A new study by Search Engine Land in partnership with Fractl shows that, although it was predicted in 2024 that traditional search volume would decline due to AI-driven search experiences, search demand isn’t decreasing; it’s simply shifting elsewhere. The study was based on an analysis of over one million high-volume keywords across 379 brands in eight verticals. The researchers dug into which keywords drove search volume over the past year and which lost traction, possibly due to the rise of AI-powered search.
Key Findings From the Research
The study found that while 29% of high-volume search demand is decreasing, a similar percentage is increasing due to changing search behaviour. In other words, demand isn’t disappearing the way many people expected after the rollout of Google’s AI Overviews and the rise in adoption of LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude. So what needs to change in your SEO and GEO strategy?
Transactional Categories Are Seeing More Demand
It was found that information-heavy categories are mainly where the search demand decline is coming from, particularly for FinTech brands. When an AI tool can provide a comprehensive summary of the information a user is looking for, such as help creating a budget or managing expenses, volume decreases. However, in contrast, in categories where users are required to compare prices or complete a purchase, search demand remains steady. Transactional verticals such as SaaS, lifestyle and insurance are also seeing growing or relatively stable volumes. On the other hand, verticals where users are looking for more in-depth information, like healthcare and wellness-related topics, are seeing the most significant declines.
This may mean that your SEO priorities need to change depending on where your customers are in the buying journey. Informational content still has an impact when it comes to building authority and getting cited by AI, but if you’re operating in a transactional market, you may need to consider investing in comparison pages and product content that supports purchase decisions. There are searches where users are still actively researching before they buy, and this creates valuable opportunities for both SEO and GEO.
Most Consumers Are Using AI More, But This Doesn’t Mean They’re Abandoning Search
The researchers identified that 70% of the consumers they surveyed are using AI tools more than last year, but only 17% said they use traditional search engines less than before. These consumers are also using platforms such as YouTube and Reddit to conduct searches. This trend means that search behaviour is becoming distributed across more platforms.
The report notes that social tools are becoming more prominent as alternatives to search engines than ever before. It’s worth noting that content from platforms such as YouTube and Reddit gets indexed by Google, so your visibility on these channels compounds when you use them together.
More than 35% of respondents said that they haven’t moved away from traditional search in favour of AI yet. But those who have say that how-to guides and tutorials are where they’re leaning away from traditional search.
Brands need to think about how AI tools and social platforms work together. A strong presence across search, YouTube, Reddit, and other social media platforms improves the chances of your content being found by users while also strengthening the signals AI systems use when surfacing content. Visibility is becoming more connected, so a comprehensive content strategy is likely to outperform one that’s focused on a single platform.
52% of Consumers Say That Google Will Be Their Primary Search Tool in Five Years
According to the report, traditional search isn’t going anywhere. More than half of the consumers surveyed said that Google will remain their primary search tool over the next five years, and only 20% said that it won’t. However, it’s worth noting why users choose AI over traditional search. The study found that consumers provided the following reasons for preferring AI over traditional search:
- It’s better at summarising across sources
- It provides faster, more direct answers
- It’s more conversational, and users can ask follow-up questions
- It provides more personalised results
- There’s no need to click through to any websites
There are also some significant reasons why users still prefer traditional search, and what would bring consumers who have adopted AI back to it. They are:
- AI providing unreliable answers
- Search providing more accurate answers
- A preference for multiple source links
- Privacy and data concerns
- AI becoming too expensive
We think the message here is to strengthen both your SEO and your GEO in tandem. Google remains the starting point for most search journeys, but user expectations are changing. Content that answers questions clearly and makes it easy to verify information is well positioned to perform in both traditional search results and AI-generated experiences. It’s important that brands create content for people first, regardless of how they choose to search.
The Final Word
This report makes it clear that search is becoming more fragmented. Users are switching between traditional search and AI tools depending on what they’re looking for. For businesses, this means traditional SEO is still a vital part of a successful strategy, but it’s not the only force at play. Brands also need to consider how they build authority and maintain visibility across the platforms where users are searching for information.
If you want to make sure your SEO and GEO strategy is ready for the future of search, we’d be happy to talk it through. Feel free to get in touch.