We studied the shift in search behavior using public trend data and Writesonic’s latest GEO tool to understand the real impact of AI search on SEO traffic—not just what people assume is happening, but what the data actually confirms.

What we found reveals significant changes in how AI traffic flows, how visibility operates, and what kind of content is surfaced.

Here’s what we learned—and what it means for your SEO strategy going forward.

The Google Search algorithm determines which webpages show in the results that appear after a user runs a search—and in what order. The algorithm considers many factors to understand which pages are best suited to address the query and deserving of ranking (i.e., appearing in search results). Such as how relevant the content is, if the page loads quickly, how many trusted websites link to the page, and more. 

As a marketer, brand manager, SEO (Search Engines Optimization) expert, you are interested in whether search engine optimization is relevant or not in the months to come. Many of our businesses rely heavily on search engines and now that we heard about LLMs, we are wondering, is our business doomed?This guide for GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization) should help you understand the new AI frontier, and give you advice on how to evolve your current SEO efforts to upcoming GEO efforts.

The dream of search engines as they were originally conceived was that you’d get the perfect answer to your query. The reality became something different, with searchers inundated with ads and results rendered unhelpful or irrelevant because of SEO’s commercial intent. 

We can’t judge. We play the game, too. The balance of informing people and motivating them to buy something is…tricky. Always has been, but now more than ever, AI-driven search is changing the way people are searching and finding information, often with fewer clicks onto sites, which is worrying retailers. 

A major shift is underway in the way consumers discover, research and purchase products online — and it’s being driven by artificial intelligence. OpenAI is rolling out new features and exploring integrations with platforms like Shopify that could allow users to shop directly through ChatGPT. This means customers could search for and buy products from Shopify merchants without ever leaving a chat interface.

For businesses, this shift means that showing up in AI-generated results is now as important as ranking on classic search pages. AthenaHQ is at the forefront of this transformation, helping brands adapt and thrive with advanced AI SEO tools built for the new era of generative search.

The Rise of Generative AI in Search

Why AI Search Engine Optimization Tools Matter Now

AI-driven search engines don’t just list links—they generate answers, summarize content, and mention brands in context. This new model, called generative engine optimization (GEO), requires a different approach than traditional SEO. Instead of focusing only on keywords and backlinks, businesses need to ensure their brand is mentioned accurately and favorably in AI-generated responses.

Instead of surfacing website links, AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, Perplexity and others now deliver direct answers — often without the user ever clicking a link that leads to a website. That transformation has big implications, experts said. The traditional SEO model, built around keywords, backlinks, and content density, is losing effectiveness as AI-driven tools dominate the discovery phase.

Starting July 10, 2025, Google will begin indexing Instagram content. Yes, you read that right, Instagram posts, reels, and carousels are about to become part of the indexable web. This shift marks a significant evolution in Google’s understanding of what constitutes “relevant content.”

While the social media giants like Instagram and TikTok have long been seen as separate worlds from traditional search engines, Google is now signaling that multimodal SEO is no longer a niche and it’s now a central part of the web experience it want to give to its users.