SEO in 2025: Still Alive, Just Having an Identity Crisis
- Pyvot Digital Growth
- Mar 26
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 4
Pour one out for your keyword strategy.
Search engine optimization, once a methodical game of backlinks, keywords, and metadata, is transforming yet again. And just like that one time Google rolled out an update during your campaign launch (yeah, we all remember), AI has come in and shuffled the entire deck.
Spoiler alert: if you’re still clinging to your 2022 SEO playbook, you’re probably ranking somewhere between “forgotten” and “404.”
Google’s SGE: A New Interface, A Whole New Playbook
Meet Search Generative Experience (SGE), Google’s AI-powered search experience. Once a neat experimental feature, SGE is now the default interface for logged-in users across major markets.
According to First Page Sage, AI overviews have been integrated into approximately 31% of search result pages, primarily for general information queries. Initially, there were concerns about their impact on click-through rates (CTR). However, since Google began linking to sources within these AI overviews in September 2024, these links have achieved CTRs comparable to those of the top 3-5 search results. Notably, while organic result CTRs have remained relatively stable, the presence of AI overviews has led to a significant reduction in ad clicks.
Zero-Click is the New Status Quo
You may have heard about zero-click searches back in the day. Well, in 2025, they’re no longer a trend, they’re just… how things work now.
Users ask a question. AI answers instantly. No need to visit a website, read an article, or even scroll. As identified in an Adobe Analytics report, this shift is evident as AI search referrals for U.S. retail sites surged by 1,300% during the 2024 holiday season, indicating a significant move towards AI-driven search behaviors. Users referred by AI search engage more with websites, spending 8% more time, browsing 12% more pages, and showing a 23% decrease in bounce rates compared to traditional search referrals.
Content Is Everywhere (But Not All of It’s Good)
Thanks to tools like ChatGPT-5, Claude 3, and whatever’s next, the internet is absolutely drenched in AI-generated content. Blogs, product descriptions, listicles - you name it, a machine is writing it.
The result? Everyone’s publishing, but not everyone is connecting. That’s why Google’s Helpful Content System was updated in February 2025 to better reward content with clear first-hand experience, originality, and subject-matter expertise.
Moz also reports that SGE is impacting organic traffic in ways that favor “experience-rich” content, with AI tending to highlight pages that showcase expertise and human insight (Moz, 2024).
Chatbots Are Taking Over Search—Seriously
Increasingly, users are skipping search engines entirely and heading straight to chatbots like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and You.com. Ask a question, get an answer. No ads, no clutter, just immediate, conversational value.
This isn’t a fringe trend. According to The Journal, Gartner predicts that Agentic AI, which includes advanced AI assistants, is among the top tech trends for 2025. This evolution indicates a significant shift in how users interact with information, moving towards more autonomous and intelligent AI systems.
These tools don’t just summarize content - they often bypass traditional rankings altogether, surfacing answers based on a mix of sources, AI training, and real-time web crawling. If your content isn’t optimized to be picked up by AI assistants, it might not show up at all.
What to Do Now: Your 2025 SEO Survival Guide
It’s not all doom and digital gloom. Smart brands are already adapting to the new rules and thriving in this AI-shaped world. Here’s how:
Optimize for Summarization
Think in structured snippets. Use clear H2s, bullet points, TL;DRs, and schema markup. AI loves digestible, well-structured content (First Page Sage, 2025).
Prioritize Real Expertise
Double down on EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). No, that doesn’t mean getting a second helping at lunch today. Highlight who wrote your content, why they’re qualified, and how they know what they’re talking about. Google’s Helpful Content guidelines emphasize the importance of content that “demonstrates experience and expertise.”
Build a Brand People Actually Want to Follow
With traffic less predictable, your email list, podcast subscribers, and social following become critical. Invest in building a loyal audience that engages directly with your brand.
Show Up in AI Tools
Want to know if you’re showing up in AI summaries? Tools like Glasp and AlsoAsked can help track what questions users are asking and how your content might be referenced by AI. Pro tip: Try asking ChatGPT or Perplexity your target questions and see what content it pulls.
The Bottom Line: SEO Isn’t Dead - It Just Looks Different Now
Let’s be real: SEO isn’t gone. But it’s not what it used to be. Ranking on page one means less than it ever has, and being included in AI summaries or chatbot answers means more than ever.
At Pyvot, we don’t just track the trends - we translate them into actionable strategies. Whether you’re trying to future-proof your site, create content that AI can’t ignore, or understand how SGE affects your niche, we’ve got your back.
