in the top 10 or 20, so that their brand appears in the answer SearchGPT serves up to users.

3. From Keywords to Context

Traditional SEO focuses on optimizing specific keywords to match search queries. However, SearchGPT’s ability to understand context could shift this focus from mere keywords to the overall meaning and intent behind the content. Websites might need to prioritize creating content that addresses users' broader questions and needs rather than just targeting specific search terms.

Traditional Search Engines Aren’t Going Anywhere, Just Yet…

It’s not all doom and gloom just yet, though. Despite SearchGPT and Perplexity threatening traditional search engines like Google and Bing, it will be some time before AI search engines become the norm. Don’t expect the old guard to go without a fight either, as Google is pouring massive resources into training their own LLMs to keep pace with the likes of OpenAI and Claude.

It will also be interesting to see how long challengers like OpenAI can keep up their rapid innovation. The company has already reported investing $8.5 billion to train its LLM and could be on track to report a net loss of $5 billion. All fervor of a fantasized future where SearchGPT might kill off Google would need to be put on hold if OpenAI doesn’t manage to come out the other side of this massive downturn unscathed. 

The Future of SEO: A New Chapter

The introduction of SearchGPT could mark the beginning of a new chapter in SEO, where the focus shifts from traditional practices to more advanced, AI-driven strategies. While some aspects of SEO might fade, the core goal of optimizing content to meet user needs will remain. The key will be staying adaptable, leveraging AI tools, and continuing to prioritize quality content that genuinely helps users.

So, is SEO facing its demise, or is it evolving? There are two schools of thought: one says SearchGPT will replace SEO, while the other perspective argues that SearchGPT will open new doors for SEO improvements. While we believe that SearchGPT has greater chances to evolve, the future will likely see a blend of old and new practices, ensuring that SEO continues to thrive in the AI-driven world.