The online world has undergone numerous developments since its inception, but the current topic that continues to be on the minds of individuals and businesses globally is, of course, AI.
More recently, we’ve seen how AI is influencing the way we search, sparking debate on whether it’s still just as important to rank on Google.
The quick and easy answer is, yes, it is still incredibly important to rank on Google, for several reasons:
- Incomparable reach - Google holds a reach that cannot be compared, processing an estimated 5 trillion searches annually, equal to around 13.7 million searches per day and capturing roughly 92% of the global search market share.
- Traffic dominance - Roughly 53% of website traffic still comes from organic search, with a sizeable 94% of clicks on search leading to organic results, leaving just 6% for paid listings.
- Marketing powerhouse - SEO delivers 1,000% more traffic than organic social media efforts.
So, where does AI come into this?
It’s no secret that AI is changing how we search, but rather than replacing Google, it’s evolving it. Google’s AI Overviews still rely heavily on top-ranking websites for their answers - in fact, nearly half of the sources cited in AI results come from the first page of Google.
This means ranking well on Google doesn’t just help you appear in traditional search results; it also increases your chances of being pulled into AI-generated answers, too. That does, of course, mean that AI answers can reduce the number of direct clicks to websites; however, on a positive note, the traffic they do send tends to be more valuable, with higher conversion rates and more qualified leads.
The evolution of search
Whilst we know that AI is transforming how people search, it hasn’t replaced the fundamentals. Google remains the starting point for the vast majority of online journeys, and ranking continues to drive traffic, trust and leads.
The key difference now is that strong SEO not only helps you appear in traditional search results but also positions your business to be included in AI-driven answers. In other words, investing in SEO today is about future-proofing your visibility, ensuring your business remains discoverable no matter the transformations in search.