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A couple of weeks ago, I talked to my friend Adam Di Frisco, an SEO expert, to find out what he’s seeing in the SEO world right now. Specifically, I wanted to know how AI is changing search. It was a fascinating conversation.
A little more about Adam before we dive in:
Adam started his career in content marketing in China and then moved to in-house roles in the US. One was a travel company that focused on marketing to China. Eventually, his role morphed into paid advertising, social media, and SEO.
As it turns out, SEO quickly became his thing. He was initially focused on content performance but developed a stronger interest in the technical aspects. The more he got into SEO, the more he appreciated its diverse challenges and the diagnostic aspects of working with different websites. (I totally get that – I love to figure things out too – a constant in marketing!)
Today, Adam works for a full-service digital marketing agency that helps small businesses succeed through a mix of marketing channels.
So, that’s Adam.
How AI is changing search
Here’s what I learned about how AI is changing search during our conversation:
Diversify your digital marketing channels
Small businesses need to embrace a variety of digital marketing channels. Potential customers often research businesses on social media platforms to assess their legitimacy. A presence on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. is extremely important.
Don’t discount paid advertising either. For B2C businesses, it is an integral part of a comprehensive approach to digital marketing success.
Maintain brand consistency online
The rise of AI, particularly AI overviews in search results and conversions from platforms like ChatGPT, necessitates a shift in SEO strategy. Large Language Models (LLMs) assess a brand’s legitimacy by gathering information from various online sources, including SEO, social media, third-party platforms like Yelp, and Google Business Profile reviews.
And guess what they’re looking for? Brand consistency.
Make sure each digital marketing channel maintains consistent brand messaging across all platforms and that it aligns with how users search in LLMs.
(This is why brand messaging guidelines are so important. You already know what to say. Just copy and paste across all channels.)
Get to know this big shift in SEO metrics
AI overviews have had a significant impact on search engine results pages (SERPs). Adam described it as “the great decoupling,” where impressions in Google Search Console are increasing while clicks are decreasing. (In other words, people are seeing your blog post title, but they are not clicking to read the blog in full on your website.)
Here’s why: AI overviews, even when sources are linked and hidden behind a “show more” button, are counted as impressions, contributing to this trend. While Google suggests AI overviews provide more links and clicks, many SEO professionals are skeptical due to the lack of data filtering in Search Console.
This is a major shift in SEO that is likely here to stay, requiring adaptation rather than resistance.
Change the way you think about content’s role in search
Given the prominence of AI overviews, publishing informational content is still very important. But if you continue to expect it’s going to drive clicks to your website, you will be disappointed. The goal of informational content is shifting towards brand awareness and topical authority (or proving you’re an expert/authority on the topic). The secondary goal is clicks to your website.
The long-term implications of “viewing over clicking” are still unclear. Many in the SEO community are in a wait-and-see mode, exploring technical ways to gain visibility in LLMs. Adam said he is not fully convinced of the necessity of doing anything beyond current SEO best practices at the moment.
And that triggered what we talked about next.
Continue focusing on keywords
I asked Adam about the ongoing importance of keywords in SEO. I was so relieved to hear that they are still relevant. He said crucial terms must appear in website text so they can be recognized by both traditional search engines and LLMs.
Another good thing to know: Modern search engine crawlers have advanced semantic capabilities, so exact keyword matching is less critical than using semantically-related terms. For example, if you search for “lawyer” but “attorney” is the keyword law firms use, the same (or very similar) results will be shown.
However, if your restaurant wants to be found for specific attributes like “kid-friendly” or “outdoor seating,” those exact phrases need to be present in the website’s text, not just implied through images.
My biggest takeaway: keyword placement remains important and surrounding content should support and reinforce those keywords, aligning with current SEO best practices.
Embrace content repurposing
For small businesses facing the challenge of maintaining a presence across multiple online platforms, one of my favorite content marketing strategies is still a best practice: Repurpose content!
You can take a single piece of content, such as a YouTube video with a transcript, and adapt it into various formats like blog posts, short video clips for social media (like Instagram Reels), and text-focused posts for LinkedIn.
This approach helps to maximize the reach of content while minimizing the time and effort required to create unique content for each platform. Both are especially beneficial for small businesses with limited resources. Plus, it’s just practical!
My biggest takeaways for small businesses search
- Stay active on numerous online channels, including social media
- Keep writing helpful blog posts
- Integrate keywords into all your online content
- Stay consistent with your messaging
- Repurpose content!
Related: The Future Is Now: 4 Must-Watch Marketing Trends for Entrepreneurs in 2025